Portcullis by robinjohnson

The city of Portcullis has been taken over by an evil sorcerer (because that's what evil sorcerers do), and a party of adventurers has arrived in town to overthrow him (because that's what adventurers do.) A retro-styled comic adventure, written for the 35th anniversary of Zork and the 40th anniversary of the original Adventure, in tribute to the drily humorous heroic-fantasy games that dominated the early days of interactive fiction.

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Review Hazelfizz

19 Mar 2026

No complaints at all. Had a blast. Got all 3 endings.

Comment Exellinor

28 Mar 2022

Question: How do you load a saved game? I tried doing what it said, but nothing happened. A little help please! Thank You.

Comment Exellinor

27 Mar 2022

How do you get the elf and dwarf to stop fighting each other? I can't figure it out. Any hints would be appreciated.

Review _xXMidnight

27 Jul 2021

Conquer the castle.
Check.
Defeat the sorcerer.
Also check, along with the 3 endings.
Annoy the chef.
Ohoho yes, I had fun with that one.
I originally thought this was going to be boring.
Looks like your text adventures always prove me wrong.
PART 2-
*cough*
owo.
^w^.

Review WendyW

10 Jun 2021

Fun and interesting, I agree with other reviewers about the Zork-esque feel.

Very good!!

Review gamerkid23

27 May 2021

this is amazing there needs to be a lot more games like this in the world!!!!

Review FromAtoZany

01 Feb 2021

Loved this game: everything made logical sense, and although I ended up having to "brute-force" a couple of puzzles by just trying to give everything to everyone, it's extremely well-executed and a fun romp. The "a-ha" moment (you'll know it when you reach it) was a nice surprise.
One request: can a category be added to the Hints menu of How All The Points Are Scored? I can't seem to get above a 38/45, even by reaching what seems like the optimal ending.

Comment JonQ

24 Feb 2020

Have just started this game. LOVE it!!! Very nice vintage feel. Funny, yet cool in the olde medieval way.

Review greatbo12

08 Jul 2019

Super cool!

Review 9bitAdventures

18 May 2019

pretty fucking awesome-
i like it better than zork even

Review meburningslime

15 May 2019

noooo im a caterpillar its sooo cnfusng

Comment 0hardcore897

03 May 2019

The best text based adventure Eva

Comment Exowill

01 Oct 2018

I bought a beer from Lara and got drunk. Now I figured out that I need to buy a drink from her and drink with the mayor to get the job in the kitchen. She won't let me now though, because I got drunk before. What do I do?

Comment robinjohnson

04 Jul 2018

hannatude: Glad you liked it! I started Dark Lord of Derkholm but I can't remember if that was before or after I wrote Portcullis. I love Wynne Jones's "Tough Guide to Fantasyland" though, so she's probably been an influence.

Comment hannatude

27 Jun 2018

This game reminded me somewhat of Diana Wynne Jones' book "Dark Lord of Derkholm". It was a fun little adventure.

Review blackknight

02 Dec 2017

Good old-school game.

Review GameofChocolate

19 Jun 2017

Super fun, and challenging. Good job!

Comment snazzy ray

28 Apr 2017

Thanks XD

Comment robinjohnson

28 Apr 2017

Snazzy Ray: here's the answer in rot13 (rot13.com)

Juvyr fur'f nethvat jvgu gur ebobg, tvir ure gur ubyl jngre

Comment snazzy ray

27 Apr 2017

How do you kill Miranda?

Review kendrafortune

20 Apr 2017

I really enjoyed playing this game - it's tricky without being frustratingly difficult, and it has the feel of the old Zork games. Everything seemed to work without any frustrating issues around the phrasing you need to use to perform actions. It's also funny, especially that the NPCs are so expendable! I just wish the game was a bit longer!

Review Nixanoro

11 Mar 2017

Very well crafted and detailed.

Comment robinjohnson

02 Mar 2017

@kinglinus1: Thanks! I put in several silly "last lousy point" type actions as they were a part of the retro style I was going for. I'm not sure I can remember where they all are myself.

Comment kinglinus1

27 Feb 2017

Couple weeks of playing and I finally got all the endings. Can't figure out how to get all the points though, great game