''Circuit's Edge'' is a video game developed by Westwood Associates and released by

Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...

in 1990. It is based on George Alec Effinger's 1987 novel ''

When Gravity Fails ''When Gravity Fails'' is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by American writer George Alec Effinger, published in 1986. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1987 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1988. The title is taken from ...

''. The game is a hybrid

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

; it contains a window of text, a graphic window for depiction of the player's current location, and various menus and mini-windows for character statistics and other game functions.

Plot

The player assumes the role of Marîd Audran, a private detective. The game is set in "The Budayeen", an entertainment/criminal quarter in an unnamed city somewhere in the Middle East that is based on New Orleans. While running a series of errands/"business deals" for "Saied the Half-Hajj", a friend of Marîd's, Marîd is framed for the murder of a man named Kenji Carter. Although Marîd's influential patron Friedlander Bey clears him with the local police, Bey asks him to look into Carter's death. Doing so leads Marîd deep into the criminal underworld of the Budayeen. Effinger's novel ''When Gravity Fails'' was the first in a series of three "Marîd Audran" books (followed by 1989's ''

A Fire in the Sun ''A Fire in the Sun'' is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by American writer George Alec Effinger, published in 1989.''A Fire in the Sun'' copyright notes, First Orb Edition: February 2006 It is the second novel in the three-book Marîd Audran s ...

'' and 1991's ''

The Exile Kiss ''The Exile Kiss'' is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by American writer George Alec Effinger, published in 1991.''The Exile Kiss'' copyright notes, First Orb Edition: June 2006 It is the third novel in the three-book ''Marîd Audran'' series, f ...

''); ''Circuit's Edge'' takes place between the first and second novel.

Reception

The editors of '' Game Player's PC Strategy Guide'' presented the game with their 1990 "Best PC Graphic Adventure Game" award. They wrote, "An intelligent, literate, and thoroughly compelling sci-fi role-playing game, ''Circuit's Edge'' is the best cyberpunk game yet released."

Reviews

*'' White Wolf'' #22 (Aug./Sept., 1990)

References

External links

* *
Stay Forever: Circuit’s Edge: A conversation with Michael Legg
(Transcription of an Interview for the Stay Forever-podcast on Friday, March 6th 2020) {{Westwood Studios 1990 video games DOS games DOS-only games Infocom games Detective video games Cyberpunk video games Video games based on novels Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the Middle East Video games set in Morocco Westwood Studios games Single-player video games