Zork I: The Great Underground Empire
Genre: Grue-infested Text Adventure
Platform: Really old.
Developed by: Infocom
Play Now!
The Scoop: Wait! Don’t leave the page, yet. I know you’re thinking “Text adventure? Meh. I’ll come back tomorrow to see what the free game is.” But have you ever REALLY given the text adventure genre a shot? I mean, really-really? I first played Zork only a couple years ago. After Zelda: Twilight Princess. After Final Fantasy 9. After Halo 3. And yet I was still able to enjoy the adventure the game takes players on. I bet you will too. So give the game a shot. A REAL shot.
The game opens with the following now-iconic screen:
West of House
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
This is a great example of a description accomplishing a whole lot, with very, very little. This brief description presents gamers with a world full of possibility. All gamers, even those that have never played a text adventure, probably instinctively understand that they should find a way into that mysterious house, and to open that mailbox to see if anything is inside.
Without spoiling too much, gamers will quickly find a way inside the white house with the boarded door, and will descend into the Great Underground Empire in order to collect the Nineteen Treasures of Zork. Give the game a shot. It might just surprise you. If you’ve never played an Interactive Fiction game before, use the links below. Better to have a guide walk you through the game than to not experience it at all.
Links:
GameFAQS
Invisiclues (recommended! Gives gradually more-obvious hints to puzzles)
MobyGames Entry
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