spondre by Jay Nabonne

"Who is the mysterious old man? More importantly, who are you?"

If you have trouble getting past the title screen, try the "no title screen" version:

http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/twd56p291kgtdttdlttanq/spondre-no-title-screen

(Version 1.1 incorporates a menu fix for the iPad.)

Play online

Comment XanMag

15 Apr 2019

He's alive!! Glad to see you pop in, Jay. And, this game is excellent. Well written and designed.

Comment Jay Nabonne

15 Apr 2019

It seems to be a lot less stable than it used to be when it was first put up. I don't know why, but I apologize for any negative experience anyone has with this.

Comment archerqueen08

06 Feb 2018

How do you get past the title screen, I don't actually want to get past it, I just want to know.

Comment TalonWyrm

29 Sep 2017

Not sure what's going on, but playing it online, I can only get five or six commands in before it freezes completely. Have tried the no title screen option as well, but ran into the same issue. Is this a known problem? Thanks.

Review Sethaso

11 Mar 2017

Wonderfully crafted!

Review YELLOWFELLOW

04 Oct 2016

Very well written! I loved your style of writing and your characterization!

Review KyuJones

26 May 2016

Very intriguing. Very good visuals. <3
I like how clicking some bits first may change what the responses of other bits are.

You are a great writer. ^___^

Review Neverward

20 Feb 2016

Just long enough, satisfying, tricky, well written... this is the first Quest game I've played and I must say it is totally excellent and surpassed my expectations :) I like how the story progresses through exploring the text instead of through verbs. It's more of a storytelling experience with very little interaction, but with enough choices to feel like a really good choose your own adventure book.

Review IFforClassroom

15 Feb 2016

One of the very best non-parser games I've ever seen.

Comment Forgewright

15 Feb 2016

I have only played a little into the game. The unfolding process is very well thought out. It gives the game a very real time feel. I wanted to check out the conversation script you created and was very impressed. Staying in one place but getting well crafted responses shows talent. It has been several years and I haven't seen its equal.

Did you collaborate with anyone on this Jay? That's a lot of work and a lot of imagination.

Review jimjimjimjimjimjimjim123

17 Jan 2016

I liked it.

Review Mufasa

22 Dec 2015

The way I played the game ended it shortly. At first I was hesitant in my responses but I quickly realized it was silly that I had some sense of preservation for a character I knew nothing about. So I opened up to the old man and learned I what I really was. I am left with questioning whether this kingdom is just or are my actions righteous.

Review ADranger

07 Nov 2015

This definitely had me interested. I did not expect the ending AT ALL. I took off one star because the ending did feel a little forced to me.
This was my first text game so don't take my word on it.

Review interactiveguy501

28 Oct 2015

I don't know what to say about it.

Review TheEndlessStoryteller

18 Oct 2015

It's very nice; I like it! The ending was amazing.

Review LHLaurini

12 Oct 2015

This game is very good. I've played it again and got another ending. Very well done!

Review Murph

03 Oct 2015

It is just that. Ok. Great scene but the way the story developed handed me the ending much becore i got to it. Still try it yourself. It is quite interesting

Review TakingFlyte

20 Sep 2015

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I would give this six stars if I could.

Review Porter-Interactive Story Writer EXTRORDINAIRE!

15 Sep 2015

Fun, but it really has a hard time keeping your attention. There's nothing wrong with it, in fact it's actually excellent, but I feel like it just wasn't for me. Still gonna give it a 5 since, hey, why not?

Review Tohab

29 Jul 2015

This game punched me in the face with feelings and failure.

Excellent...

Review 500pops

27 Jul 2015

This was amazing and emersive I found my self in his shoes and almost screamed in real life when the spiders come

Review iwillbegentle

23 Jul 2015

I think the best thing about this isn't the writing, although it is definitely beautiful, but how immersive it is. I felt myself being sucked into the game, feeling the emotions of the protagonist as if they were my own.

Spondre also has so many different possibilities and can become a longer and more immersive experience if you let it.

Would recommend this to anyone.

