Category Archives: PC Games

PC Games

The Dark Eye

Leave a comment

Publisher: Expert Software
Developer: Inscape
Year: 1995
Platform: Windows, Macintosh

Review: If I scored games on originality, The Dark Eye would probably have the highest score. One of the few adventures that has no inventory, the player weaves through three Edgar Allen Poe stories, as well as one original, haunting tale in true Poe fashion.

The game begins with you arriving at your eccentric uncle’s mansion, simply on a trip to visit him, your brother, and your cousin. You learn quickly that your uncle disapproves of the relationship between your brother and cousin and a plot begins to develop, growing darker at every turn. However, to advance the plot you must enter the world of Poe’s stories.  The three works you explore are The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask Of Amontillado, and Berenice. You get to complete each story playing both the victim, and the victimizer, unable to change the course of the original story. The farther you advance, the more of the plot you see, until the last story is finished where the game’s end is revealed.

The characters are strictly claymation, in both the real world and in Poe’s stories. At first this may seem like a turn-off, but the brilliant acting (especially by William Burroughs) combined with the dark, ominous setting draws the player into their world. The only drawback in this department is character movement, which is very blocky and poorly rendered (perhaps intentionally, but not to my taste).

However, despite being an interactive story without puzzles, the gameplay mangles some of the tension. To trigger advancement in the story, one must click on various objects on the screen, which will trigger events or, at times, memories or voices. Many times this whittles down to a monotonous exercise in guess-and-check, creating more frustration than tension. Additionally, it is often difficult to discern what direction you are heading. There is at least one time during the game where I kept turning around in circles, pleading for an exit before I was felled by carpal tunnel.

Though the game can be played without having read any of Poe’s stories, I’ll guess that it is more enjoyable if one knows the material heading in. The story and the motivations of each character should make a little more sense. There’s also the foreknowledge of the tragic end, which being forced to endure satisfies any internal sadistic tendencies one may have.

Of course, if you don’t like Poe, you probably won’t enjoy this game. For those who do, I strongly suggest playing this fascinating, if imperfect, campaign. And while I found the final Easter egg to be overlong and dull, those who win the game get to hear Burroughs do a reading of Poe’s The Masque of Red Death.

Contemporary Rating: Medium. What is essentially an interactive movie is not made intuitive, which is amazing when you think about it.

Cruelty Rating:  Merciful.  You can’t win the game unless you die!

PC Games

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon

2 Comments

Publisher: Take-Two Interactive
Developer: Legend
Year: 1997
Platform: DOS

Review: Legend might have raised the bar with this game. They had to tap into many talents to make the game as good as it was. They certainly did not lounge around while this was in production. Inn fact, you could say they put more effort into this one more than any other. I’m even confident enough with that opinion to go pub-lic with it.

And if you could stomach that pun-filled synopsis, you might want to try Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. Based off series of books by Spider Robinson, you fill the shoes of Jake Stonebender, a reserved man with a haunted past, witnessing and partaking in the strange goings-on in the titular tavern. You’ll run into many fascinating friends, ranging from vampires to aliens to talking dogs to time travelers and even some regular ol’ drunks, who all respect one another’s privacy and can’t go three sentences without starting an all-out pun war.

The overarching plot is that our universe is about to be eliminated by an intergalactic council because there is nothing unique about it, thus being labeled a tax on resources. The creator of our universe is allowed some time to make a defense for his project, and decides to head to Earth to see if anything pops up. Oblivious to the fact that end of the world is near, you (as Jake) must traipse through many other hurdles (such as preventing an alien species from sucking all the testosterone from Earth) and help out your friends (possibly by heading to the future to save a certain cacao plant from extinction) in order to pass the time. Meanwhile, the universe’s creator is keeping a close eye on your adventures.

The game starts with the player attempting to win a contest at the saloon by solving various riddles of a pun like nature. The theme for the night (which becomes soon obvious) is classic rock bands.  One clue is “Slender Projectiles + Legend.” In other words, “Arrows + Myth.” Thus, the answer for that riddle is Aerosmith! I absolutely love word puzzles, so this game hooked me immediately. The rest of the game is based less on word puzzles than on quirky inventory-based puzzles that make sense only in the bizarre environment you encounter through your adventures. On several of these adventures, you will have a partner (from the bar) who comments on your predicament and even helps out on occasion.

