Text Based Games

I’m reading The Impossible Fortress; (check out a review). It’s a throwback to the glorious 80s. The neighborhood gang. Vanna White (apparently, she still rakes in eight million annually on Wheel of Fortune). Commodore computers. And text-based games. It made me think back to those Choose Your Own Adventure-style games. You had to use this thing called “Imagination” to play. Here were a few of my favorites:

• Zork (yeah, there were three or four of these),
• Infidel (Indiana Jones eat your heart out),
• Adventureland,
• Planetfall,

And you can play these games online today, grant my kid gave me a few sideways looks. This is just text?

Thinking back, Zork is a bit harder than I remembered. It’s cool to go back and time.

Random Thoughts:

• These games are making a comeback. Although I’m just getting started, Emily Short’s Counterfeit Monkey is off to a good start.
• I do believe the Nintendo Switch is perhaps the greatest console ever made, a product of iteration off the Wii (motion controls) and 3DS (portability). Our more powerful consoles often collect dust.