NEEDED: A DIPLOMATIC, SYNERGISTIC WIZARD OF THE ID WHO CAN FIT A SQUARE
PEG IN A ROUND HOLE

While most software companies tend to jump on the bandwagons of traditionally
popular games, a few more adventurous companies take chances on unconventional,
-sometimes off-the-wall ideas. Three titles in particular stand out as perfect
examples of computer games that don't always get the attention or the success
they deserve, yet often set trends that everyone else follows.

Originally packaged by Mindscape, Captain Blood may be one of the most original
and misunderstood science-fiction games ever produced for the personal computer.
With alien landscapes and creatures that really are alien, the design scheme
recalls the art of H. R. Giger, whose work filled the screen in the film Alien
and its sequel Aliens. The unusual graphics and surprisingly effective
wireframe animation sequences are impressive-in spite of the purple/blue CGA
coloring.

Captain Blood's lurid name and the unorthodox game play tend to confuse as
many people as the game attracts. But perhaps most confusing is the fact that
violence is not a requisite player option. The means and the methods are
available, of course, but the keys to success-and survival-are communication and
diplomacy, not conquest and destruction. In fact, if you give in to aggressive
impulses, you will almost certainly fail. The object of the game is to
assimilate five nasty clones that are draining your life-force. To accomplish
this, you must locate and establish contact with 14 alien life forms randomly
scattered throughout, a galaxy of more than 32,000 planets.

In a universe inhabited by creatures like Croolis-Ulv and the Tubular Brain, no
one speaks your language or even possesses a common frame of reference.
Communication is possible only through a unique icon-based language that uses
symbols instead of words. It's sometimes frustrating but always fascinating.
Try, for example, to explain the term clone to a three-headed plant creature who
thinks the symbol for duplicate stands for reproduction. This can lend new
meaning to the word challenge.

Freud would have loved Microplay's Weird Dreams, but like the rest of us, he
would probably have gone crazy trying to figure it out. Weird Dreams hits you
with graphics and settings that resemble a cross between Salvador Dali and Rene
Magritte. In this celebration of the subconscious mind, bizarre dreamscapes
guarantee that your worst nightmares have nightmares. There are no roles to
play; no worlds to conquer; no guns, spaceships, or popular cartoon characters.
Instead, you encounter giant wasps, carnivorous rosebushes, a psychotic lawn
mower, and other artifacts of a very sick mind. The objective: Interpret 17
wildly different dream sequences, solving the weird puzzles and visual riddles
that each one presents. How, for example, can a sky full of flying fish help
you get past hopping totem poles? What's the secret of the cute little girl with
a huge soccer ball?

Easy to play, but difficult to master, Accolade's Harmony is the ultimate
nongame. Instead of blowing things up, you must restore balance and create
synergy. Playing alone or with a partner, you bump, pull, or coax like-colored
spheres in and around various geometric obstacles until they make contact and
vanish. Once all the spheres are united, the configuration is "harmonized" and
you move on to the next screen. You can play against time or opt for Mantra
Mode, in which a calm, unhurried effort is its own reward. Either way, game play
is underscored by melodious music and gentle sound effects. And the threat of
synaptic nerve damage is nonexistent.

This could take some adjustment.