King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride

King’s Quest VII: The Princess Bride is the seventh installment in Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest series. It was developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1994.

Like the previous episodes in the series, The Princess Bride is an adventure game primarily based on solving inventory puzzles. However, it sheds the icon-based interface of the two previous games in favor of a more simplified ‘smart cursor’ used for general interaction.

In this King’s Quest, Queen Valanice of Daventry has gotten the bright idea to marry off her darling daughter, Rosella. The young princess, however, is more interested in adventuring than marriage. Rosella decides to follow a magical creature into a whirlpool that transports her and her mother to another world. Rosella and her mother wind up separated, turning Rosella into a troll. You get the chance to play as both Rosella and her mother. Alternating the story between Rosella and Queen Valanice, as told in the chapters, the two must find each other and stop an evil sorceress from getting home. It reminds me of the storyline from the movie Brave. Not to mention the departure from the realistic drawing style of the other entries in the series in exchange for more brightly colored Disney-esque graphics.

Fun fact: this is the only game in the series that does not feature a cameo of King Graham. There were very mixed feelings about The Princess Bride upon its release. Some didn’t like the graphics change, while others praised it. There were also a lot of complaints about this entry in the series not continuing the story of the previous games. Taken on its own, it’s a fun, colorful, and lighthearted title. If you give it a chance, you may find that this is one of the most entertaining entries in the series and a fantastic game in its own right.