The time is October 1903. The setting is London's British Museum, late on a cold and rainy night. Professor Samuel Hunt, a scientist, is working late. An idle glance at the day's newspaper reveals that a shipment of mysterious artifacts has recently arrived at the museum. Next to the newspaper is a previously unnoticed letter from an individual who identifies himself only as W.K. The letter claims that only you (Professor Hunt) can solve the secrets of the museum and discover the heirs of AGON (Ancient Games of Nations). Attached to the letter is the first clue, an illuminated manuscript with strange references to a Black King and the last masters of the lost board games.

Professor Hunt's attempts to solve the puzzle of AGON will take him to 12 different locations around the globe, starting with the British Museum. AGON includes the first three locations (London, the Polar Regions, Madagascar).

AGON is a fairly typical point-and-click 3-D adventure, although it also includes board games. You move through your environment by clicking; clicking and dragging the mouse provides a 360-degree view. There's plenty of room to move and a fair number of things to look at, but most items are static and don't reveal any information. You can examine objects, save them for later, and interrogate other characters, although you're somewhat restricted to a linear progression. If you stumble across a character before you've found the prerequisite clues, you're out of luck. You'll have to retrace your steps and discover what you missed before you can get any information out of the character.

The setting is wonderfully atmospheric, but navigation is a bit tricky. You are dropped into the story without any real idea of what you're supposed to do, or any information about your character, and given almost nothing in the way of help in finding your way around.

AGON contains the first three games out of a planned 12 games. The boxed version only runs in Windows, but you can download and purchase Mac versions through the AGON web site (http://www.agongame.com). You can also download Mac and Windows demos of each of the AGON games.
 

Pros: AGON combines three interwoven yet different games in a single package, the puzzles are complex and challenging, and the storyline is interesting
Cons: Navigation can be difficult, help is minimal