Return to Zork (2017)

Developer: Activision
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Adventure
Rating: 4.4 of 5, 70 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 5.1 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Return to Zork feels like a classic FMV puzzle adventure with a mysterious and slightly unsettling atmosphere, where you explore and solve puzzles in a world of vanished buildings and spreading nightmares.

puzzlingatmosphericmysteriouspoint and clickclassicfmvintriguingunsettling

What players say

Players are split on this 1990s FMV adventure. Nostalgic fans praise its quirky world and challenging puzzles that require thinking outside the box. Others find the puzzle logic incoherent and the plot nonsensical, making it frustrating rather than fun.

Screenshots

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This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.