Roberta Williams, who designed Sierra's first game, Mystery House
in 1980, felt it was time to write another murder mystery which lived
up to the computer capabilities of the late eighties. Mystery House,
which was put on public domain in 1988, was the first computer game ever
with graphics, but it lacked colors, animation and sound. The Colonel's
Bequest was developed, using EGA graphics, Sierra's SCI engine, sound
and a music score, as well as featuring a deeper plot and more detailed
character descriptions.
The game has a sequel, The Dagger of Amon Ra, which is also the last Laura Bow game. Both games are also included in the 1997 King's Quest Collection and the Roberta Williams Anthology. Although the original release of The Colonel's Bequest can still relatively easily be found on online auctions, a complete
original game is considered as a true collector's item, as it contains
many goodies which are often missing from second-hand sales,
particularly the Laura Bow pen and notebook. The games copyright
protection is also quite original: the gamer needs to use a magnifying
glass (included in the box) to identify a fingerprint on the game
screen.