Ballyhoo

About

Ballyhoo tasks you with solving a kidnapping mystery inside a circus that treats guests as suspects. As an interactive fiction title from Infocom, you parse text-based commands to navigate tents, interrogate staff, and avoid hazards like lions or falling trapeze artists. The plot centers on Tomas Munrab’s missing daughter, with the player stumbling into the case after the show ends. Clowns shift from entertaining to menacing, and every puzzle feels like a carnival sideshow, some tasks involve balancing on tightropes or faking your death to escape. The tone mixes dark humor with escalating tension as the circus workers turn on you. Infocom’s 19th game, Ballyhoo (1986) blends their signature storytelling with a setting ripe for absurdity. With a 4.2/5 rating from Adventure Gamers, it’s praised for its clever twists and snappy dialogue. Players note the challenge in parsing precise commands, but the payoff lies in uncovering secrets behind the curtain. Running on platforms from C64 to Atari ST, it’s a relic of 1980s text adventures that still delivers a brisk, character-driven mystery wrapped in a circus of chaos.