 ![[Great Britain]](images/flags/uk_britn.gif) Magnetic Scrolls
They were located at 1 Chapel Court, London SE1 1HH, England.
Magnetic Scrolls was founded in 1984 by Anita Sinclair, Ken Gordon
and Hugh Steers.
They originally wrote adventure games with a very powerful (but
sometimes unusually picky) parser, and very nice 16 color hi-res
pictures. The parser, game engine and database format used was
designed by Anita Sinclair and Ken Gordon. Since 1990
(Wonderland), they are using a new GUI called Magnetic Windows.
They have also been involved in designing an RPG called The
Legacy: Realm of Terror.
I have been told that some of their games were available for the
Amstrad PCW, but I don't know what titles.
Magnetic Scrolls has a homepage at http://www.magneticscrolls.com/.
There are inofficial sites about Magnetic Scrolls: Magnetic Scrolls can be reached through Ken Gordon.
They are or have been distributed by Rainbird Software Ltd, Mastertronic and MicroProse.
 The Pawn
Type: Text only/Bitmap graphics
Written 1985 by Rob Steggles [story], Hugh Steers [programming], Ken Gordon [programming], Geoff Quilley. [graphics] and Peter Kemp.
Runs on:
Notes: The package includes a 12" x 16 1/2" poster of the cover art,
a 57-page novella "A Tale of Kerovnia" featuring a coded hint
section, a 12-page gameplay guide and a platform keyguide. It
comes on one 5 1/4" disk for Apple II and on two 5 1/4" disks
for Commodore 64/128.
Package blurb: Set in the mystical world of Kerovnia, this amusing and
complex tale is subtle enough to appeal to the beginner and
hardened adventurer alike. A revolutionary text-handling
system allows input of complicated interaction with
characters (including some very intelligent animals!). The
Pawn represents all its characters and objects as if they
existed in a real world, storing complex information about
their attributes and properties linked to their particular
position or context in the game.
Your objectives are manyfold: The simplest is to escape from
Kerovnia, but you will find others as you wander about the
land and communicate with the characters you meet. The Pawn
combines a rich text adventure, with stunning colour
graphics, and a language parser that will set the standards
for years to come.
 The Guild of Thieves
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1987 by Rob Steggles [story], Ken Gordon [programming], Geoff Quilley [graphics] and Tristan Humphries [graphics].
Runs on:
Package blurb: Why Buy This Game When You Could Steal It?
Except you can't. Not yet. An amateur like you? Come off it!
Now, if you were a fully paid-up member of the notorious
Guild of Thieves, things would be different... Mind you, it's
not easy. You might find yourself ditched on a remote jetty
by the Guildmaster. You might find that the Guild expects you
to ransack a well guarded mansion. To go grave-robbing,
Potholing. Or maybe -- if they're really doubtful of your
abilities -- everything at once!
No problem, really, in a country full of helpful natives and
friendly wildlife. Trouble is, you're not in a country like
that! You're in Kerovnia. If you've played The Pawn,
you'll remember Kerovnia. Except that the place seems to have
gone downhill since then... But you'll find that out for
yourself soon enough. And just one final hint; don't try any
funny stuff. The Guildmaster has seen it all before. So has
the Gatekeeper. So has the... Buy why should we give you any
hints?
Guild of Thieves, from Magnetic Scrolls, the people
who wrote The Pawn, winners of numerous major awards.
Graphic illustrations to blow your socks off. Puzzles to blow
your brains out. Frankly, we doubt that you're up to it...
Buy This Game Or We'll Steal Your Computer!
Here is a review of The Guild of Thieves
 Jinxter
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1987 by Georgina Sinclair [story], Anita Sinclair [programming] and Michael Bywater.
Runs on:
Package blurb: JUST WHEN A MAN THINKS HIS LUCKS IS RUNNING OUT...
...things start getting even worse. He gets run over by a
bus.
Sprayed with cheese sandwich by a supernatural being.
Smashed against a tunnel by a speeding train.
He falls from two thousand feet into an artificial waterfall.
He gets drunk, drowned and cursed. He gets incinerated,
widdled on, folded, bent, spindled, mutilated and generally
mucked about with.
And in return?
In return he gets the leading role in a perplexing, hilarious
race against time and chance, set in a jinxed land menaced by
the impending death of good fortune.
Who are we talking about? Who is holding this box?
You guessed it.
Look on the bright side. It could be your luckiest move yet.
JINXTER comes from Magnetic Scrolls, authors of international
award-winning adventures The Pawn and The Guild of Thieves.
It's more than a collection of crossword puzzles; it's a
whole universe, where things behave as they do in the real
world... with some alarming exceptions.
Don't expect tiresome trolls, obvious orcs, silly spells and
wet, wimpish witches in JINXTER. Infuriating, enchanting,
absurd and hilarious by turns, JINXTER will surprise you with
every move you make.
But don't forget: every silver lining has a cloud...
JINXTER -- SOME PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE LUCK.
Here is a review of Jinxter
 Corruption
Type: Bitmap graphics/Music/Text input
Written 1988 by Robert Steggles [story], Hugh Steers [story, programming], Alan Hunnisett [graphics] and Richard Selby [graphics].
