My folks purchased a Commodore 128 for 'help with home finances' and allowed themselves to be conned into buying this game along with it. A double-con really when it was very difficult to see what if any advantages the 128 had over the c64; or a triple-con as they also stumped up for the book the game was 'based' on, a tome of gobbledygook written by a deranged author known as John Worsley.

Clocking the game was supposed to provide clues that could lead you to real treasure; there were a bunch of diamonds hidden on the Isle of Wight inside rune stones. It was my job to complete the game so that we could all become rich. Four weeks of my life (that I will never see again) was taken up with this codswallop. Go 64, load the tape and within seconds die. Over and over again.

The game is almost impossible to play and the treasure hunt has proven to be flawed. You cannot avoid or fight any of the creatures in the game and most of the diamonds remain undiscovered. I was raised to try to find positives but I can only think of three for Spirit of the Stones. It is possibly the first ever ARG's to involve use of a computer. It could be the first platform game to use a map screen ala SMB3. It introduced a few people to Mussorgsky's 'Night on Bald Mountain'. With just three positives it sits close to the centre of hell.

I hate this game. As a ten year old this game taught me what it really meant to hate something. If there ever was a game that nearly killed my enthusiasm for video games it would be this unadulterated piece of waste code. It is evidence that evil is indeed real. If I had access to a working flux capacitor I would go back in time and persuade Mr. Gray and Mr. Braine (by force if necessary) not to make it.