Archipelagos
Archipelagos is one of those games I tried to play, but couldn't figure out. I therefore refer you to other people's reviews to find out what it's all about. For me it's interesting as a rather early 3D game, and an early VGA game. I originally believed it was EGA only, but when I took this screenshot I found it had 81 colors.
Furthermore it was the first UK game I know that was available only on the 16-bit platforms: Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC. Maybe the 3D-rendering would have been too much for the BBC or Sinclair ZX. In 1999 there was a Windows remake under the name Archipelagos 2000 that went largely unnoticed.
You are a disembodied force in a world of archipelagos — little islands. Floating about four feet above the ground, you travel a chequered 3D world of sandy islands, stones and trees. Like Sentinel, you travel around by clicking from square to square, though unlike Sentinel you have no physical body to worry about, and the world is completely flat. You can't travel very far, but over land, that's no problem, as you can make repeated hops. Over sea, it's not so easy, but if you have enough energy, you can raise land from the water and step to that.
Definitely among the most unique action/puzzle hybrids ever created, Archipelagos is a fun cross between chess, Populous, and a good measure of its own idiosyncracies. The goal is to destroy the 2001: Space Odyssey-style Obelisk in order to free the power that cleansed all of human race in Ancient times. The Obelisks are destroyed by absorbing the energy from the stones that provide power for the Obelisks. But since the stones are far apart, you will need to build vast land bridges to them before you can absorb their energy.
