Zenobi Software

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Zenobi Software was a 1980s and 1990s mail-order text adventure publisher. The company was established by John Wilson in 1986, with the release of the game An Everyday Tale of a Seeker of Gold. John was already a well-known name on the scene, having gained the nickname "the Rochdale Balrog" by Mike Gerrard of Your Sinclair, due to his work as an adventure tipster.

Zenobi was originally a part-time operation, publishing John's own games, but it but soon became a full-time venture distributing the work of other authors. Zenobi was a popular route to market for adventure authors, thanks to the generous upfront "signing-on" fee that John offered. Adventures were sold both individually and in compilations. Zenobi quickly established itself as the dominant ZX Spectrum mail-order text adventure publisher, with a reputation for excellent customer service.

The Zenobi range of adventures included games for the ZX Spectrum and the Atari ST. "Snapshots" were also sold for use with Spectrum emulators on machines such as the Amiga and PC. Official compilations of games were produced for the SAM Coupé by the Sam Adventure Club. Zenobi games were ported to other micros by companies like The Adventure Workshop and The Guild. Zenobi titles also featured on the cover-tapes of magazines such as Your Sinclair and Sinclair User.

Some of Zenobi's most popular authors included Linda Wright, Jack Lockerby, Steve Clay, Laurence Creighton, Ian S. Brown, Scott Denyer, Jonathan Scott, and John himself.

As well as new, original works, Zenobi republished games by other homegrown publishers such as River Software, Marlin Games, Softel, and The Essential Myth. An agreement with Gordon Inglis' GI Games later saw the catalogue add the games of Fergus McNeill / Delta 4, St. Bride's, 8th Day, Rod Pike and Walter Pooley.

Zenobi was mostly active between 1986 and 1997. In the following years, it concentrated on the "emulation" side of things. John officially declared himself (and Zenobi) retired in 2012. However, he later came out of retirement to pen twenty more adventures!

List of games

1986

  • The Secret Of Little Hodcombe
  • An Everyday Tale Of A Seeker Of Gold

1987

  • Fuddo And Slam
  • Bulbo And The Lizard King

1988

  • From Out Of A Dark Night Sky
  • The Balrog And The Cat
  • Behind Closed Doors
  • Behind Closed Doors 2

1989

  • A Legacy For Alaric
  • A Stroll In Bleak Forest
  • Agatha's Folly
  • Behind Closed Doors 3: Revenge of the Ants
  • Behind Closed Doors 4: Balrog's Day Out
  • Behind Closed Doors ... The Saga
  • From Out of a Dark Night Sky
  • Goblin Gazette Issue 2
  • Just One Of Those Days
  • Retarded Creatures and Caverns
  • Slaughter Caves
  • The Infiltrator
  • Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde
  • Lightmare Part 1 (The Village Of Delvhorn)
  • Alien Research Center
  • The Hit
  • Pawns Of War
  • Pawns Of War 2 (The Infiltrator)
  • Jade Stone (Atari ST)
  • Jade Stone
  • Cloud 99
  • The Beast
  • Crack City
  • Whiplash and Wagonwheel (Atari ST)
  • Nightwing
  • Demigod
  • Best Of The Indies
  • Three Of The Best (Atari ST)
  • The Labours Of Hercules
  • The Elfin Wars

1990

  • Legacy for Alaric 2: The Magic Isle
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Lamberley Mystery
  • The Legacy
  • The Lost Temple
  • Border Warfare (Atari ST)
  • Bog Of Brit
  • The Menagerie
  • Cortizone (Atari ST)
  • The Golden Sword Of Bhakor
  • The Magic Shop (Atari ST)
  • The Pendant Of Logryn
  • The House On The Tor
  • The Oppressed Lands
  • The Boyd File
  • Arnold the Adventurer
  • The Escape From Hodgkins Manor
  • Eclipse
  • Elfindor
  • Behold Atlantis
  • Stalker
  • The Tales Of Mathematica
  • The Case Of The Beheaded Smuggler
  • Se-Kaa Of Assiah
  • Zzzz
  • The Little Wandering Guru
  • The Thief (Atari ST)
  • The Challenge (Atari ST)
  • The Miser
  • Best Of The Indies Vol.2
  • The Adventurer (Atari ST)
  • Souldrinker (Atari ST)
  • Diablo
  • Jester Quest
  • Gods Of War
  • Project Nova
  • One Of Our Wombats Is Missing