Your enjoyment of the game will highly rely on your taste in humor, as the personalities and subsequent jokes by this crazy bunch of characters is the heart and soul of Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. There are some logically satisfying puzzles, but many are contrived and feel like busy work. Meanwhile, the game includes responses (in full speech) for thousands upon thousands of actions. While this attention to detail is appreciated, most of the game is spent listening to the narrator drone on about various tangents. Some of the commentary is amusing, but it eventually feels like a chore. I zipped through the first half of the game, but the redundancy slowly bored me right up until the final chapter, when I was happy to see the plot finally moving along.

The other highlight here is the four solid folk songs interlaced throughout, written and sung by Spider Robinson himself. The Drunkard’s Song is fantastic, and the author has released a CD of his own.

I laughed out loud a couple dozen times during my playthrough, and was pleased to see many unique features (and gambles) taken by the developers. But when all was said and done, there were too many flaws to give this game a high ranking, though I would still recommend it to fans of the author, of Legend games, and puns.

Contemporary Rating: High.  Intuitive game, easy interface.  Though, if you’re not a native English speaker, the game would be difficult at times.

Cruelty Rating:  Merciful.  You can die, but there’s no need to save as you’ll get taken right back to where you were.

PC Games

Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter

2 Comments

Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1986
Platform: DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Macintosh

Review: When I was young, my selection of adventure games was, for the most part, limited to shareware (mostly junk) and Sierra games. But while my parents invested in King’s Quest, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and Manhunter, Space Quest was left off the shopping lists. And even though I knew about this series and was intrigued, I never put it on my Christmas list either. So approximately sixteen years after this adventure was first released, I got my hands on a copy. It was well worth the wait.

The premise behind the game is about as sophisticated as your typical plot on the original Battlestar Gallactica. Possibly, this could be the point. You play Roger Wilco, a space janitor with no skills, or work ethic for that matter. When your ship is raided by the Sariens, you must escape and foil their plans to use the Star Generator for their own universe domination. What follows is less of a story but a piecing together of slapstick humor, crafty puzzles, and enough untimely deaths to make Wile E. Coyote blush.

It baffles me that so many adventurers hate dying. This never bothered me when I was a kid, and still doesn’t phase me. In fact, one of the primary reasons I get frustrated with current adventures is that there is usually no way to screw up. When you never have to worry about making a mistake or (gasp!) death, you can go head first into every task without so much as lifting a neuron. For me, that removes the innate challenge that a real puzzle presents. Not every problem in reality is guess-and-check. Sometimes you just have to guess and hope.

220439-space-quest-chapter-i-the-sarien-encounter-dos-the-beginning

With that said, Space Quest does such a marvelous job of finding creative, unexpected ways for Roger to die that I simply had to discover them all. Lucky for me, I found a document on the web that detailed every death, so instant gratification was ever-ready. And with the ‘save’ and ‘restore’ functions one keystroke away, I never became frustrated.  However, I was lucky.  There are two distinct ways to put the game in an unwinnable situation.  One I experienced only made me have to restore back about ten minutes or so.  The other, which I avoided, requires one to start the game over.  It’s unlikely that you’ll encounter it if you’re thorough, but it’s still there.

Other than that the game was very well designed. Not only are most puzzles logical and clever, there are often multiple solutions.  This offers a good deal of replay value and a way for different breeds of adventurers to hack away. The production values are adequate, though the parser is fairly poor when compared to its peers.

But what it all comes down to is comedy. The deluge of punchlines and silly antics never stops, so if your sense of humor is in line with the writers’, then you’ll like The Sarien Encounter.  If after fifteen minutes you don’t find yourself amused, then you’ll be hard pressed to enjoy the rest of the game.  Or the rest of the series, for that matter.

Contemporary Rating: Low.  The parser doesn’t always understand some reasonable commands, which would frustrate new players.

Cruelty Rating:  Cruel.  Having to play the entire game over again by missing something near the beginning is the main reason this scale exists.

