Video Game Vault: "The Legend of Kyrandia 2: The Hand of Fate" (DOS 1993)

The world of Kyrandia is disappearing, and the only way to save it is a trip to the center of the world. And what journey to the molten core would be complete without purple dragons, sandwich potions, musical fireflies and mustard-loving cannibals? All this weirdness and more can be found in “The Legend of Kyrandia 2: The Hand of Fate,” which can be downloaded along with a DOS emulator from Abandonia (www.abandonia.com).

The game follows one of the royal mystics, Zanthia, on her quest to collect an anchor stone that will stop the entire planet from slowly vanishing. With the help of her pseudo-lover, Marko, and his assistant, a giant white glove, she makes her way through six different zones packed with brain-melting, nonsensical puzzles.

“Kyrandia 2” could function as a text-based game — the only “control” is clicking on different objects — but the colorful visuals lend the game much of its quirky charm. With fantasy worlds ranging from marshes to farms, volcanoes to floating islands and ski resorts to log cabins, there’s a lot to see in Kyrandia. The game stretches DOS to its limits, providing much prettier graphics than nearly all of its peers.

But the game's beauty doesn’t stop there. What makes “Kyrandia 2” so supremely enjoyable is its absurdity. From the plot to the puzzles, the whole game is just plain weird. When a giant hand instructs a woman to go to the center of the world, there’s clearly some strange shit going down. But “Kyrandia 2” takes everything to the next level of oddball. Whether it’s the Abominable Snowman who claims Zanthia as his lover, the dinosaur who chases a teddy bear through underworld caverns or the pirate poetry contest, in which the mystic heroine must participate, the game has something to make even the most level-headed player gawk in bewildered wonder.

The puzzles can inspire questions nearly as odd as the game’s plot. Prime examples include: “What am I supposed to do with this bottled ghost?” “Why won’t this pirate let me take his tooth?” “How do I make sweet and sour sauce?” And, perhaps most commonly, “What am I even supposed to be doing?”

In case of the latter, the best solution is often clicking on everything and anything in sight until something happens. This may seem like the makings of a boring game, but it’s just the opposite. Not only is “Hand of Fate” extremely enjoyable, it’s also a lesson in persistence.

The clincher for “Kyrandia 2” is that, above all else, it’s unbelievably difficult. Even those who pride themselves on their problem-solving skills are likely to find themselves at a loss for ideas more than once. “Kyrandia 2” is impressive not just for being engaging and challenging, but also for requiring only mouse clicks. It’s simple, yet incredibly complex.

“The Legend of Kyrandia 2: The Hand of Fate” is no household name, and it shouldn’t be. The game revels in its quirky, obscure niche. Gamers looking to exercise both their brains and index finger need look no further than the disappearing world of Kyrandia. Even those who have never played a game before can enjoy the puzzling universe controlled by the “Hand of Fate.”