OBSIDIAN
YOUR RULES DO NOT APPLY HERE

Obsidian is a classic point-and-click graphic adventure from SegaSoft and Rocket Science Games, released in 1996. The game was very popular with those who played it, although it never became a commercial success.

In Obsidian, you're cast as Lilah Kerlin, a scientific engineer who, with your associate (and significant other?) Max Powers, has launched Ceres, an Earth-orbiting satellite that uses patented "nanotechnology" to help rescue the increasingly moribund atmosphere surrounding Earth 2066 AD. The two go on a hiking trip, only to discover a mysterious chunk of black, shiny rock, which grows several feet daily. By the time you enter the game, this rock - dubbed Obsidian by the unsuspecting campers - has formed an enormous tower. After a little investigation, you find that Max has been sucked into the tower, and as you approach the nefarious mass, you too are abducted, becoming a prisoner of Obsidian.

Artwork is quite surrealistic, with environments reminiscent of both Dali and Escher. Gameplay is primarily puzzle based, and fittingly to the surrealistic atmosphere, the first major sequence, The Bureau, is quite Kafkaesque. The game features a popular and groundbreaking technique of the era, interspersing live action video into the gameplay.

Included with the game disks are scans of the front and back covers of the manual, two pages of the instructions (just in case), and two pages of hints. The hints appear upside down to prevent accidental spoilers, and to show you REALLY REALLY mean it.

Warning - this game was designed for Windows 95/98. This workaround claims to run it under XP: 

Before running the game, do the following:
- open the Display Properties dialog, switch to the Settings tab and set Color quality to Medium (16 bit);
- open the Properties dialog for the game's main executable Obsidian.exe, switch to the Compatibility tab and check Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution.

Or if you prefer, included for your entertainment ease, there is included also a folder, "Emulation Station". This contains both MS Virtual PC 2007, AND an install disk of Windows 98SE with Licence Key. I've got this set up on my own W7x64 machine and it all runs beautifully