The story of Zork (and Adventure). I had the pleasure of playing ADVENT (Adventure) on Harvey Mudd's DEC-10 back in the day. Good times …
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Eaten by a Grue: A Brief History of Zork – Mental Floss
Eaten by a Grue: A Brief History of Zork
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Zork was not the first game I played, but it remains my favorite. Those old text games forced us to use our imagination and there was humor. My daughter and I still use the “You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike,” to describe frustration over difficult situations. I first ran across that phrase in Colossal Cave Adventure, a predecessor of Zork, which I played on a Kaypro with a 5.25 inch floppy. We have found it impossible to explain the appeal of text games to her son who is 16 and a WoW fan. Thanks for the memories.
@Ellie – I’ve always loved that phrase, too.
Well, sure, Ellie. Kids who would never pick up a book and read for pleasure can’t understand the appeal of text games. Heck, the youngsters I work with don’t even read the quest descriptions in their MMos! Stories don’t matter to much of the current generation; it’s all about action, action, action. The idea of staring at a screen of text for five minutes while you try to figure out what you’re missing is inconceivable to these snot-nosed young… Hey! Off my lawn, you punks!