InvisiClues
Encyclopedia
InvisiClues were hint booklet
s sold by Infocom
to help players solve puzzle
s in their interactive fiction
computer games.
Before Infocom's games exploded in popularity, players could request hints by mail and receive a type-written sheet in response. When the number of requests proved unmanageable, the Zork Users Group began a pay-per-hint telephone system. The invention of InvisiClues replaced this system and was revolutionary: a player could often buy a hint book at the same time and at the same location as the game itself.
Questions relating to the game were printed in the book, for example, the InvisiClues for Zork I
contained the question "How can I kill the songbird?" A series of "empty" boxes located below or following the text contained the answers, printed in invisible ink
.The contents of each box could be revealed by using a highlighter-like marker that came with the book. Over time, the ink degraded and the text reverted to invisibility.
To discourage players from accidentally learning what awaited by reading all the questions, each booklet contained a number of plausible-sounding "fake" questions. Revealing these answers usually resulted in a mild scolding. Several "non-puzzles" also had questions, such as the songbird example used above. The answer to these was usually a tersely-worded statement saying "You can't do that", often followed by one or more items reading "This space intentionally left blank
" or, on occasion, showed false clues such as "How Do I get off the roof of the House?" the clue being "How did you get up there?". Even the answers to real questions began with vague hints, so a player could choose to stop short of getting explicit solutions to the puzzles.
For a short time, The Status Line, the Infocom Game newsletter, included "Visiclues". These were just select Invisiclues questions from a couple of newer games, with answers written in a simple cryptogram
.
Invisiclues books were almost always packaged with the navigation map for the same given game.
Though InvisiClues, like the games themselves, are no longer available, a few Internet
sites have recreated the booklets. Typically, either all the answers are printed normally on the site or the user must "highlight" a section by clicking and dragging the mouse to reveal the hints.
The InvisiClues were included in a hint booklet packaged with The Lost Treasures of Infocom
. However, the InvisiClues packaged with the Treasures were not produced to Infocom's high standards:
The clues were not included with The Lost Treasures of Infocom II. However, there was a pay-per-minute card included. In the Solid Gold line typing "HINT" twice would allow you to access Invisiclues from in-game.
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s sold by Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
to help players solve puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
s in their interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
computer games.
Before Infocom's games exploded in popularity, players could request hints by mail and receive a type-written sheet in response. When the number of requests proved unmanageable, the Zork Users Group began a pay-per-hint telephone system. The invention of InvisiClues replaced this system and was revolutionary: a player could often buy a hint book at the same time and at the same location as the game itself.
Questions relating to the game were printed in the book, for example, the InvisiClues for Zork I
Zork I
Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I, later known as Zork I, is an interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1980. It was the first game in the popular Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of...
contained the question "How can I kill the songbird?" A series of "empty" boxes located below or following the text contained the answers, printed in invisible ink
Invisible ink
Invisible ink, also known as security ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and which later on can be made visible by some means. Invisible ink is one form of steganography, and it has been used in espionage...
.The contents of each box could be revealed by using a highlighter-like marker that came with the book. Over time, the ink degraded and the text reverted to invisibility.
To discourage players from accidentally learning what awaited by reading all the questions, each booklet contained a number of plausible-sounding "fake" questions. Revealing these answers usually resulted in a mild scolding. Several "non-puzzles" also had questions, such as the songbird example used above. The answer to these was usually a tersely-worded statement saying "You can't do that", often followed by one or more items reading "This space intentionally left blank
Intentionally blank page
An intentionally blank page is a page that is devoid of content, and may be unexpected. Such pages may serve purposes ranging from place-holding to space-filling and content separation...
" or, on occasion, showed false clues such as "How Do I get off the roof of the House?" the clue being "How did you get up there?". Even the answers to real questions began with vague hints, so a player could choose to stop short of getting explicit solutions to the puzzles.
For a short time, The Status Line, the Infocom Game newsletter, included "Visiclues". These were just select Invisiclues questions from a couple of newer games, with answers written in a simple cryptogram
Cryptogram
A cryptogram is a type of puzzle which consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that cryptogram can be solved by hand. Frequently used are substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by a different letter or number. To solve...
.
Invisiclues books were almost always packaged with the navigation map for the same given game.
Though InvisiClues, like the games themselves, are no longer available, a few Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
sites have recreated the booklets. Typically, either all the answers are printed normally on the site or the user must "highlight" a section by clicking and dragging the mouse to reveal the hints.
The InvisiClues were included in a hint booklet packaged with The Lost Treasures of Infocom
The Lost Treasures of Infocom
The Lost Treasures of Infocom is a collection of 20 computer games from interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, released in 1991. It was available in MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh, Amiga, and Apple IIGS versions, as well as a cross-platform CD-ROM version. Infocom was closed in 1989 by its then-parent...
. However, the InvisiClues packaged with the Treasures were not produced to Infocom's high standards:
- The clues were not written in invisible ink, which made it easy to accidentally getting answers to puzzles.
- Some of the hints were missing
- There were many errors, such as misspellings, mis-capitalizations, formatting issues and punctuation errors.
The clues were not included with The Lost Treasures of Infocom II. However, there was a pay-per-minute card included. In the Solid Gold line typing "HINT" twice would allow you to access Invisiclues from in-game.
External links
- The Infocom Homepage, a site with InvisiClues to some Infocom games