Hexuma

Lore & Background

The plot of Hexuma begins with an estate agency acquiring Hawthorne Mansion, a house on an English moor rumored to be haunted, where previous residents reportedly went insane. The player, an agency employee, arrives to inspect and clean the house. The mansion was built on the site of a 15th-century castle, and in the 1920s a scientist named Owen Jugger lived there studying its haunted past before dying abruptly. During cleaning, a parcel addressed to Jugger arrives—having been in transit for 70 years—containing his diary, which details research on a cult worshipping the malevolent god Kal, who has been asleep for eons. The protagonist must continue Jugger's work to prevent Kal from awakening and ending the world. Doors in the house allow time travel to five different periods: the Mesozoic Era, the ice age, a medieval mine, a 19th-century ship in battle, and the far future. To defeat Kal, the player must recover five crystal shards from these periods, plus a sixth shard included with Jugger's parcel.

Reader's Guide

Hexuma is significant as the culmination of Weltenschmiede's text adventure trilogy, blending traditional text commands with graphical and point-and-click interfaces. Its inclusion of over 120 images, an auto-mapping feature, and a grid of common command icons made it more accessible than earlier text adventures. The game was bundled with feelies—a replica of Owen Jugger's diary, a letter about the crystal shards, and a replica shard—which also served as copy protection. Reception was mixed but generally positive: Amiga Joker gave the Amiga version 82%, praising its graphics, music, and user-friendly interface, while Aktueller Software Markt rated the DOS version 9.8 out of 12, awarding it an ASM Hit. However, some critics noted the game felt dated and that its music on DOS was poorly ported. A sequel, Hexuma 2: Dämmerung auf der Höhlenwelt, was announced in December 1992 but its release status is not recorded in the source.

Did You Know?

• Hexuma was bundled with feelies including a replica of Owen Jugger's diary, a letter, and a crystal shard, which were used for copy protection.
• The game features over 120 pictures of locations, a departure from classic text adventures with no images.
• The DOS version of Hexuma uses VGA graphics.