Simon the Sorcerer
Description official descriptions
Simon is just an ordinary boy living in modern-day England. One day, his dog Chippy discovers a chest with a book inside, entitled Ye Olde Spellbooke. Without thinking too much, Simon throws the book on the floor; as a result, a portal opens, teleporting the boy and his dog into a fantasy world. Simon is promptly captured by goblins bent on cooking and eating him but manages to escape. Soon he realizes that he must play the role of an apprentice sorcerer and rescue a benevolent wizard called Calypso from an evil one, aptly named Sordid.
Simon the Sorcerer is a point-and-click adventure game very similar to contemporary LucasArts titles (in particular Monkey Island) in concept and gameplay. It features twelve verbs displayed on the screen at all times for interaction with the environment. Objects that can be interacted with are highlighted when the player hovers the mouse cursor over them. The puzzles are inventory-based: Simon will have to collect and carry a large number of items in order to advance in the game. Almost every character comes with an extended dialogue tree to explore. Most of the conversation choices are used for a humorous effect and are not required to pursue.
Like in LucasArts' adventures, it is impossible to get irrevocably stuck or die in Simon the Sorcerer. The game world consists of dozens of interconnected screens, most of which are accessible from the very beginning. Although there is usually only one way to solve the puzzles, the player can work on multiple tasks at once, and exploration occupies a large portion of the game. Whenever an important location is discovered, it is marked on the map for instant access, so that the player is not required to retrace his steps in order to revisit it. The game frequently parodies popular fairy tales and fantasy works and sometimes breaks the fourth wall as Simon directly talks to the player, acknowledging he is a character in a computer game.
Spellings
- שוליית המכשף - Hebrew spelling
- 锿³•师西蒙 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (DOS version)
60 People · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Trivia
CD-ROM version
This game first had a disk version and then a CD-ROM version. The CD-ROM version features full speech.
Legacy
The success of this game prompted Adventuresoft to abandon their previous Horrorsoft brand in favour of focusing on mass-market non-adult titles.
Graphics
Graphics of the game were entirely hand-drawn on paper. Later they were scanned and manually colorised using computer's software.
Awards
- Amiga Joker
- Issue 02/1995 – #3 Best Game in 1994 (Readers' Vote)
- Issue 02/1995 – Best Adventure in 1994 (Readers' Vote)
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 12/1999 - #90 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
- Power Play
- Issue 02/1995 – Best German Localization in 1994
Information also contributed by Martin Smith
Related Sites +
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Game Nostalgia
Provides extensive background info for Simon the Sorcerer, with pictures of the cast and examples of voice-overs, credits with pictures of and info about the design team, a demo of the game, specific details about the game, all musical themes, shots of every location in the game, video clips, saved games, a list of reviews, including a "nostalgic "review and tech specs. -
Playing Simon 1 in Windows XP
Complete instructions by Inferno -
ScummVM
Get "Simon the Sorcerer", as well as many other adventure games, to run on modern systems by using ScummVM, a legal and free program. -
iPhSoft
official game website for the iPhone version
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 495
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by IJan.
iPad added by MrMamen. Android added by Ingsoc. Macintosh, Acorn 32-bit added by Sciere. iPhone added by Kabushi. Amiga CD32, Amiga added by Martin Smith. Antstream added by lights out party. Windows added by MAT.
Additional contributors: Roger Wilco, Itay Brenner, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Sciere, Martin Smith, formercontrib, martin jurgens, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa.
Last modified February 27th, 2023.