PC Games

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

5 Comments

Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: LucasArts
Year: 1989
Platform: Windows, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, CDTV, FM Towns, Macintosh

Review: One of the first adventure games by LucasArts filled me with great anticipation as it is based on one of my favorite movies. I was optimistic as the game was by one of the great software production companies, but hesitant because movie licenses are often botched horribly when turned into games. However, it works here for a few reasons.

For starters, the adventure movie the game is based on feels more like a collection of great scenes than a seamless, timeless story. There are many great set pieces and fun action sequences that take precedence to the father/son subplot and symbolic undertones. One can debate the effect this has on a movie audience, but it’s simply bread and butter for a game. Creating a solid flow to a game with a progressing, engaging plot is very difficult when you must often halt the experience with puzzle-solving. LucasArts never had to worry about this.

Secondly, much of the movie’s charm came from the wacky, slapstick humor and numerous in-jokes to Spielberg and Lucas fans. The producers and writers of the game took the exact same formula, changed many of the jokes, and hit dead on with quite a few of them. They even made fun of their own material, breaking the fourth wall if the joke works. For example, take the scene near the end of the movie where they enter the palace near Iskenderun. In the game, as in the movie, Indy sees a decapitated head roll in front of him. Here, he turns to the “camera” and says, “Yep.  This is the right place!”

15890700-indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-the-graphic-adventure-amiga-t

Lastly, the puzzles have been changed just enough to not be automatic for those who have memorized the movie, yet still fair and sometimes challenging. Many puzzles have multiple solutions, and the game can be made much easier (or difficult!) depending on who you make friends with and who you can trick. Even the obligatory copyright puzzle includes game elements that can make the puzzle easier or harder depending on your adventure skills. There are also four different endings to obtain, only one similar to that of the movie.

And if you get stuck? Forget puzzle solving and fight Nazis using your bare hands! There is almost no puzzle that can’t be solved by fighting, though it is difficult, not all that intuitive, and hard to keep your strength up after five or six fights.  Thankfully, there is no puzzle that requires you to fight.

My only major gripe with the game is the conversation trees. Many of the puzzles revolve around Indy using his wit to fool Nazi guards into letting him pass by without a fight.  Many times, this is done simply by saying the right things. Unfortunately, there are usually no clues as to what may work and what will get you a right uppercut. What will fool one guard will not work with another, even though their is no discernible difference between the two personalities.  So at times it becomes a “guess-and-check” routine, saving and restoring until you exhaust your options and make it past.

Oh, and there is a pointless maze.  @!#?@!

While the game feels dated due to the limitations of the engine used at the time, it is still likely to warm the heart of any true Indy fan. Those who have not seen the movie, or any of the Indy movies, will likely miss many of the jokes and get frustrated trudging through an otherwise mediocre puzzle adventure. I fit into the former and felt it was well worth my time.

Yes, you can punch Hitler. 

Contemporary Rating: Medium.  The random conversation trees and frequent need to save and restore would definitely turn off some.

Cruelty Rating:  Polite.  You can die frequently, and you must therefore save frequently.  But you can’t get stuck.

PC Games

Hollywood Hijinx

Leave a comment

Publisher: Infocom
Developer: Infocom
Year: 1986
Platform: DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodoe 64

Review: Hollywood Hijinx is one of Infocom’s unsung gems.  Your rich aunt has just passed on, and you were the favorite nephew, chosen to inherit the large fortune. However, she needs to know if you are clever enough to be worthy of holding the family finances. She has given you twelve hours to explore her mansion and find the ten “treasures,” or leftover props from her husband’s popular B-movies.

Hijinx captures the flavor of the times and the B-movie industry wonderfully, and is funny throughout. Most of the puzzles are very easy, with only a few mind benders to plunge through. But if you’re just looking for a good time and a few good laughs, this game is great.

1240100-hollywood-hijinx-dos-opening-screen

Contemporary Rating: Low.  There’s a copyright protection puzzle, but thankfully it’s at the very beginning and the answer can be easily obtained on the internet.  But what the modern gamer really wouldn’t put up with is the 12 hour time limit.  When I played it, my first run through was gathering information, solving some puzzles, making a detailed map.  On my second playthrough, I knew everything I need to do in order to beat the time limit.

