Anchorhead

Horror City XYZZY Awards 1998 Best Setting XYZZY Awards 1998 Finalist - Best Game, Best Individual NPC, Best Puzzles, Best Story, Best Writing

Anchorhead
Author(s)	Michael S. Gentry
Publisher(s)	n/a
Release date(s)	1998, 2018
Authoring system	Inform 6, Inform 7
Platform(s)	Z-code 8, Glulx
Language(s)	English
License(s)	Freeware, commercial
Multimedia
Color effects	none
Graphics	commercial only
Sound/Music	none
Ratings
Cruelty scale	Cruelty to be determined

How It Begins

It is November 1997. A month ago your husband, Michael, had learned about a heretofore unknown branch of his family, and an inheritance waiting for him. Thus you have packed your things and arrived here, into the coastal village of Anchorhead, where the mansion of Michael's mysterious ancestors awaits its new residents.

The game begins as you are standing on the streets of Anchorhead, with the task of retrieving the mansion keys from the real estate agent's office, while your husband waits in the university. However, the agent doesn't seem to be in her office. It is raining. You are carrying an umbrella, wearing a trenchcoat over your clothes, and you have a wedding ring on your finger.

The game is set within H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, and several plot points are clearly inspired by specific Lovecraft stories.

History

Anchorhead was originally released in 1998 as a free Inform 6 game, receiving updates until early 1999.

Around the 10th anniversary, the author talked about a revised Inform 7 version (e.g. this 2006 interview on Game Couch (archive)). An initial demo was released in 2006/7.

This became, in 2018, a 20th-anniversary revised and illustrated edition, rewritten in Inform 7, released as a commercial game on itch.io and Steam, along with props (archive) (amulet and map -- no longer available). (Call for illustrators - call for playtesters.)

Versions

Original free Z-code release

Release 1

• Anchorhead (Michael S. Gentry; 1998; Z-code 8).
  • Release 1 / Serial number 980506 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/7
  • IFID: ZCODE-1-980506-3B01
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction.
  • XYZZY Awards 1998: Winner of Best Setting. Finalist for Best Game, Best Individual NPC (for Michael), Best Puzzles, Best Story, Best Writing.

Release 2

• 1999-01-11
  • IFID wanted. (Please replace this line with a babel template.)
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction.

Release 3

• 1999-01-28
  • IFID wanted. (Please replace this line with a babel template.)
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction.
  • Refers to itself by the wrong version number?

Release 4

• 1999-02-01
  • IFID wanted. (Please replace this line with a babel template.)
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction.

Release 5

• Anchorhead (Michael S. Gentry; 1999; Z-code 8).
  • Release 5 / Serial number 990206 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/7
  • IFID: ZCODE-5-990206-6B48
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction. ("This will most likely be the last version update for a while.")
  • "Since [version 1] I’ve patched up some bugs, cleaned up some code, revised a few puzzles and added a substantial amount of background and history to the game. The story, however, remains essentially the same; if you’ve played Anchorhead before, you won’t find any alternate endings or branching plot lines."
  • Download anchor.z8 from the IF Archive.

Special Edition Demo

• Anchorhead: Special Edition Demo (Michael Gentry; 2007; Glulx).
  • "prelude to a tale of horror"
  • Release 3 / Serial number 070202 / Inform 7 build 4K41 (I6/v6.31 lib 6/11N)
  • IFID: F76B2529-27F8-44ED-B643-C5F03492881D
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Announcement on rec.games.int-fiction.
  • "This is the demo version of Anchorhead: Special Edition. It is not the complete game. You can explore the town, soak up the atmosphere, and interact with a few of the people, but most of the doors are locked and there are only a couple of minor puzzles to solve."
  • Download AnchorheadDemo.gblorb from the IF Archive.

20th anniversary commercial Illustrated Edition

Version 1.0.0

• Anchorhead: the Illustrated Edition (Michael Gentry, illustrated by Carlos Cara Álvarez; 2018; Glulx).
  • Release 1 / Serial number 171017 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)
    Illustrated Edition
  • "an interactive Lovecraftian gothic"
  • IFID: 4928959B-92B6-4304-B07B-EA8B68500BA1
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Announcement on intfiction forum. Trailer on YouTube.
  • "a meticulously remastered and expanded version of the 1997 classic text adventure of Lovecraftian horror"
  • Purchase on itch.io or Steam.

Links

General info

• Website (archive) (for 2018 version).
• Anchorhead (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
• Anchorhead - at Home of the Underdogs.
• Anchorhead - at IFDB.
• Wikipedia page.

Reviews

• Anchorhead - at SPAG.
• Anchorhead - at IF Ratings.
• Review by Terrence Bosky.
• Review by Jordan Magnuson.
• Review (archive) by Emily Short at Play This Thing!

Spoilers

• ClubFloyd transcript (for 1990s version).
• Transcript by David A. Wheeler (1990s version).
• Let's Play playthrough (1990s version), by Grimwit in 2015-6 (with fan illustrations).
• Invisiclues hints (for 2018 version).