Shard of Inovar

The story behind the game starts with the Eharin, an ancient Elfin race, who created a magical artifact known as the Inovar. At that time in the Earth's history a terrible plague known as the Nagroma, swept the land at the start of winter killing every living thing it encountered. With the aid of the Inovar the Eharin were able to create a protective barrier that kept the plague at bay. However the barrier, the Cairnrue, did not just keep the plague at bay, it stopped everything, so every spring the Rite of Decairn had to be performed to allow rain to fall.

This rite has been performed for many years by Varwield Arthermin who has grown old and bitter. The last time he raised the Cairnrue, Arhermin tried to keep its power for himself. He was defeated by Kiron the Protector in a great battle during which a shard was split from the great stone of Inovar. Kiron took the stone and fled over the Adklaart Mire where, it is rumoured, he is now trapped by Arthermin's soldiers.

Arthermin kept the shard and used its power to create the Naslava, creatures from the Earth's core, to protect him. This brought him into conflict with Rimarlion, Daughter of the Earth, whom he defeated and turned to stone. Before her fall Rimarlion entrusted her sacred amulet to the Laryx people of Mount Hiakron who in turn entrusted it to Sunquat, Leader of the Eharin, People of the Light.

The player enters the game as Varwield Secunda, chosen by your people to serve under Arthermin as his apprentice. For years you have served him but now, as storm clouds gather and the rainfall is absorbed by the Cairnrue, the time has come for the Rite of Decairn to be performed and that task falls on your shoulders.

Shard of Inovar a multi-platform, icon driven, text adventure game with graphics. It can be played with a keyboard or with a joystick. Instead of typing in 'Go North', 'Get item' and so on the player selects an appropriate icon from the panels that are above, below, and at either side of the screen. Another helpful feature is the 'Give item to person' icon which, when invoked, allows the player to select an item from the inventory and then highlights words from the last displayed piece of text for the player to select. This allows the player to select a person from their group without the need to spell all their names correctly every time.

Added March 8, 2020
Published By Mastertronic Ltd.
Bulldog Software
Zenobi Software
Front Cover (France,Germany,Italy,United Kingdom) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (France,Germany,Italy,United Kingdom) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Media (France,Germany,Italy,United Kingdom) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (United Kingdom) (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Inside Cover (United Kingdom) (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (United Kingdom) (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Other (United Kingdom) (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Media (United Kingdom) (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Extras (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Inside Cover (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Inside Cover (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Inside Cover (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Spine/Sides (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Media (United Kingdom) (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
The game starts here in the temple. Messages scroll across the top of the screen, here they confirm the game's authors and then advise where the exits from this place are. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Exploring the immediate vicinity (DOS) from mobygames.com
This is the evil one's lair (DOS) from mobygames.com
A close up view of the fortress (DOS) from mobygames.com
The lair is well defended with fireballs (DOS) from mobygames.com
Aha! This boulder cannot be climbed but it can be read. (DOS) from mobygames.com
The load / save screen means that progress can be stored and the game can be resumed later (DOS) from mobygames.com
This screen is displayed as the game loads. It's the title screen and it shows all the icons around the game area (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
The game starts here in a temple containing the shard. Messages scroll across the top of the screen, here they confirm the game's authors and then advise where the exits from this place are. (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
This shot illustrates the Give command, (the big 'G' icon in the bottom left corner). Having collected the shard the game is now scrolling through the names in the text to find someone to Give it to (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
A little further into the game. Further on still is Adklaart where Kiron took the stone of Inovar (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
This is Arthemin's fortress from afar (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Here is the fortress from close up. Not the right time to enter it yet. (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
Approaching the fortress I encountered fireballs. Not a sign that I can expect a good welcome (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
I guess pressing on was not such a good idea. After this the game restarted. (Commodore 64) from mobygames.com
The game starts here. Messages scroll across the top of the screen. Here they show the game's authors and the exit from this temple (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
The action currently selected appears in the right hand pane. Here it's "Go South" which corresponds to the highlighted icon, the down-arrow at the top of the screen (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
A little further into the game (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
This is Arthermin's fortress (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Still exploring the immediate area (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Adklaart is where Kiron went. I wonder if I should press on....? (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
This does not look good. It's a kind of gaming limbo, not actually dead but that is a definite possibility (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
The game allows the player to reload, save and abort. The same screen / options are available in the C64 version too (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Title screen: Zenobi Software release (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Zenobi Software released the game on a disc, it loads with this warning (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com
Title screen: Zenobi Software disc release (ZX Spectrum) from mobygames.com

Year of Release:
1987

Genre(s):
Interactive Fiction Traditional

Graphic Style:
2D

Camera View:
First-Person

Control Type:
Menu-Driven

Setting/Theme:
Fantasy

Available From: