MacVenture-style Spectacle is a free adventure game treat

Following on from Infested—an impressive free adventure game made in the style of the NES ports of the old MacVenture adventure games⁠—comes GrahfMetal's Spectacle, which takes the format and runs with it. It's more attractive, and seems bigger and more ambitious, dropping you into a fantasy world full of puzzles, NPCs and, fairly frequently, your grisly demise.

Don't let that put you off, as it drops you right back into the game afterwards (and those unexpected endings are all part of the fun). Spectacle, from the little I've played of it yet, also captures some of the whimsical, playful spirit of the Infocom games. I'm looking forward to diving into it properly.

When I do, I can expect over 100 screens, time-based puzzle mechanics, and a "dungeon with a randomized layout every time you enter or die", so says the itch.io page. That's rather a lot of nostalgic adventuring available for free.

You can download Spectacle from itch.io.