Let's Play Together: Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It

Well this is certainly an Infocom game unlike the others. No frotzing, no unwinnable situations, no feeding sandwiches to dogs (thank goodness). Released in the summer of 1987 for a bunch of different home computer platforms, Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It takes a different route than the standard "go on an adventure" sort of set up that most text adventure games present the player with. See, where other games have you advance with plot, Nord and Bert replaces this concept with puns. So many puns, word play, spoonerisms, turning the dialogue on its head, this is indeed the one game where the pen is mightier than the sword.

Also different is the game's structure: Instead of one definitive route from start to finish, players instead have the option to pick which scenario they want to tackle first and, with the exception of number 8, can play them in any order of their choosing.

And although it doesn't affect the game play, I think it's worth mentioning the game's severe lack of feelies when compared to its Infocom bretheren. A single booklet of cartoons was all that came in the package. This one's just kind of an oddball all the way around, which combined with releasing closer to the end of Infocom's lifespan, is probably why it didn't sell that well.

That all said, I'd like this to be a Let's Play Together and I'm encouraging comments and suggestions for things to try, ideas for puzzle solutions, or just dumb things you'd like to see the text parser react to. It's a silly game and I want it to be a silly experience.

>get ye flask

I love this game. Never played it personally, but I love it all the same.

Alright, so once you've booted up the game, you're greeted with this screen above. There's not much context to speak of really: This is the wonderfully named town of Punster, and it is currently being run a foul of folks using their punning powers not for good, but for monstrous acts of mischief. It's your job to bring balance back to Punster and there's no time to waste! (Especially not on your word play qualifications, or how you got here, or your name even. It's fine, just move along!)

Functionally this screen acts as sort of a hub for the different scenarios you can pick from. Get stuck? You can come back here with the BEGINNING command and try a different one, but you lose any progress you've made toward beating the current scenario. This is also the screen you return to once successfully completing a scenario and getting the password that proves it.

Well, maybe we should go Meet the Mayor and see if he can help us get a handle on the situation.

Or maybe not! It looks like we'll need the passwords from the other seven scenarios first before being bestowed the badge of Best Belletrist and allowed to see the Mayor.

Okay Talking Time, where are we headed first?

• The Shopping Bizarre
• Play Jacks
• Buy the Farm
• Eat Your Words
• Act the Part
• Visit the Manor of Speaking
• Shake a Tower

That cover looks vaguely Far Side-ish.

Let's Eat Your Words!

One vote for Eat Your Words!

Anyone else?

>eat words

This game is probably responsible for a great deal of my life unfolding the way it has.

>eat your words

consume thy verbage

EAT!_

EAT the words

Nice to see another Infocom LP here. That being said, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say Eat Your Words.

yummy words

yum

(thanks for doing this! I'm keen to see an LP of this game.)

Abandoned.

No longer abandoned.