2017 – Present

Strand Games - The Remaster Programme

In 2017, Magnetic Scrolls co-founder Ken Gordon launched Strand Games with the explicit goal of producing enhanced remaster versions of the Magnetic Scrolls catalogue for modern mobile and desktop platforms.

Gordon's position as a co-creator of the original engine gives the Strand Games remasters unique authority — he is not adapting someone else's games but returning to his own original work with three decades of additional perspective and modern tooling. The remasters preserve the original text and puzzle designs while updating the interface, improving illustration display, and adding contemporary accessibility features.

The Guild of Thieves — the game generally regarded as the Magnetic Scrolls critical peak — is available now on iOS and Android. It was the natural choice for the first remaster: the most celebrated title, with Geoff Quilley's illustrations at their finest, and a game whose puzzle structure remains exemplary by any standard.

Further titles are described as in progress. Strand Games is not a large commercial operation; the remasters are produced with care and at the pace that quality requires. Follow strandgames.com for updates.

2024

ZX Spectrum Next Compilation

2024 saw the release of a Magnetic Scrolls Compilation for the ZX Spectrum Next — a modern FPGA-based machine that extends and enhances the ZX Spectrum architecture for contemporary retro enthusiasts.

The compilation brings the classic Magnetic Scrolls titles to an active retro hardware platform in a curated package, making them accessible to the Spectrum Next's growing community of users. The release represents the continued commercial and cultural life of the catalogue more than thirty years after the studio's dissolution.

Details of the compilation, including which titles are included and purchasing options, are available from the Magnetic Scrolls Memorial and the Spectrum Next official channels.

Ongoing

Browser Versions and Emulation

Several Magnetic Scrolls titles are playable in the browser today through emulation — no installation required, accessible to anyone with an internet connection:

• My Abandonware — browser play for multiple titles including The Pawn, The Guild of Thieves, and Jinxter
• Internet Archive — C64 and DOS versions playable via in-browser emulation
• IFDB — per-game pages with links to game files and recommended interpreters

See Play Today for the full how-to-play guide.

Legacy

Continuing Influence

The Magnetic Scrolls catalogue continues to influence interactive fiction writers and designers who engage seriously with the form's history. The Digital Antiquarian's ongoing coverage situates the studio's work within a canonical history of interactive fiction; the Magnetic Scrolls Memorial ensures the documentation is preserved; the Strand Games remasters introduce new players to the titles.

In the modern interactive fiction community — centred on the intfiction.org forum, the IFDB, and annual competitions like the IF Comp — Magnetic Scrolls is understood as part of the canon: foundational work that defined what the parser adventure could achieve at its best.

The seven titles produced between 1985 and 1990 are a complete and remarkable body of work. They reward serious engagement; they hold up to the best writing of their era; they demonstrate that interactive fiction is a form capable of genuine literary achievement. That is the legacy.