Discworld (video game)

Discworld is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions and published by Psygnosis. It is based on Terry Pratchett's novels of the same name. The player assumes the role of Rincewind the "wizzard", voiced by Eric Idle, as he becomes involved in exploring the Discworld and preventing a dragon from terrorising the city of Ankh-Morpork. The story borrows elements from several Discworld novels, with its central plot loosely based on the events in Guards! Guards! Pratchett was originally reluctant to grant a licence for a game based on his novels after the commercial failure of a video game adaptation of The Colour of Magic in 1986. Gregg Barnett, the game's designer, managed to persuade the writer through offering, alongside an initial design concept, to faithfully recreate elements from the novels. As part of his desire to have a large adventure for CD-based computer systems and opening up a potential market for similar video games, he convinced Pratchett to create an original story that would offer a game based on the entire series rather than an adaptation of one book. Development included incorporating a British cast of comedians to voice several of the characters. The game was originally released in 1995 for MS-DOS, Macintosh and PlayStation. A Sega Saturn version was released the following year. Discworld was more popular among European gamers than those in North America, with reviewers praising it for its humour, voice acting and graphics, but criticising its gameplay and difficult puzzles. A sequel, Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?, was released in 1996.