The Perils of Akumos

The Interactive Fiction game The Perils of Akumos casts you as Kenneth Connell, an engineer aboard the Corolis space station. You start by performing simple chores related to the station's maintenance, and you end up uncovering a plot related to controlling earth's space program.

The game's notable for some complex world geography. This includes the space station itself, where walking north continuously eventually returns you to your starting point, and a maze of mining caverns that give players nightmares years after finishing the game.

Andrew Walters, who wrote the game in 2000, released a prequel called The Trail of Anguish the following year. This smaller game was a "break" during the production of a larger sequel, which underwent continuous development for the following 12 years.

The game's playable online.


 * Air Vent Passageway - That's what the OSM tunnels turn out to be.
 * Asteroid Miners - You meet dozens of them.
 * Commonplace Rare - Crazy future tech that can protect you fro a missile? Sure, you can get that, no problem. But an apron to hold it in place? Wow. That'll take you a whole series of quests to find.
 * Deflector Shields - You make your own out of the game's minerals.
 * Give Me Your Inventory Item - After collecting naxonite shards for a possible shield, it's a little worrying to have a shady character ask for them as payment for explosives.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears - You probably wouldn't expect a bear attack on a space station. But hey, why not?
 * Hyperspace Arsenal - Lampshaded when you have to carry a large potted plant. You shrug off the logical questions of where you store the plant or how you continue functioning while holding it.
 * Kleptomaniac Hero - Jewelry? Minerals? Clothes? Old cups? It's all good.
 * Magical Mystery Doors - This is really what the sandstone caverns add up to. But the challenge of returning to your cart adds further complications.
 * Murder, Inc. - Three men seem to have something like this going.
 * No OSHA Compliance - A factory in the station actually has a foreman and safety regulations. Once you head for the mines, however...
 * Set Piece Puzzle - Several, but the machine in the factory that you must learn to operate seems to best fit the bill.
 * Space Station - The main setting, complete with artificial gravity thanks to rotation. And you have to fix the rotation.
 * Take Over the World - That seems to be the Big Bad's goal.
 * Unobtanium - Naxonite and peryolitium, whose properties remain... vague.