It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue. PIF *DONE*

Let's face it, modern video games are pretty darn cool. Mind-blowing graphics, intense gameplay and hours of entertainment. I have no qualms with modern video games, save one: they leave very little to the imagination.

My first computer games were text-based adventures by Infocom. I realize that most kids today would laugh at the very thought of them, but to me, they provided a rich experience that cannot be matched in today's fast-paced world (much like wet-shaving). I believe that they truly helped develop my love for reading, along with problem-solving skills.

Did you play these games too? What was your favorite text-adventure game from the 80's? For me, it's Zork. Although, I will admit that Planetfall is a pretty close second. I also loved those Eamon brand text games.

We'll make this another fast PIF: Post your favorite text-adventure game by 11:59PM CST on Tuesday, March 6th. You'll be entered to win my jar of JoAnna's excellent TSD Shaving Soap, Bourbon Vanilla. It's mostly full, so you'll get lots and lots of great shaves out of it.



For those of you who have never had the pleasure, you can play some of those great classics here

 

Plundered Hearts!!!!!! I think I still have that money they included somewhere in my box of childhood goodies...

 

I played a couple in the early 80s when they were first coming out. I found them very limited and it didn't keep my interest, like I'd hope it would. They were just too hard to play. After that I never got into any others. I don't recall the names, but one of them involved a wizard and a castle. Seemed kinda D&D like.

 

Mine was "The Hobbit", circa 1982. I still remember sitting in my parents kitchen playing on a computer that was twice the size of a microwave.

 

Gotta go with the classic ZORK!

 

Sorry, never got to play 'em. My first computer was a Mac Classic (in 1990).

 

Yep - ZORK was it for me!

 

Leisure Suit Larry and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. LSL was a bit advanced and a lot less of a text based game than Carmen.

 

Lurking Horror stands out in my mind. I wasted a lot of time on that game. Zork II is a close second.

EDIT- I just want to say how much I love the title of this thread. It makes me smile everytime I come to TSD.

 

I was relatively late to comp. games...Mechwarrior was my intro (wish they still had it for Vista and 7). But I did play Zork later at some point. It was pretty cool and clever.

 

Surprised that no one has mentioned Oregon Trail.

You have died of dysentary.

 

Leisure Suit Larry

 

I forgot about "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego", we played that one in school (6th or 7th grade I think).

 

Oh my...memories of our DEC Rainbow, with two floppy drives (imagine that), and the original Zork!

 

Oh there was Zork and other games... Many of which I barely recall. I remember sitting on a computer in spelling class during free time and trying what I needed to do with a juju bag in a darkened stairwell.

Then we got to college and MUDs were the thing. A text based adventure game, but multiplayer on the net. Spent a lot of time on the Round Table MUD.

 

Before my time. I started on the SNES.

 

Hey, classic gaming, the very best. Zork was very very nice. Ah, the thrill of finding the door under the rug. Did you guys try to count the leaves in the forest ? Another one I spent lots of time on was Enchanter, but it get rather complex towards the ending. The turtle was cool... Planetfall was nice as well. I still have them all, they were sold in collections a few years ago.

By the way, do you know that they are still made ? By amateurs now, but there is a whole new community on text adventures, only now they are called Interactive Fiction. One of the best ones is called Curses.

And speaking of classic gaming, can't forget an old favorite, even though not text adventure, nethack. Check www.nethack.org for the current version.

 

OMG I totally forgot about Leisure Suit Larry. HAHAHAHA.

Dale brings up a classic with Oregon Trail. I remember playing that is elementary school, but I think my favorite has to be Zork.

 

Asylum for the TRS-80 my first home computer