Cruelty Rating:  Nasty.  You can make the game unwinnable when messing with various props, though it should be obvious that you’ve done so.  Considering you know you’re going to have to start the game over from scratch at some point anyway, it’s not a huge deal.  The game isn’t terribly long once you know what to do.

PC Games

Hero’s Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero

2 Comments

Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1989
Platform: DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, PC-98

Review: Due to copyright conflicts with Milton Bradley, Sierra changed the series to Quest For Glory. They later remade this game as Quest For Glory 1.

Definitely one of Sierra’s finest concepts, Hero’s Quest combines the adventure and RPG genres to create a game that not only appeals to both fans, but has great replay value as well. You can select from a hero, magic user, or thief to complete your quest.  While the paths are virtually the same, most puzzles are solved differently based on your skill set, and you are treated differently by your peers.

I love the game’s premise, and it is one of the funnier offerings Sierra has on the shelf, but the battle system left me shuddering. I prefer turn-based combat rather than hand-to-hand, but I can enjoy the latter if it’s implemented well. Unfortunately, this system is not intuitive and hardly engaging. I found fighting to be more of a chore than an opportunity.

However, I seem to be in the minority, as this game is lauded by nearly all. Computer Gaming World awarded it the best adventure game of 1990. I genuinely like it myself, and would recommend it to fans of 80’s adventures, but the RPG elements here more or less ruin it for me.  I have not played any of the game’s four sequels and probably will never do so.  From what I’ve read, the second installment is even better than the first, with the series gradually getting worse from there on out.

Contemporary Rating: Low.  The parser responds pretty well to commands, but I can’t imagine why anyone would put up with the outdated battle system today.

Cruelty Rating:  Tough.  You can die from hunger or exhaustion, and there is at least one way to die by not having an item with you at a certain time.  All of these situations are obvious and fairly easy to prevent, but you can still get stuck if you’re not careful and will have to restore back to an earlier point.

PC Games

Mean Streets

Leave a comment

Publisher: Access Software
Developer: Access Software
Year: 1989
Platform: DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64

Review: The first of six games starring private detective Tex Murphy, Mean Streets broke ground where adventure games had yet not traveled. The true definition of a hybrid game, Access Software took several chances with the design. Combining inventory puzzles, interrogations, arcade sequences, and even a flight simulator, the developers threw in everything but the kitchen sink.  Either the game would appeal to a wide market, or alienate everyone. Not every experiment proved successful, but everything is held together by the game’s personality.

Tex Murphy frequently tops lists of greatest adventure game characters. While most of those amorous feelings toward Tex likely rest with the later games in the series (where Tex is in his full-motion video glory), the springboard is Mean Streets. Moving to San Francisco in the near post-apocalyptic future, Tex accepts $10,000 from bombshell Sylvia Linsky, who’s looking for answers regarding her father’s suspicious suicide. Tex, obviously a film noir buff, plays the part to the hilt. His arrogant, calculating demeanor is offset by his charm and good looks. He employs, predictably, a cute and innocent secretary, who obviously has a crush on him. He also has an exotic, sultry informant, just one videophone call away. He also has a quid pro quo relationship with one of the local detectives. In short, he’s a well-done cliché.

But it’s not just Tex that has personality.  The entire game oozes cool. The future is as bleak as every good 60’s bomb-fearing prophet would have you believe. San Francisco is divided, the fallout mutants segregated into the bad neighborhoods. The politics in the city are practically militant. Corruption is commonplace. Nobody trusts anyone, including Tex. And everybody has a fucking gun.

The gameplay itself is average at best. With no mouse support, the interface is clumsy. Basically, play goes like this: travel to residence of witness/informant, interrogate said witness on a limited set of topics, bribe or threaten as necessary, get new information, and repeat ad nauseam. Interludes include arcade sequences where you must duck under bullets–they’re slow bullets–and shoot the endless bad guys. Occasionally, you must raid someone’s home or office, steal their valuables (hey, someone’s got to pay for Tex’s ammunition and bribe money), disable alarms, and find more clues.

