Das Stundenglas

Das Stundenglas was only reviewed in German gaming magazines due to the game only being released in German. Das Stundenglas's native German language text was noted as a positive by reviewers, as German grammar can be complex, i.e. a major difficulty in translating English games into German is that verbs in a sentence are at the end of the sentence in German, rather than being closer to their context as with English. Amiga Joker praised Das Stundenglas's compatibility with multi-clause sentences, which are common in German parlance. Aktueller Software Markt noted Das Stundenglas's text and text input as 'more intuitive' than English games that have been translated into German, and praised the compatibility for special characters used in German such as umlauts and eszett (ß). Aktueller Software Markt gave the DOS version of Das Stundenglas an overall score of 6.8 out of 12, noting that its graphics were added late into the game's development, expressing that "perhaps this is because the game wasn't very well made. While playing, you shouldn't pay much mind to the graphics, as this is largely a text adventure." ASM praised Das Stundenglas's comprehension of German, particularly umlauts and eszett (ß), expressing this to be in contrast to other adventure games, in which German grammar "doesn't come naturally". ASM simultaneously praised and criticized Das Stundenglas's dialogue system with NPCs, calling it 'extensive' but "glitchy", expressing that "All in all, my opinion is that the price of this game is too high. For one hundred Deutschmark, it shouldn't have glitches." In their conclusion, ASM furthermore criticizes Das Stundenglas's graphics, notably giving the graphics a three out of twelve, and stating that "Another flaw is definitely the graphics. If the game were text only, its quality would not be impaired. If you're looking for a game that's graphically impressive, you should return this game and get a different one." Aktueller Software Markt gave the Amiga version of Das Stundenglas an overall score of 6.8 out of 12, the same score as their review of the DOS version, stating that "The Amiga version is essentially unchanged from the DOS version." ASM praises Das Stundenglas's gameplay, calling it a "very fun and extensive adventure that keeps the player entertained for a long time", but criticized its graphics, expressing that "The one flaw in the game is the graphics. They were only added to the text adventure after the fact to try to make it look better. The graphics are visually pleasing, but they don't always match the text." ASM expresses that the feelies included with Das Stundenglas help overcome the game's graphical shortcomings, stating that "the story is extensively written out in the feelies. Moreover, the included map is a great help." ASM summarises Das Stundenglas as "an absolutely acceptable game with lots of surprises." Amiga Joker gave the Amiga version of Das Stundenglas an overall score of 80%, calling it "The best German text adventure so far" and that "Das Stundenglas will hopefully herald a new era of text adventure games, and old Infocom games are hopefully appreciated more due to this revival." Amiga Joker praised Das Stundenglas's plot as "philosophical" and "sophisticated" due to its post-apocalyptic theme and analysis of the "chaos and unrest" in modern times. Amiga Joker, similarly, to ASM, praised Das Stundenglas's "astonishing" comprehension of German, particularly its understanding of multi-clause sentences, but notes that the parser requires specific inputs, e.g. inputting 'book' instead of 'booklet' will not be understood. Amiga Joker criticized Das Stundenglas's graphics, expressing that they "vary in quality", and further criticized the lack of sound, stating that "not even a song on the title screen breaks the silence". Amiga Joker praises Das's puzzles as "new and original" and expresses in their conclusion that they "can say without exaggeration that Evers and Niedermeier have accomplished a lot of work: Das Stundenglas makes possible what many have thought impossible - a German language text adventure game that (almost) reaches the quality of classic Infocom games." Power Play gave the DOS version of Das Stundenglas an overall score of 48%, giving the graphics a score of 22%, expressing that "The wonderful and exciting story suffers somewhat under the game's graphical shortcomings. The MS-DOS version only supports EGA graphics and wouldn't win an artistic award." Power Play further criticized Das Stundenglas as 'feeling dated', expressing that "a "Wonderland" type of adventure isn't very modern." Power Play gave the Amiga version of Das Stundenglas an overall score of 52%, stating that "Das Stundenglas makes a far better impression on Amiga than on PC: the graphics are distinctly better looking." Power Play notes Das Stundenglas's difficulty, expressing that the game requires extensive reading and puzzle-solving, and concluding their review by calling Das Stundenglas "An interactable fantasy novel that should appeal to adventure freaks from the very beginning."