Hotel Alien

Hotel Alien is an adventure game released by Artworx for Atari 8-bit computers and the Commodore 64. In the game player's find themselves trapped in Hotel Alien, a six story hotel that has been taken over by mysterious aliens. The hotel was originally run by Grandma, but she has been transformed into an ordinary looking object by the aliens and hidden somewhere in the hotel. The player's goal is to follow clues left behind to locate Grandma, find a way to change her back, and then escape from the hotel.

The game screen in Hotel Alien is broken up into three parts. The left side of the screen indicates which floor of the hotel the player is on along with a map showing the rooms. The right side features a view of the room the player is currently in. Along the bottom of the screen are descriptions the game provides and in some cases a prompt where players can type commands. Players can use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move from room to room. At some points in the game players will be given a choice of actions and can hit a single key to perform them, at other times simple two word commands will need to be entered.

To find clues, players will need to visit the numerous rooms in the hotel; Some rooms have clues and will fill in a letter in a message left behind by Grandma. Other rooms may be empty, have aliens in them, or have other objects that can be picked up and used later. When aliens are found they may occasionally be helpful. Some will provide clues or other information (sometimes for a price) while others will speak unintelligibly. In some cases a mini-game will be encountered where winning will provide the player with a useful prize.