The arcade sequences are all exactly the same, with background swaps. They’re incredibly easy, and ultimately boring. Further, they’re entirely silly, detracting from the atmosphere. The flight simulator is clunky and also pointless. Nothing happens in your hovercraft other than going from one location to the next, so after the first couple of trips, flying becomes a chore.  Thankfully, there’s an autopilot option available, so whenever you need to go somewhere else, you can simply set the course, head to the fridge, and come back a couple minutes later when the craft finally lands.

The entertaining parts are the typical adventure game fare. Searching residences is rather easy, as you simply select actions and objects from a menu while walking around. But there’s so much to see in every room, and by the time you’re through investigating, you have a pretty good picture of the occupant. The hit man’s got cigarette butts, a blow-up doll, and a briefcase with a tag that threatens the life of whomever touches it. One suspect’s beach home has lingerie and handcuffs lying about, evidence of an affair with another suspect. Try to taste the lingerie? The game responds with disgust at your impure thoughts. Try to eat the two-day old pizza? The game lets you do so and tells you how lovely it was. Swallow the contents of the mysterious bottle? Meet the grim reaper. In fact, there are many entertaining ways to off yourself, a part I always yearn for. And there are also several hilarious pop culture references, my favorite poking jabs at Lost in Space.

Meanwhile, interrogation is even easier, but fun nevertheless. The various personalities you run into are a blast, but besides that, Mean Streets broke a lot of new ground here. Digitized graphics were almost unheard of in 1989, and the actors all pose for their parts well. This was also the first major game to have 256-color VGA graphics and have digitized sound from the PC speaker! The speech is minimal, but what’s there adds more flavor to the game.

The game is fairly non-linear, with clues obtainable via many sources. Having enough money for bribes should never be an issue as long as you steal enough from the various homes you enter. Ultimately, Mean Streets is one heluva easy game (with a fairly predictable plot), unnecessarily padded with the non-adventure elements. But it contains enough great dialogue, characterizations, and atmosphere to warrant at least one playthrough by fans of the series. It’s certainly easy to see why a sequel was soon forthcoming.

Remember, the only good freak is a dead freak.

Contemporary Rating: Low.  The confusing and time-consuming flight simulator along with the keyboard only controls date the game terribly.

Cruelty Rating:  Tough.  You could run out of money if you’re extremely careless.  There are puzzles that have local time limits, but they’re apparent.

PC Games

Manhunter 2: San Francisco

4 Comments

Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Evryware
Year: 1989
Platform: DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh

Review: The Manhunter series is easily the most original idea that Sierra published.  The first game, Manhunter: New York, is not nearly as good as the sequel.  Unfortunately, you pretty much have to play it to understand anything that is going on in this game.

Aliens landed in 2002, setting up shop in New York (and then later, San Francisco). It took them less than three days to destroy the city, and less than a year to end the human resistance. Or so they thought. You have been assigned by the alien “orbs” to be a man hunter. Since some of the aliens’ technology is not as compatible with human beings as they thought it would be, you (along with many others) need to help them. You have no choice. You must investigate humans who are not obedient and report them to the aliens.

You are given a tracking device in which you can watch the perpetrator commit the crime. They are then tagged, and you can continue to watch where they go until the signal is lost (usually when they go under ground or die). You can also manually tag other humans near the perpetrator, and watch where they go, as they may be linked with the crime. You can then travel wherever they did and do some research.

Of course, you must help the resistance while you are supposed to be helping the aliens. Since the resistance cannot be overt, you must pick up clues and look for symbolism which will give you tips on what you need to do. Other man hunters will help, if they trust you. But gaining their trust takes effort.

Most of the game is merely going to places, picking up items, and manipulating them (which is fairly easy). There are also several arcade sequences. Some are easy, some are ridiculous, but only a couple add excitement to the game.  There is almost no typing needed and no mouse support.  You more or less move the cursor with the arrow keys until you land on something important. What makes this game challenging is the keen eye one must have to catch all of the symbolism and apply it to the situation at hand, or one further down the road. Definitely not a game for those who like to rush. The puzzles are long, difficult, and extremely satisfying to complete.