Review TheBigCat

07 Jul 2015

Beautifully creepy and amazingly detailed. I enjoyed this thing up until the end, at which I began screaming in shock because HOLY RASSILON THAT BIT THOUGH. It reminded me a lot of The Natural History of Fear- which is a good thing. Good job, that was fantastic.

Review MJK

02 Jul 2015

Quick game but great replay value. Went back to get all endings.

Review lightwriter

23 Jun 2015

Fantastic writing, unique elements, unique layout, and absolutely wonderful story! Definitely deserves a 5 star rating!

Review Beastlydog123

14 Jun 2015

I rather not talk abut it

Review origamimaster

08 Jun 2015

Amazing game, really liked the twist at the end.

Review XanMag

01 Jun 2015

Fantastically written - felt like I was in that cell with that creepy b@stard. Excellent format. I've played it several times and just now reviewing. It's a perfect one sit play game with replayability. Short and sweet. Definitely one of a handful of must plays on the site.

Well done, Jay.

Review Jolly Jumbo

29 May 2015

I got really excited about this game, and I think the creator initially had fun making it too. Loved the interactive text and the many objects to look at and interact with. Good writing made it immersive. Backstory and dialogue got me really intrigued and the artwork was great.
However, because of the great build up, I was really disappointed with the ending, because I feel like the creator got tired of the game and wanted to finish it up in a hurry. It feels like it just ended too suddenly, and I was left with a bit of an empty feeling, and sort of just carried on with whatever I was doing before I started playing, not feeling like it gave me anything. Kinda the same feeling as if someone rips a great book out of your hands as you are reading it.

Worth playing though. It's still pretty good! :)

Review oversteve

25 May 2015

This was my first experience on this site, and never once did I consider stopping until the end. I look forward to playing again. Much of what motivates me to do so is born of this first experience. Well done.

Review UnsoundMrBlaze

21 May 2015

An excellent and fantastic adventure and story. I felt bad for being suckered into believing the old man, however it was an experience well learned. Thank you for creating this, because it was a very enjoyable adventure to have played.

Comment UnsoundMrBlaze

21 May 2015

This game got me good. I was surprised and believed everything. This was excellent, with little to no spelling or grammatical errors, at all! Well done!

Review cadetlhk

17 May 2015

Would vote 6 if possible. Amazing ending.

Review MisterPibb316

27 Apr 2015

The descriptions are truly unnerving, and the interface provides for an immersive experience. The presence of multiple endings is also a plus. On the other end, my issues are that this game is on the short side, and in my mind a truly great text adventure should have an inclusion of puzzles or some other challenge. With that said, I recommend playing this game. A good game, and a greater story.

Review Isaiah535

24 Apr 2015

Nicely done. I've been sucked in and I can't wait to come back and finish this game.

Review DerekTheStoryTeller

16 Apr 2015

I really was sucked into this game. Well done. It makes me want to try something myself.

Review Happykid44

04 Apr 2015

I quite enjoyed myself with this game.

Comment deedottiedot

08 Mar 2015

I enjoyed this game and would definitely play it again to see what happens with other results. Well written! Thanks for creating it.

Review sweetalker

04 Feb 2015

Really liked this!

Comment mick green

11 Jan 2015

Great experience - really plays tricks on the mind - very well written.

Review Nahnsu

07 Jan 2015

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review Marzipan

01 Jan 2015

I played this a couple weeks ago and I'm waaay overdue on reviewing it. It's a VERY impressive game and I hope you're really friggin' proud and happy with it because you have every reason to be! The presentation alone blew me away; all your tricks with the title screen and text, even the tips and help section take what would have been a fantastic game in its own right and turn it into something amazingly slick and professional.

Now, as for the plot itself, I hesitate to even discuss it here because new players deserve to experience it for themselves without being spoiled. So I'll just say that during my first playthough there was a segment (you know the one...) that was absolutely horrifying, I mean you tapped into one of my worst phobias and I was literally short of breath and REALLY hoping you weren't going to put too much detail into what I thought was about to happen...and then the ending happened, which in hindsight was even more disturbing.

