Fallthru

Fallthru is a video game in the role-playing (rpg) genre originally released in 1990. It is currently playable on DOS.

One of the most unique text-only games ever created, Fallthru is a fun parser-based role-playing game that can be played by up to 3 players on the same computer. The game is turn-based: each player has X number of moves before their turn ends.

This is the official description of how the game is structured as a competitive multiplayer title: '. . . [The] objective of Fallthru is to find the way 'home'. Players can agree on a competition beforehand, with possible objectives such as seeing who gets home first or who acquires more wealth or greater 'strength'. But the game is primarily intended to be cooperative.

Each player can pursue different sub-objectives that can help everyone get home. There is no formal scoring because accumulating 'points' would be meaningless in the context of the simulation. However, if a player is 'killed' and chooses to continue with a new life, the number of 'lives' used is recorded and displayed at the end of the game. This number can serve as an informal score with the goal of keeping this number as low as possible.

The use of the 'REDO' or 'RESTORE' commands during the game will also have the effect of using a 'life'. It should be noted that if more than one player is involved, the use of 'RESTORE' will cause all players to return to the last saved position. Consequently, the circumstances under which the 'RESTORE' command is allowed must be agreed upon by all players. The total accumulated playing time of each player is also recorded and displayed at the end of the game'.

Although it may sound complicated, the game is actually quite easy to learn and play, especially since it has a much more limited vocabulary than the typical interactive fiction title. The description of each scene is sparse but adequate, and you can perform simple tasks like READ SIGN or TAKE objects, but not EXAMINE anything in detail. The game is extremely large: with over 1. 500 screens, it might be the largest text adventure ever created (in terms of number of unique locations). You can travel very far without finding anything interesting, but fortunately it is possible to complete the game without exploring the whole world (and solving optional side quests in between).

The game also features other RPG-style elements, such as character stats (you have to make sure your fatigue points don't drop too low, for example), and the time of day/night. Fallthru is quite fun to play. Obviously, it's more fun if you can get 2 other friends to play with, but it's still fun if you play alone. There are lots of things to discover (including some nice ASCII artwork), people to talk to, and enemies to fight. The game is meant for very patient players, as it takes a lot of patience to carefully map out the huge game world and not get lost. But if you have patience and time, Fallthru is highly recommended.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.