For the time, the music is scary enough and the graphics are well done, occasionally ribald and quite gory. Creepy for sure! Definitely not for the faint of heart. The atmosphere doesn’t quite approach scary, but there are definitely some tense moments.  One of the game’s charms is that real locations in San Francisco are used, such as Alcatraz, the Transamerica Building, Coit Tower, and the Bank of Canton.

While I can’t really recommend this game today to anyone but the hardcore adventure gamer (or those who love gory games), it holds a special place in my memory. And frankly, so does this guy.

Contemporary Rating: Low.  Controls were confusing, even in 1989, and requires playing the original (which I don’t recommend!).

Cruelty Rating:  Polite.  You can die and lose your progress, but dangerous situations are apparent. Saving your game at regular intervals prevents frustration.

PC Games

Top 50 PC Adventure Games: Scales

Leave a comment

To help you determine if the game might be worth playing, each game on the countdown will have both of these scales at the end of each review.

Contemporary Scale

High: Easy to pick up and play, even if you’ve never played an adventure game.  Highly intuitive.

Medium: Some frustrations that gamers today shouldn’t put up with, but is intuitive enough that if you like the story, you’d probably forgive them.

Low: Does not translate well today.  Unless you’re a completionist or the premise really strikes a chord with you, it’s best to avoid it.

Cruelty Scale

Merciful: Impossible to get stuck, and if you die you’ll regenerate right before your mistake.  Saving the game is only necessary if you decide to turn it off.

Polite: You can die, and you should save on a regular basis just in case.  However, you can never make the game unwinnable.

Tough: You can make the game unwinnable, but only if you’re being careless.  Your instinct will be to save before experimenting.

Nasty: You can make the game unwinnable by accident.  You’ll know you’ve done so, but it wasn’t obvious beforehand.  Save often!

Cruel: You have to worry about walking dead without any clue that you’re doing so.  Saving the game doesn’t prevent catastrophe, and it’s likely at some point you’ll have to restore back to a much earlier point in the game and replay entire sections.

PC Games

Top 50 PC Adventure Games

5 Comments

As a kid growing up with an IBM in the 80’s, our choice of games were mostly limited to awful strategy games programmed in BASIC or adventure games.  Our family consumed a lot of these and we often played them together.  I fell in love with being in an adventure where I had choices to make.  I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books, but adventure games allowed for critical thinking.

Most adventure games have required hammering your way through a story while trying to determine what random inventory objects you’ve collected will help you advance the plot.  It was a limitation of the beast, though some games were able to take this idea and still create captivating stories.  The best games were so immersive that the puzzles were seamless rather than obtrusive.

I’m talking a lot in the past tense.  Not every game on this list is from the 80’s, or even the 90’s. Some quality adventures are still made, but they’re fewer and far between, and I’ve had less time to play what’s out there.  I have no doubt there are brilliant games I haven’t played.

Considering all the hybrids out there, what qualifies a game as an adventure?  For me, it’s when the predominant feature of the game that shines through is the story.  The Professor Layton games have stories, but they’re essentially pure puzzle games with threadbare plots thrown around them.  Half-Life has a good story, but the predominant feature of the game is in the action.  At times the distinction feels arbitrary, but I sense there won’t be any obvious games passed over.

I realize some of you have never really played adventure games; to be honest, many of the old games do not hold up all that well, and even the old ones I love often could not find an audience.  To help you decide if a particular game might be appealing for you today, each game will have two scales.

The first scale is how well a game translates today.  If the story is awesome, but the controls are so clunky or the parser so unforgiving that it would turn off modern gamers, then the rating will be low.  If it’s still easy to pick up and play today, the score will be higher.

The second scale will show you how cruel or fair the game is.  Can you put the game in an unwinnable situation because you forgot to pick up that knife on the beach fourteen hours ago?  That’s the kind of cruelty gamers just don’t put up with today.  I wouldn’t either, but I did when I was younger, and I still fondly remember some of those games.  On the other hand, there are plenty of games on the list that never feel unfair.  Hopefully, you’ll find these rankings useful in addition to my reviews.

I have played to completion around 120 bona-fide adventure games.  While to some extent I like over half of them, there are about fifty that I find to be pretty solid and ones I would gladly play more than once, and in many cases, have done so.  See you on Monday for DbT’s third countdown!