Simon the Sorcerer

aka: Shuliyat Hamechashef, Simon the Sorcerer I
Moby ID: 495
DOS Specs

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
  • 魔法师西蒙 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

60 People · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 85% (based on 39 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 115 ratings with 7 reviews)

Silly hat, great game

The Good
Almost everything, that fairy-tale parody present through all the game its real charming, the humour in that game is also real good, with good made characters and great dialogue lines. The puzzles are very well thought as maybe you will spend some time with some of them. I really like the backgrounds too, the forest, the snowy mountains, and so on... Also if you are a Tolkien reader you may find funny some of the references in the game (the ring,The Fiery Pits of Rondor,and some more...) A real cool game, a classic, a must-have.

The Bad
Maybe there are too much similarities to Monkey Island and the ending was really short (i think it was because it was originally released in disks and there wasn't enough space) anyway, that's nothing really annoying.

The Bottom Line
If you like old style adventure games you really must try Simon the Sorcerer 1, it's really worth of it.

DOS · by Depth Lord (934) · 2004

Sierra?....Nah, Adventuresoft here we come!

The Good
This game was fantastic! One of the best point-and-click puzzle games I have ever played. It was hilariously funny with loads of toilet humour, and English humour. Although the characters look a bit old compared to todays gaming standards, the story line is one in a million, and although the puzzles aren't overly easy, they are very logical when you think about them. It's very user friendly with a fast map to get you around and a postcard to save/load/continue/quit the game. The game didn't crash on me once and i loved the fact that you could never die!

The Bad
Moving around the game could get a bit tedious, as the map didn't offer every location that you had to go to, sometimes spending 10 mins or so trying to find the place you were last at. Places are also very hard to find, as the game gives you no indication which way you can leave the screen, paths (sometimes completely invisible) can lead up, down or diagonally off the screen. Sometimes the inventory would dissapear also until you left one screen and went on to the next then came back.

The Bottom Line
You undertake the roll of Simon, who magically goes through a porthole in his attic, to a land of goblins, woodcutters and mystical talking trees. He is out to help a mysterious wizard named Calypso, and in the process, become a wizard himself. He doesn't appear to miss home very much? Venture through forests, mountains and strange villages that inhabit talking snowman and two headed shop-workers. A great adventure for kinds and adults a like!

DOS · by Hilary Richardson (12) · 2003

Forget Guybrush - Take Simon!

The Good
I played the german versions. First the floppy version without speech - and later the CD-ROM version with fully german speech. It was great! I think it were much more jokes in Simon the Sorcerer than in Monkey Island. And I love this guy with his freaky hat. Especially the animations of Simon are great. Also there are many hidden allusions to other adventures/games, for example the 3 sorcerers (3 pirates in monkey island).

The Bad
The puzzles are not always logical and the game is too slow. You walk and walk and walk .... that nerves. The map is also no great help. I have had more problems finding a location than solving the puzzles.

The Bottom Line
The game is funny - comparable with The Secret of Monkey Island or Sam'n Max: Hit the Road. It's a point&click adventure like the old Lucas Arts games - but that's no disadvantage!

DOS · by Rantanplan (1705) · 2001

[ View all 7 player 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

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Related Sites +

  • 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
  • iPhSoft
    official game website for the iPhone version

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 495
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Contribute

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by IJan.

iPad added by MrMamen. Android added by Ingsoc. Acorn 32-bit, Macintosh added by Sciere. iPhone added by Kabushi. Amiga, Amiga CD32 added by Martin Smith. Antstream added by lights out party. Windows added by MAT.

Additional contributors: Roger Wilco, Itay Brenner, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Sciere, Martin Smith, formercontrib, martin jurgens, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa.

Game added November 29, 1999. Last modified February 8, 2024.