Moonmist is an interactive fiction computer game written by Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence and published by Infocom in 1986. The game was released simultaneously for many platforms, including the IBM PC, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It is Infocom's twenty-second game. Galley and Lawrence previously wrote Seastalker for Infocom. The player's character is a young detective, asked by friend Tamara Lynd to investigate her new home of Tresyllian Castle in Cornwall, England. Tamara has recently become engaged to the castle's lord, Jack Tresyllian. She was very happy until she began seeing what appeared to be The White Lady, a ghost who has allegedly haunted the castle for centuries. As if seeing a ghost wasn't nerve-racking enough, she's also begun to fear for her life. Is Tamara's imagination just overly excited from living in a large old castle, or is someone really trying to kill her? And if her life is in danger, is it from a ghost or someone using it as a disguise?
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The plot wasn’t anything special, but it had some decent spooky vibes and (the main reason I checked this game out) some of the first LGBT characters in video games. In the blue version (the one I played), the character is unfortunately the villain (although a sympathetic one), but it’s always interesting to see such early representation, even when it isn’t good. Definitely worth a look for a bit of queer history.
The different versions based on the color you choose at the beginning, with a different solution to the mystery in each, are very interesting! Perhaps I’ll check them out in the future. I wasn’t aware of this feature going on, so I just honestly chose my favorite color (blue)!
It’s unfortunate that this game has a bunch of extra content like a physical letter and brochure. I’m sure it was cool at the time, but since I obviously don’t have access to it, it dampens the experience slightly. Apparently, it contained much more elaborate descriptions of the castle and as a result, the in-game descriptions are a little lacking. This game definitely could have benefitted from some more atmosphere.
Overall, this is a fun, quick mystery that isn’t too difficult to crack! Recommend it if you want to experience some old text-based computer games.