Runs on:
Package blurb: The City of London. Deals and chicanery, Porsches and
profit, wild animals in handmade suits. And you. Outwardly,
you're on the fast track to success. The partnership in the
broking firm came through today, along with new car, new
office, new secretary... But behind the glittering facade,
what corruption lurks unseen?
Are you really a winner? Or are you a dead man?
Because in the world of big money, there's nothing in
between.
Corruption. It's new. It's different. It's on
everyone's mind. Because these people are rich. Vicious. And
they run the country.
Corruption is written by Magnetic Scrolls, home of
classics like The Pawn and The Guild of
Thieves. It's a fast-paced thriller, a battle of wills
like nothing else you've ever played. Your only weapons are
communication and information. There's nobody you can trust.
And it isn't easy. But then, neither is life.
 Fish!
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1988 by John Molloy [story], Pete Kemp [story], Phil South [story], Rob Steggles [story], Richard Huddy [programming], Bob Coles [programming], Geoff Quilley [graphics], Alan Hunnisett [graphics], Chris Kent [graphics], Richard Selby [graphics] and Tristan Humphries [graphics].
Runs on:
Package blurb: The tide is turning in the teeming metropolis of Fishworld.
The oceans and seas are boiling off into space. The Seven
Deadly Fins -- an inter-dimensional group of anarchists --
are on the loose. The Project has been sabotaged... And
you're a goldfish.
Tough. But then life's like that. Sometimes you're dealt a
raw deal. Toast falls buttered-side down. Phones ring when
you're in the bath. And there's always chili sauce on your
kebab.
From rain-soaked forests and London recording studios to the
farthest reaches of time and space, Fish! will bemuse,
dazzle, and thrill you before confusing, razzling and killing
you.
Fish! is brought to you by Magnetic Scrolls, authors of such
classic award-winning adventures as The Pawn and The Guild of
Thieves. It's full of what you're least expecting, lacking in
all that's rational, and devoid of much that could reasonably
be expected... So, dust down your tackle, dress up your
flies, reel in a winner and play Fish!
Here is a review of Fish!
 Myth
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1989 by Paul Findley [story,programming], Geoff Quilley [graphics], Tristan Humpries [graphics] and Chris Kent [graphics].
Runs on:
Notes: This is a short game that hasn't been released to the general
public, but was given as a welcome present in the british
adventure club Official Secrets.
Package blurb: IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GOD...
The golden age of Ancient Greece. A time of men and gods. A
place of myths and legends. Where errant Heroes vie with
preternatural forces while their gods stand aloof and
disinterested.
But history is always written by the victor and the tale
herein related tells a different story. A chapter from the
Unwritten Histories, Myth recounts the struggle of the
Olympian deities as they battle to maintain their religious
monopoly in the face of the gathering storm of Christianity.
At once poignant, subtle and self-effacing, Myth takes
a light-hearted look at the roots of popular mythology
through the eyes of Poseidon, god of the sea as he travels
The Underworld in search of the fable Dark Helmet of Hades.
 Wonderland
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1990 by David Bishop [story], Alan Hunnisett [graphics], Chris Kent [graphics], Geoff Quilley [graphics], Anna Williams [graphics], Michael Powell [music], Bob Coles [programming], Paul Findley [programming], Ken Gordon [programming], Richard Huddy [programming], Steve Lacey [programming], Doug Rabson [programming], Anita Sinclair [programming], Hugh Steers [programming] and Mark Taylor [programming] in Magnetic Windows.
Runs on:
Notes: Package includes a 66-page instruction booklet, poster, map,
quick reference guide and installation notes. Contains more
than 100 pictures.
Package blurb: Everyone has read Wonderland...
... but only one has dreamed... Until now!
The newest and largest-ever adventure from Magnetic Scrolls
draws you into the bizarre logic of Lewis Carroll's
spellbinding imagination. Here you will meet all the main
characters from the book ~ the Mad Hatter and the March Hare,
the giant caterpillar, the Queen of Hearts, the Duchess and
her cook...
Here, too, you will be confronted by puzzles, puns, and
conundrums, potions and mushrooms, a giant puppy and a
miniature tunnel, and challenges enough to keep you within
Wonderland's perplexing and magical domains for hundreds of
hours.
Wonderland ~ written in Magnetic Windows, the radical new
adventuring environment from Magnetic Scrolls ~ gives you
over 100 stunning graphics, many of them animated... but
that's not all. A mouse-click on an illustration reveals
information about the objects shown. Pop-up menus of
appropriate commands let you play with a minimum of typing.
On-screen maps and help, multiple windows, and icons for
every object and room in the adventure combine to make the
most sophisticated adventure environment ever created.
It all helps, but in the end it's down to you. Have you the
dreampower to dream your way through Wonderland?
 Magnetic Scrolls Collection, Volume I
Type: Bitmap graphics
Written 1991.
Runs on:
Notes: Contains The Guild of Thieves, Corruption and Fish! remade
using Magnetic Windows.
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