I grew up in the ’80s when computers were just finding their way into homes and schools, and I have fond memories of playing all sorts of computer games. This includes interactive fiction, especially Infocom games.
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I chose this game because I was immediately struck by its nod to the early text adventures, especially bringing in the sense of humor that permeated games such as Zork. I also realized on my first play-through that the map was very very easy to draw. This isn’t always the case. As someone who has been spoiled by Infocom’s maps, being able to draw the map easily is very important to me.
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To solve my spelling problem, my father brought home an Infocom game called Zork. He explained how it worked. I would be placed inside a story, much like my Choose Your Adventure Books, only this time, instead of being contained to two choices, I would have open possibilities. The only catch was that I needed to spell things correctly in order to have the game recognize my commands. It only took a single night to fall in love with the underground world of Zork; fall in love enough to learn how to spell in order to explore.
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On April 8, 2014, Austin Grossman’s novel, YOU, will be released in paperback. I’m very excited about this news because I’m such a fan of the book, and now many more readers will be able to enjoy Grossman’s fictional account of Black Arts Games and its Realms of Gold computer game series (with major nods to Ultima and other famous 90s titles). For anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s when computers and computer games were making some incredible strides in music, graphics, and storytelling, the book is likely to fire up some fun memories of a dozen or more games that you likely played or encountered. It’s a fictional tale, yes, but the games and characters in the story could easily have been as real as Zork or Rogue or Ultima and the game designers behind those famous titles.
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To solve my spelling problem, my father brought home an Infocom game called Zork. He explained how it worked. I would be placed inside a story, much like my Choose Your Adventure Books, only this time, instead of being contained to two choices, I would have open possibilities. The only catch was that I needed to spell things correctly in order to have the game recognize my commands. It only took a single night to fall in love with the underground world of Zork; fall in love enough to learn how to spell in order to explore.
Continue ReadingYou’re sitting at your desk at work. It’s another typical Monday: the kids overslept, you spilled your coffee and had to rush home for a change of clothes, and your e-mail inbox is going to take an hour to slog …
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