Retronauts Episode 536: Below the Root
There's nidplace like home.
Relax, friend. Let me pense you…I'm sensing you haven't heard of Below the Root, a 1984 video game based on a 1975 fantasy novel of the same name. And yet, that description doesn't do Below the Root justice, as the lead developer reached out to the book's author so she could develop new material for the game, offering her a chance to revisit a world she created years earlier.
Spinnaker Software brought Below the Root to computers in the 80s as part of a blitz of edutainment products that targeted a broad range of juvenile users. As such, Diamond Feit and Jared Petty devote air time in this Patreon-request episode to Spinnaker as a company before digging into Below the Root and its ambitious, nascent Metroidvania (!?) nature.
Description: Diamond Feit and Jared Petty open their shubas and set sail for the early 1980s in this look at edutainment pioneer Spinnaker Software and their adventure game adaptation of Below the Root.
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MP3, 48 MB | 1:36:00 Direct download Retronauts on iTunes Retronauts at Audioboom
Artwork for this episode by Amanda Pruitt Neipris and editing thanks go to Greg Leahy.
