You are a 19 year-old folk singer.  It is 1965.  Can you avoid the draft and get a hit record in the process?  Play the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacree Adventure and find out.

What you need:

You will need to download the Adventure Runner program at:  ftp://ftp.tardis.ed.ac.uk/users/jcw/adventures/run360.zip
The program requires a number of VB DLL libraries to run.  If the program does not work correctly you can download:  ftp://ftp.tardis.ed.ac.uk/users/jcw/adventures/run360+.zip  This earlier version comes with all the required libraries, however, if you do download this version, be sure to download run360.zip as well as the adventure requires the latest version of the program to run.

Then you will need the adventure itself:  it is a file called arlo.taf.  It is available for download as a .zip archive.

To run the game, extract arlo.taf from the .zip file into the same directory as the adventure runner.  Open Adventure Runner.  Under "adventure" it gives you the option to open a game.  Open arlo.taf and play.  Be sure to check that the Adventure Runner screen says "last build 04/02/00" this is the latest version of the program.  Be sure you have this version or the game will not run properly.

Sorry MacHeads, since I am a PC user myself, the game is only available for PCs.

Some hints on operating the game:

Save your game frequently.  There are places where you can be killed.  Also, the software is still being worked on, so you may get an error here and there that could cause you to have to restart.  Always save after you've solved a puzzle.

Some hints on playing the game:

The game is an old-style text adventure in the style of Zork. You will need to be familiar with the lyrics to Alice's Restaurant to win the game.  When stuck on a puzzle, refer to the lyrics.  Sometimes it will help... but not always.  When entering a room, always take a look around.  (By typing look or l)  You may discover something this way that is valuable.  When referring to characters remember to type a capital letter, for example Officer Obie.  The game doesn't always recognize "obie."  If you're stuck, try looking at items, looking at characters or talking to characters.  Alice can be a helpful resource.

Since this is a beta version, there will probably be some bugs and glitches.  Please help me out by keeping a list of any such problems.  (Truly technical problems like run-time errors are probably more to do with the Adventure Runner than the game module, but let me know if you experience them)  If you find you're in the middle of a puzzle and desperately want to type some command (run backwards shouting, or something) let me know.  And if it works great and you enjoy it, let me know that too.

Hints are available during game play.  The temptation to go for a hint is great, but try to avoid it, you'll feel much more glory if you struggle through it yourself.  The hints reduce the point value of solving a puzzle.  But they're there if you need them.

Special thanks to Campbell Wild who programed the Adventure Generator and Adventure Runner software that allowed a non-techie like myself to create this game, and who helped me numerous times while I was attempting to write it.

Any comments or suggestions:  lauralee@speechwriting.com.