Discworld is a point-and-click adventure game, developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions, and based upon Terry Pratchett’s novels of the same name. Players assume the role of Rincewind the ”wizzard”, voiced by Eric Idle, as he becomes involved in exploring the Discworld for themeans to prevent a dragon terrorising the city of Ankh-Morpork. The game’s story borrows elements from several Discworld novels, with its central plot loosely based on the events in Guards! Guards!
Pratchett was originally reluctant to grant a licence for a game based on his novels, after the commercial failure of a video game adaptation of The Colour of Magic (video game) in 1986. Gregg Barnett, the game’s designer, managed to persuade the writer through offering, alongside an initial design concept, to faithfully recreate elements from the novels. As part of his desire for a large adventure for CD-based computer systems and opening up a new potential market for similar video games, he convinced Pratchett to create an original story that would offer a game based on the entire series rather than an adaptation of one book. Development included incorporating a British cast of comedians to voice several of the game’s characters.
The game was published by Psygnosis and released in 1995 for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and the Sony PlayStation, with a Sega Saturn version released the following year. Discworld proved more popular with European gamers than those in North America, with reviewers praising it for its humour, voice-acting and graphics, but criticising its gameplay and difficult puzzles. A sequel, Discworld II: Missing Presumed…!?, was released in 1996.
