Posted December 17, 2017
**Beware spoilers from the latest sections of the game**
Flight of the Amazon Queen adheres to the LucasArts school of thought for adventures games, and as such, it avoids punishing the player with an unwinnable state for making small mistakes (such as forgetting to pick up an object). This is clearly seen in the careful design of the game: it is necessary to obtain certain key ítems to advance from one section to another. For example, you cannot leave the plane crash site without the knife, which is used to solve a couple of other puzzles later in the game. In order to leave the Amazon dungeon, you will acquire the glove puppet that is used later in the temple. The game makes sure you acquire the ID that you will need to buy alcohol from Bob near the end of the game because you pick it up at the same time as one of the ítems you need to open the entrance to the labyrinth.
But, speaking to the labyrinth, I wonder if there was an oversight in this design philosophy. To navigate through the labyrinth, you need to feed the dinorat some cheeze bitz and follow it to the next room, repeat until you arrive to the throne/mosaic room. However, it is completely possible to arrive to the temple without the cheeze bitz. They are acquired at the Flöda kitchen, but they are not used before, so you might find yourself at the temple, unable to return to Flöda, and thus unable to finish this section. Granted, it is unlikely an experienced player will miss the bright yellow ítem staring at them, but it could happen. Is this really an oversight? Or is there another way to solve the labyrinth puzzle? Is there an unwinnable state in FOTAQ?
Flight of the Amazon Queen adheres to the LucasArts school of thought for adventures games, and as such, it avoids punishing the player with an unwinnable state for making small mistakes (such as forgetting to pick up an object). This is clearly seen in the careful design of the game: it is necessary to obtain certain key ítems to advance from one section to another. For example, you cannot leave the plane crash site without the knife, which is used to solve a couple of other puzzles later in the game. In order to leave the Amazon dungeon, you will acquire the glove puppet that is used later in the temple. The game makes sure you acquire the ID that you will need to buy alcohol from Bob near the end of the game because you pick it up at the same time as one of the ítems you need to open the entrance to the labyrinth.
But, speaking to the labyrinth, I wonder if there was an oversight in this design philosophy. To navigate through the labyrinth, you need to feed the dinorat some cheeze bitz and follow it to the next room, repeat until you arrive to the throne/mosaic room. However, it is completely possible to arrive to the temple without the cheeze bitz. They are acquired at the Flöda kitchen, but they are not used before, so you might find yourself at the temple, unable to return to Flöda, and thus unable to finish this section. Granted, it is unlikely an experienced player will miss the bright yellow ítem staring at them, but it could happen. Is this really an oversight? Or is there another way to solve the labyrinth puzzle? Is there an unwinnable state in FOTAQ?
