**A Nostalgic Look Back at The Colonel’s Bequest: The Point-and-Click Adventure that Prioritized Atmosphere Over Puzzles**
Point-and-click adventure games hold a special place in the hearts of many gamers, remembered fondly for their immersive worlds, quirky characters, and, often, their infamously challenging puzzles. For many, the joy of these games was as much about getting lost in another universe as it was about solving the next head-scratcher. Yet, what if there was a game in this genre that focused less on the puzzles and more on the experience of simply being present in a mysterious, ever-changing world?
This question lies at the heart of a recent personal retrospective on Roberta Williams’ *The Colonel’s Bequest*, a Sierra classic that stands apart from its puzzle-heavy peers. Unlike most point-and-click adventures, where progress is often gated by complex and sometimes illogical conundrums, *The Colonel’s Bequest* invites players to immerse themselves in its story and setting, with gameplay that rewards curiosity and observation over traditional puzzle-solving.
**A Unique Approach to Adventure Games**
Released in 1989, *The Colonel’s Bequest* was one of the last Sierra adventure games to employ a text parser, allowing players to type commands to interact with the world. The game follows Laura Bow, a young woman visiting a Southern mansion owned by her college friend’s grandfather, Colonel Henri Dijon. Over the course of a few in-game days, Laura finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery as tensions flare over the Colonel’s will, and guests begin to meet untimely ends.
What made *The Colonel’s Bequest* distinct was its emphasis on exploration and narrative over puzzle-solving. While many adventure games of its era were notorious for their opaque logic and punishing difficulty, this title allowed players to progress through observation, eavesdropping, and piecing together clues from conversations and environmental details. Crucially, the game’s world was dynamic: Non-player characters (NPCs) moved about the mansion according to their own schedules, creating a sense that the story was unfolding with or without the player’s direct intervention.
This design meant that players could finish the game without ever fully solving the murder, resulting in multiple possible endings. The emphasis on replayability encouraged players to return, eager to uncover secrets they missed in previous playthroughs and to try out different approaches.
**A Personal and Family Connection**
For many fans, *The Colonel’s Bequest* is more than just an innovative adventure game—it’s a cherished memory of family gaming. The article’s author recalls that, while their father, a software engineer, wasn’t particularly drawn to computer games, their mother was a fan of adventure titles like *King’s Quest* and the *Hugo* trilogy. However, the author often found these classics too difficult or unengaging due to their reliance on challenging puzzles.
*The Colonel’s Bequest* provided a middle ground, offering