The Secret of Barron Wood by Alan PembertonView all by Alan PembertonCreator<br>Follow Alan PembertonFollowFollowing Alan PembertonFollowing<br>Add To CollectionCollection<br>Comments<br>Related gamesRelated<br>The Secret of Barron Wood
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THE SECRET OF BARRON WOOD is a supernatural short story in the form of a text adventure. Venture into the deep wood and explore its darkest recesses, where a century-old secret awaits your discovery.
The game was designed to have a retro feel, harking back to the heyday of adventuring in the 1980s. It can be run on a variety of the old 8-bit favourites, as well as more modern computers.
It was intended from the outset to be short and the puzzles straightforward to solve, so that it can be completed in a single session, just like a short story.
Type simple commands to interact with the game, such as:
> NORTH (or just N) to go north
> NE (to go northeast)
> EXAMINE FLOWERS (or X FLOWERS to examine flowers)
> LOOK (or just L, redescribes your location)
> GET ITEM (allows you to pick up an item listed in the description)
> OPEN BOX (some objects are containers)
> GET ITEM FROM BOX
> PUT ITEM INTO BOX
> SAVE (to save your progress - note down the file name you use)
> LOAD (or RESTORE, to load it back in)
>RAMSAVE (saves to RAM, use RAMLOAD to load again)
> SCORE (displays your current score. This can go up and down, and it's possible to get to the end with a score of less than 100%)
> QUIT (when you've had enough!)
Game notes:
The game was written using the DAAD adventure writing system and compiled to the various formats using DAAD Ready (version A1). Images were initially created by AI (chiefly Google Image FX and then imagetocartoon.com). If you prefer not to play games made with the assistance of AI, then try the 128K Spectrum, Commodore 64 or Amstrad PCW and CPC versions, as they are text only. I was originally only going to make versions for ZX Next and QL, but since DAAD Ready offers all these options for other retro micros, it would have been rude not to use them. Hope you find your favourite amongst them.
The locations are inspired by the woods next to the house where I grew up. However, the story and characters are all completely invented.
The current version is: 1.08
Credits:
Jarda "Crayon" Novotny helped hugely with converting the graphics to the Spectrum Next and Amiga/ST formats. Major thanks are due to Carlos Sánchez for extensive help with the latest version of DAAD Ready and also to David Walton and Andrei Tenu for play testing the game.
More information<br>Updated 1 day agoPublished 3 days agoStatusIn developmentAuthorAlan PembertonGenreAdventureTagsAmiga, amstrad-pcw, atari-st, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, sinclair-ql, text-adventure, zx-next, ZX Spectrum, zx-spectrum-nextAI DisclosureAI Assisted, Graphics
Download<br>DownloadZX SPECTRUM 128K 52 kB
DownloadAMSTRAD PCW 190 kB
DownloadHTML 2 MB
DownloadMSDOS 725 kB
DownloadCOMMODORE 64 170 kB
DownloadSINCLAIR QL 4.2 MB
DownloadATARI ST 720 kB
DownloadAMIGA 880 kB
DownloadZX SPECTRUM NEXT 426 kB
DownloadZX SPECTRUM NEXT - CSPECT 427 kB
DownloadAMSTRAD CPC 190 kB
Install instructions<br>ZX Spectrum 128K : Start the .TAP file in your device / emulator as you would any other game.
Commodore 64: Load the .D64 disk image into your emulator or C64 as normal.
Amstrad PCW: Load the .DSK file supplied.<br>Amstrad CPC: Load the .DSK file supplied.
Amiga: Run using the supplied .ADF disk image.
Atari ST: Run using the supplied .ST disk image.
Spectrum Next: Unzip the archive then copy the folder to the games\Next folder on your Next SD card. Use the Browser function on the Next to find the game folder then select the .TAP file. Press N for Next mode and the game will load.
MSDOS: Copy the GAME folder to a hard disk drive. Navigate to the GAME folder, then type PCDAAD to run the game.
HTML: Unzip the folder, then double click on index.html to start the game. This will run on any modern web browser.
Sinclair QL: This zip archive contains a disk image with the Mode 4 version (also as a WIN file for those who prefer that format), plus a bigger WIN file with the SMSQ/E version. The latter requires a minimum screen resolution of 512 x 384, with 256-colour or higher graphics (DISP_MODE 6 is ideal). A README file with more info is included.
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Philsan14 minutes ago<br>On Atari ST the game works from hard disk too.
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Alan Pemberton18 hours ago (1 edit) (+1)<br>Just a heads up if you are having trouble with objects apparently going missing in the second half of the game, type HELP for an explanation. When a rooms"resets" that means everything, including people and objects in that room going back to their original positions. So plan your route carefully.
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IndieRetroNews1 day ago<br>Nice :) https://www.indieretronews.com/2026/07/the-secret-of-barron-wood-supernatural.ht...
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Alan Pemberton1 day ago<br>I have been informed that the Spectrum...