''Apprentice'' is a

point-and-click adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

game released on

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

by American studio Herculean Effort Productions as

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for t ...

in 2003. It was created using the

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

development tool A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can b ...

Adventure Game Studio Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an open source development tool primarily used to create graphic adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an integrated development environment (IDE) with a scripting language b ...

Gameplay

The player takes control of Mortimer "Pib" Pibsworth, a young apprentice who always wanted to become a wizard. The game begins with a dream sequence in which he is confronted by Lord Ironcrow, the ruler of the region. Lord Ironcrow attempts to persuade him to become a soldier, but Pib refuses causing him to wake up, screaming. His teacher returns to check up on Pib and informs him that he prepared to learn his very first spell, but first he must find the proper ingredients.

Development and release

The game began as a side project while the developers worked on ''The Find'', introducing the player to the game world and some of its characters. Therefore, the game was criticised for its short length and a lack of any real storyline. Furthermore, the dream sequence at the beginning of the game bears no relevance to the rest of the game. Nevertheless, ''Apprentice'' was praised for its high production values and is even mentioned as a good example of a game created with

in the book ''Gaming Hacks'' published by

O'Reilly Media O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books, produces tech conferences, and provides an online learning platform. Its distinctive brand features a woodcut of ...

.O Reilly's Gaming Hacks index: Apprentice
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309130546/http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/gaminghks/inx.html , date=2007-03-09 cited 15 December 2006 The game won four ''

AGS Awards Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an open source development tool primarily used to create graphic adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an integrated development environment (IDE) with a scripting language b ...

'' in 2003 for Best Room Art, Best Character Art, Best Animation and Best Music. The first version of ''Apprentice'' was released on July 10, 2003. The first bug fix version, which also added a bonus puzzle to the game, was released on the 28th. Two years later, on May 29, 2005, HEP released a ''Deluxe'' version of the game, which improved animations and music and added voice overs to the game. The ''Apprentice'' series is planned as a trilogy. The sequel ''Apprentice II: The Knight's Move'' was released on July 29, 2004. The release date of the last game in the series, ''Apprentice III: Checkmate!'' is unknown. Herculean Effort Productions also released a commercial superhero point-and-click adventure game calle
''Super Jazz Man''
on December 21, 2006.

References

External links

Herculean Effort ProductionsInformation about and free download of ''Apprentice I'' (original, not Deluxe edition)
on AdventureGameStudio.co.uk (home of

)
Information about and free download of ''Apprentice I'' Deluxe
on AdventureGameStudio.co.uk
Information about and free download of ''Apprentice II: The Knight's Move''
on AdventureGameStudio.co.uk
Information about Herculean Effort Productions and their video games
on

GiantBomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' mag ...

.com
Information about Herculean Effort Productions
and reviews o
''Apprentice I''
an
''Apprentice II''
on Reloaded.org

at Adventure Lantern

at Adventure Lantern
''Apprentice II'' review
at Bonafide Reviews

at Gnome's Lair

on About.com
''Apprentice'' 2003 awards
at AGS
''Apprentice'' 2003 nominations
at

Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game desi ...

''Apprentice II'' 2004 award
at

''Apprentice'' Deluxe review
at Obsolete Gamer 2003 video games Adventure games Adventure Game Studio games Point-and-click adventure games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games AGS Award winners