The Runes of Zendos (1984)

Platforms: ZX Spectrum
Where to get it: My Abandonware

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.

More games like this

How it feels

A sparse, methodical puzzle experience where you slowly decode abstract symbols through trial and error.

abstractpuzzleretrominimalistchallengingmethodicalcryptic

Screenshots

More games like this

Hareraiser: Prelude (1984)
Tawara (1984)
Codename MAT (1984)
Pyramid Puzzler (1984)
The Code (1984)
The Moors Challenge (1984)
Yenght (1984)
The Lost Ark of the Covenant (1984)
More like this game, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.

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.