This is the fourth text adventure by Scott Adams in his Adventure Series and 1979 would prove to be a very busy year for the young Mr. Adams. This would be the second of six adventures that he would publish: Mission Impossible, Voodoo Castle, The Count, Strange Odyssey, Mystery Fun House, and Pyramid of Doom.
From what I can gather during my research it would seem that Alexis Adams, Scott’s wife at the time, created the broad strokes of the story and then Scott did most of the writing and all of the programming.
In Voodoo Castle; Count Cristo has been placed under a curse and it is up to you to find a way to break the curse and free Count Cristo.
Mission Impossible broke away from the maze and treasure hunt tropes and Voodoo Castle follows its predecessor down this road. The plot and locations are tight and concise and represent the components of a puzzle box just waiting to be solved. You will find that you are indeed picking up different items scattered throughout the castle but not to score points in some kind of treasure hunt. The items that you find may help you solve a puzzle in a different location or may lead to even more questions.
The ring that you find on the Count helps you to get to a new location while the shield that you find in the game protects you in another location. These are two examples of the interlocking nature of the puzzles and items found in Voodoo Castle. The locations and puzzles found in the game are all very unique and interesting and cause you to sit back and do a little head scratching. The game overall is not too terribly difficult but it is not an easy one either. I would rate this game as more difficult than Adventureland, Pirate Adventure and Mission Impossible. When you solve a particular problem or puzzle in Voodoo Castle it essentially allows you to move to a new location or propels the story forward. All of these little successes when they occur causes tremendous satisfaction during game play.
As the plot in Voodoo Castle unfolds you’ll soon discover that you’re ultimately collecting items to complete a ritual which will break Count Cristo’s curse. Solving the many puzzles found in Voodoo Castle will allow you to get your hands on two different ancient pages which outline the items which you’ll need for the ritual and how it should be performed. The climax or endgame to Voodoo Castle is a real treat as you’re going to have to literally complete the steps in the ritual correctly. It is here you’ll encounter probably the toughest puzzle of the game. Despite doing everything correctly I could not get the ritual to work. I was lucky to stumble across the solution and I will say this much. When you’re dropping items and juggling your inventory you’ll notice that with one of the items the game suddenly asks; “WHERE?” This is a decidedly different response and you should dwell on what that might mean. Good “luck”.
I really enjoyed Voodoo Castle. I felt like I was in an old episode of Scooby Doo. The investigation of the castle felt real and having to move back and forth between locations and testing theories really resonated with me. When you eventually solve a puzzle (on your own) the feeling of exhilaration is indescribable. Those feelings will soon dissipate when you find yourself in a new location with yet another new puzzle to solve but the puzzles fit nicely together.
I eventually broke the curse of Count Cristo but that didn’t stop Voodoo Castle from putting a spell over me. This was my favorite adventure of the four so far that have been created by Scott Adams. He continues to perfect his craft and to experiment with the medium. The overall plot and the way in which all of the puzzles interlocked together would be an influence for text adventures which would come later. If you’re going to try one of the earlier text adventure offerings from Adventure International; I recommend you start with this one.