1991

  • Curse of Calutha
  • Darkest Road 1
  • Darkest Road 2: 't was a Time of Dread
  • Darkest Road 3: The Unborn One
  • Deek's Deeds
  • Desert Island
  • Diarmid
  • Eclipse
  • Hob's Hoard
  • Kobyashi Ag'Kwo
  • The Bermuda Triangle
  • The Golden Pyramid
  • The Violator Of Voodoo
  • Phoenix
  • Staff Of Power
  • The Fisher King
  • Wizard's Quest
  • Radiomania
  • Arnold the Adventurer 2
  • Red Alert
  • The Treasure Of Santa Maria
  • There's A Bomb Under Parliament
  • End Day 2240 (Atari ST)
  • The Mapper
  • Urban
  • April 7th
  • T'Was A Time Of Dread
  • The Unborn One
  • Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (Atari ST)
  • Lifeboat (Atari ST)
  • Enchanted Cottage (Atari ST)
  • Davy Jones Locker (Atari ST)
  • Into The Mystic (Atari ST)
  • Deep Waters Vol.1
  • Deep Waters Vol.2

1992

  • Arnold the Adventurer 3
  • Dark Tower
  • Dark Tower (Atari ST)
  • Impact
  • Laskar's Crystals
  • Laskar's Return
  • Quest For The Holy Something
  • Murder Hunt 92
  • Murder Hunt 2 92
  • Corporal Stone
  • Stranded
  • Aurascope
  • Jester's Jaunt
  • Aztec Assault
  • Robin Of Sherlock (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Boggit (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Bored Of The Rings (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Big Sleaze (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Quest For The Holy Joystick (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Return Of The Holy Joystick (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Sherwood Forest (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Dragontar Trilogy (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Bugsy (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Very Big Cave Adventure (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Silverwolf (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The White Feather Cloak (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Dogboy (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Jack The Ripper (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Khangrin Plans
  • The Amulet Of Darath
  • The Taxman Cometh
  • The Golden Locket
  • The Beginning Of The End
  • Marooned
  • The Lost Twilight
  • The Shard Of Inovar
  • Venom
  • Kobyashi Naru
  • The Darkest Road (Atari ST)
  • The Darkest Road
  • The Tears Of The Moon
  • Murder He Said
  • The Mines Of Lithiad
  • The Mines Of Lithiad (Atari ST)
  • Ellisnore Diamond
  • Ellisnore Diamond (Atari ST)
  • Treasure Island
  • Treasure Island (Atari ST)
  • Four Minutes To Midnight (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Cuddles (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Quann Tulla (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Ice Station Zero (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • In Search Of Angels (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Faerie (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • H.R.H (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Earthshock (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • A Harvesting Moon (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Ronnie Goes To Hollywood (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Energem Enigma (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • The Extricator (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Mansion Quest (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Pyramid (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Castle Adventure (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Desert Island (Under licence from G.I.Games)
  • Desmond And Gertrude (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Aunt Velma (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Star Flaws (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Raymond Pringle (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Larry The Leeming (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Snow Joke (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Brian And The Dishonest Politician (Under licence from Scott Denyer)

1993

  • A Handful of Hamsters
  • Lost in Time
  • The Apprentice
  • A Serpentine Tale
  • A Black Tower
  • The Krazy Kartoonist Kaper
  • Celtic Carnage
  • Perseus
  • Diarmid
  • Final Demand
  • Tax Returns
  • Crystals Of Kings
  • For Pete's Sake
  • Out Of The Limelight
  • Beyond Eldorado
  • The Mummy's Crypt
  • Theme Park USA
  • The House
  • Theme Park
  • Kidnapped
  • The Escaping Habit
  • Microfair Madness
  • First Past The Post (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • The Quest For The Holy Snail (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • PCW (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • The Life Of A Lone Electron (Under licence from Scott Denyer)
  • Get Me To The Church On Time (Under licence from Scott Denyer)

1994

  • Sam's Unexcellent Adventure
  • Balrog's Day Out
  • Brian: The Novice Barbarian
  • Search For The Nether Regions
  • Man About The House
  • 12 Days Of Christmas
  • The Song Of Taliesin
  • The Bardic Rites
  • Leopold The Minstrel
  • Labour Pains
  • The End Is Nigh
  • Lycanthropy
  • Flameout
  • The Well Of Zol
  • Meltdown
  • The Black Fountain (Amstrad)
  • Sharpe's Deeds (Amstrad)
  • Dragon Quest
  • The Civil Service

1995

  • A Fistful of Necronomicons
  • Beyond El Dorado
  • Curse of Nimue
  • The Dungeons Of Maldread
  • The Emerald Elf
  • The Final Chorus
  • Loose Ends
  • Dungeon Romp
  • The Wizard Of Oz
  • The 39 Steps
  • Civil Service 2

1996

  • Leopold the Minstrel
  • Trouble With Trolls
  • Rhyme Crime
  • Ten Green Bottles
  • The Curse Of Nimue
  • Knight Life
  • Teenage Emergency
  • All In A Day's Work
  • Mutiny
  • Toddler Trouble
  • Why Is The World Round Anyway?
  • Laskar's Return
  • Zen
  • Norman's Lament

1997

  • Hide and Seek
  • Murder Mystery Weekend
  • The Citadel

Links

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