King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow |
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Cover art by John Shroades
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Developer(s) | Sierra On-Line |
Publisher(s) | Sierra On-Line |
Director(s) |
Jane Jensen William D. Skirvin Roberta Williams |
Producer(s) | William D. Skirvin |
Designer(s) | Jane Jensen Roberta Williams |
Programmer(s) | Robert W. Lindsley |
Artist(s) | Michael Hutchison John Shroades |
Writer(s) | Jane Jensen Roberta Williams |
Composer(s) | Chris Braymen |
Series | King's Quest |
Engine | SCI1.1 |
Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Amiga |
Release | September 30, 1992 |
Genre(s) | Adventure game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Aggregate score | |
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Aggregator | Score |
GameRankings | 88.75%(based on 4 reviews) |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
Adventure Gamers | |
AllGame | |
Dragon |
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the sixth installment in the King's Quest series of adventure games produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie (created by Kronos Digital Entertainment) and professional voice acting (Hollywood actor Robby Benson provided the voice for Prince Alexander, the game's protagonist). King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.
The name of this sequel is a pun on the common phrase "here today, gone tomorrow". This pun is related to the abrupt departure of Prince Alexander after the events of King's Quest V, where he was just rescued by King Graham along with Princess Cassima, who asked Alexander to come visit her at the end of that game. King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human also contained the word "heir" in its title and also featured Prince Alexander (then known as the slave Gwydion) as the main character.
Gameplay is designed using a point-and-click interface. The player is given a toolbar of the functions walk, look, action, and talk as well as inventory items. This was an evolution over earlier games in the King's Quest series in which the player must perform actions by typing commands in a text window. King's Quest VI was the second game in the series to feature this interface, after King's Quest V.
A booklet titled "Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles", written by Jane Jensen, is included in the game's package. Aside from providing additional background to the game's setting, this booklet serves as part of the game's copy-protection. The player will not be able to pass the puzzles on the Cliffs of Logic that guard the Isle of the Sacred Mountain without information from the booklet. The booklet also includes a poem encoding the solution to one of the puzzles in the labyrinth on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain. In the re-released edition, the guide is part of the manual released on the game CD.