Curse Of Enchantia is a classic point-and-click comedy
adventure game from
Core Design, better known as creators of
Tomb Raider. It is probably best remembered for its often strange design ideas and
nonsensical puzzles.
The game's story tell of a
magical land of Enchantia, where a
wicked witch queen wants to be
stay young for all eternity, but one missing ingredient to cast this spell is
a male child from
another world. The witch creates a
magic portal to Earth, spots the young Brad, who just happened to come to play
baseball with his sister, and immediately incants the
summoning spell.
The game begins in a dungeon, from which Brad must
escape and then find a way to
solve Enchantia's witch problem and
get back to his own dimension.
This game also provides examples of:
- A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far Far Away... - The world of Enchantia as decribed in the manual.
- Anachronism Stew: Lots of very modern things in the otherwise Fantasy world, especially in the volcanic garbage dump area.
- Combinatorial Explosion: There are a whole mess of items in the game you could use for multiple tasks, but of course each item is only used for a specific situation. Figuring out the situations themselves (e.g. breaking a fishing rod to make a fire) is another matter.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Taken to an extreme - death is not even possible. Anything that would kill the player character in any other game is a mere hindrance that at worst causes Amusing Injuries that Brad instantly recovers from.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: (subverted) Brad encounters quite a few dangerous things, situations and creatures, but he can't actually die in the game.
- For the Evulz: The witches who are ruling Enchantia are described as "commiting the most terrible deeds for no reason".
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The witch queen in the end when she is hit by her spell and then destroyed with her own Ring of Power. Earlier in the game, an unconcious bandit vanishes after being stabbed with his own sword (No Body Left Behind).
- Ice Queen: Quite literally, as the game features also a very Ice Queen-like witch who is living in an Ice Palace and has an Ejection Seat in her throne for whatever reason.
- Malevolent Architecture: The evil queen's castle, complete with Portrait Painting Peephole, Surprise Slide Staircase and Bookcase Passage.
- Magic Misfire: And at one point Brad gets Buried Alive when he is transported by a mage into a coffin in an old grave.
- Magic Versus Science: During the Final Battle, including combating a conjured ghost with a vaccum cleaner (Weapons That Suck, literally) to prove once and for all that Black Magic sucks.
- Pragmatic Hero: Brad's no shy of quite ruthless Kick Them While They Are Down.
- Solve the Soup Cans: The game is packed with these kinds of puzzles. Most of the solutions to the problems you encounter will often turn out to be very arbitrary, even by usual adventure game logic.
- Spin to Deflect Stuff: Using a fan as Attack Reflector for a Magic Missile.
- Vain Sorceress: Obviously. Obviously Evil, too (complete with Hellish Pupils and Femme Fatalons).
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