I was only able to ever find four out of five endings, but I'll give it another try soon and see if I can figure out the last one. If not expect me to PM you on the forum soon...don't want to ask here because obviously that'd require some pretty massive spoilers.

One thing I did want to ask though, is whether the paragraph of writing I found is a quote from anywhere in particular, or something you came up with just for the game? Google didn't know what to make of it.

Review zap

29 Dec 2014

Great writing and a memorable setting. Definitely worth playing.

Review boomtown58

27 Dec 2014

Haven't played a game like this in years but am so glad I stumbled upon this one! I was hooked from the start! Do yourself a favor and experience this story

Comment RollTheBones

20 Dec 2014

I'm new, so this is the first game I've played but it is brilliant!

Comment TextAdventure101

16 Dec 2014

I was recording a play through of your game and apparently a bug or glitch happened where I couldn't talk to the old man about the prison I tried to do something else but it said "unexpected menu response" if you would like to see the video for myself I have the link to my YouTube channel right here,
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFzEdU8K1d1kMQAxv1D6ig

Review adrao

14 Dec 2014

An excellent game... I was part of the original testing of the game and I can say that it is a very clever (if a bit short) game, that keeps you wondering what is going on. The interface is particularly nice, which means you can sort of click around and explore the text within the game, a very interesting idea!. There are several possible endings, and thus there is a nice sense of re-playability, with each game further helping to understand what has happened.

Comment Jay Nabonne

14 Dec 2014

Father, did this happen just once, or does it happen for you all the time? I know the Quest web player can be quite slow sometimes (sometimes it even just locks up for me), and I know a second click can do bad things. I'm just worried since this hasn't shown up before, and I can't get it to happen, but two people have reported something like this. I do hope if you play again, you won't hit the problem. (But if you do, I'd love to see the command sequence you input. :) )

Review Father Thyme

13 Dec 2014

The atmosphere and invention of this game bordered on genius. The fact that it was short did not matter. So much was fitted into a small space. The best game I have ever played.

Comment Father Thyme

13 Dec 2014

A wonderful game . I encountered one slight problem. The options "look or speak to strange figure " both returned "unexpected menu response" repeated every time they were tried. By clicking elsewhere I could continue the game nevertheless. It may just be me messing the game up or a genuine bug, I don't know. This does not detract from the awesomely written and innovative game. I wish I could write to this standard.

Review Silver

11 Dec 2014

Beautifully written and well presented, Jay raises the bar and reveals to the rest of us the limitless design possibilities when spending a bit of time and digging a little deeper under the surface of of Quest's GUI. Looking forward to seeing what direction his next offering takes us in.

Review jdpjdpjdp

11 Dec 2014

I really enjoyed this, for two reasons: 1) very well written and conceived, and 2) your unconventional interface is a cooler, slicker version of something I'm playing around with -- I'm a programming novice, so yours is just WAY better than mine, but it was great to see it in an actual, fully realized game and have a sense for how it can work. So thank you for that.

The only reason I fall shy of five stars is because as the game progresses there are fewer and fewer parts of the text that offer new content when clicked. Almost everything in those early scenes gave you something, so when that became less and less the case it was a tiny bit disappointing. Still, a great example of a compact, fully realized story/game experience!

Review Craig Dutton

11 Dec 2014

I've only started playing and the detail is excellent. What impressed me is the presentation of the game. I would really be interested in how (in simplest terms) you programmed it making typing a thing of the past?

Review Avantar1975

11 Dec 2014

You may not know this but I did test your beta version in and out. :-)
The intro is even better than I remembered. To me this is good science fiction and very well written. It is something new and fresh that sets it apart from the usual limited options. I like different and new.
The story could have been a tad longer and then hoped for the 'Save' button to be working. I also ran into an error when looking at the strange figure - that did not happen in the beta.

This title deserves every star. Well done!

Review ejm29

11 Dec 2014

A amazing game. The level of detail is wonderful, the story is thrilling and existing. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this and I highly recommend this superb game.