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Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest was a different type of adventure game

What if point-and-click games weren’t about the puzzles?

Samuel Axon – | 39
A VGA game showing a garden and a player character
The Colonel's Bequest wasn't a conventional point-and-click game, but that's why it's great. Credit: GOG
Story text

Even in my youth, I always loved the idea of point-and-click adventure games more than I did the reality. I appreciated how they transported me to other worlds, each with its own rules, histories, and interesting characters. However, like many people, I often ran up against the harsh reality of solving bizarre and obtuse puzzles in a time before Internet walkthroughs.

I almost never actually finished point-and-click adventure games for that reason—but there is one major exception: I completed Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest several times.

One of the last Sierra adventure games to still use a text parser, The Colonel’s Bequest follows a young woman named Laura Bow as she visits a mansion in the Southern US belonging to her college friend’s grandfather, Colonel Henri Dijon. While she’s there, a dispute breaks out over the colonel’s will, and it becomes clear a murderer is on the loose.

The player spends a couple of in-game days at the plantation, finding clues and eavesdropping on conversations to piece everything together and potentially uncover the truth while escaping alive.

This was the first game to introduce me to the idea of NPCs being at different places at different times on the clock, and that’s a premise that instantly endears me to a game to this day. But mostly, it was great to play a game with the vibe of a Sierra adventure game, but without the frustrating puzzles.

A text field with the words "examine decanter"
This was one of the last Sierra games to use a text parser.
GOG
This was one of the last Sierra games to use a text parser. GOG
A first-person view through a peephole, spying on a conversation
You could eavesdrop on conversations if you showed up at the right times.
GOG
You could eavesdrop on conversations if you showed up at the right times. GOG

In The Colonel’s Bequest, you can even make it to the end without solving the murder, and there are multiple possible endings, so you’re incentivized to give it another run after your first go—that’s why I replayed it several times.

I also appreciated this game in part because it was something I shared with family.

A family affair

A lot of people have stories about playing games with their dads when they were kids, but despite the fact that my dad is a huge computer geek (he was a software engineer by trade), he wasn’t that into computer games when I was growing up. I rarely saw him play them, and it wasn’t until I introduced him to the Age of Empires-like real-time strategy game Rise of Nations when I was in college that I ever saw him get into a game. (He still plays RoN to this day.)

However, my mom was another story. I remember her playing Dr. Mario a lot, and we played Donkey Kong Country together when I was young—standard millennial childhood family gaming stuff. But the games I most associate with her from my childhood are adventure games. She liked King’s Quest, of course—but I also remember her being particularly into the Hugo trilogy of games.

As I mentioned above, I struggled to get hooked on those. Fortunately, we were able to meet in the middle on The Colonel’s Bequest.

I remember swapping chairs with my mom as we attempted additional playthroughs of the game; I enjoyed seeing the secrets she found that I hadn’t because I was perhaps too young to think things through the way she did.

Games you played with family stick with you more, so I think I mostly remember The Colonel’s Bequest so well because, as I recall, it was my mom’s favorite game.

The legacy of The Colonel’s Bequest

The Colonel’s Bequest may have been a pivotal game for me personally, but it hasn’t really resonated through gaming history the way that King’s Quest, The Secret of Monkey Island, or other adventure titles did.

I think that’s partly because many people might understandably find the game a bit boring. There’s not much to challenge you here, and your character is kind of just along for the ride. She’s not the center of the story, and she’s not really taking action. She’s just walking around, listening and looking, until the clock runs out.

That formula has more niche appeal than traditional point-and-click adventure games.

Still, the game has its fans. You can buy and download it from GOG to play it today, of course, but it also recently inspired a not-at-all-subtle spiritual successor by developer Julia Minamata called The Crimson Diamond, which we covered here at Ars. That game is worth checking out, too, though it goes a more traditional route with its gameplay.

The Crimson Diamond‘s influence from The Colonel’s Bequest wasn’t subtle, but that’s OK. Credit: GOG

And of course, The Colonel’s Bequest creators Roberta and Ken Williams are still active; they somewhat recently released a 3D reboot of Colossal Cave, a title many credit as the foremost ancestor of the point-and-click adventure genre.

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Samuel Axon Senior Editor
Samuel Axon is the editorial lead for tech and gaming coverage at Ars Technica. He covers AI, software development, gaming, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and he is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development.
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