From bluerenga.blog
1 1
Uncle Harry has died! You are called to his house on the east coast of the country to hear the will. The will leaves everything to you! The only problem is that he failed to tell where “everything”…
#history #videogames #retrogaming #adventuregame #textadventure #interactivefiction
on Sep 6
From bluerenga.blog
0 1
Brytta, 11th King of Rohan, was not to be given a peaceful reign, despite being beloved by all and given the name Léofa. The War of the Dwarves and the Orcs had caused numerous orcs to leave their …
on Sat, 4PM
From bluerenga.blog
Das Geheimnisvolle Haus (1981)
0 2
Germany got a jump start on computing early. The earliest “real computer”, arguably, was via Konrad Zuse with his Z3 in 1941; fortunately for Zuse’s modern reputation, it failed t…
on Tue, 3AM
From bluerenga.blog
Critical Mass: You and Your Flimsy Keyboard Won’t Stop Me
0 0
I’ve saved the world. On my Apple II simulacrum, at least. Read my previous posts on Critical Mass here. I was stuck on multiple things, but I went for the mini-game first. This involved wate…
on Nov 9
From bluerenga.blog
Critical Mass: Where in the World is Carmen Stupertino
0 0
(Continued from my previous post.) Just as a reminder, this game involves multiple cities that are going to go nuclear, and we have to go globe-trotting to stop the mad bomber. (Or evil corporation…
on Nov 7
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
The Ohio Scientific computer has been one of our more oddball and forgotten platforms, but due to the efforts of Aardvark there nevertheless was a set of original text adventures for the platform (…
on Nov 5
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
One thing that’s felt unusual about the All the Adventures project compared to studying, say, short story authors, is the vast number of people in the early days “just passing through&#…
on Oct 30
From bluerenga.blog
Adventures (1974-1982): Lost Media and Otherwise Unplayable Games (Part 2)
0 0
This continues my previous post identifying adventure games that we don’t have access to at this time, to the best of my knowledge. These new entries have been drawn out of the comments there…
on Oct 28
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
I’d like to start today’s game by talking about something that doesn’t seem special at first but has a remarkable history behind it. Specifically, the REM statements at the start …
on Oct 26
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
I’ve finished the game. This continues from my previous post. After getting by the snake (which was a matter of realizing I could take an item from a room even though it doesn’t get des…
on Oct 24
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
You’re on a pasture. Straight ahead you see a strange vehicle which appears to be a spacecraft of some sort. You are being drawn closer and closer, as if by sone magnetic force… Through…
on Oct 23
From bluerenga.blog
Whembly Castle: HUNG TILL HE DIED
0 0
(My posts on this game in order are here. You should read my previous posts about this game first.) I’ve finished, and this was an enormous slog. I left off last time on a moment I felt was g…
on Oct 19
From bluerenga.blog
Raspion Adventure: The Secret Treasures of Syl
0 0
I’ve finished the game; this is continued from my last post. First off, RavenWorks cleared something up for me: that SLIT message was referring to the acronym that goes with the “say Ly…
on Oct 7
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
While General Electric (the company originating with Edison in 1878) is not much remembered for computers now, they were involved quite early. They started a relationship with the Air Force in 1948…
on Oct 6
From bluerenga.blog
Derelict: The Thief of Immortality
0 0
(Previous posts here.) I’ve finished the game. Just like Dungeon Adventure was an anti-Zork of sorts, this can be thought of as an anti-Starcross, both in a negative and a positive way. Voltg…
on Oct 2
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
(Continued from my previous posts.) I’ve now utilized the teleportation booths, visiting both an asteroid and an alien city. I haven’t found any way to extend my oxygen (or swap the hel…
on Sep 30
From bluerenga.blog
Derelict: Blasted Into Eternity
0 0
(Continued from my previous post.) I’ve got the layout now, and this is very similar to Starcross in that a complete layout of the ship is really needed before puzzle-solving can begin in ear…
on Sep 29
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
Aardvark is a company I’d never heard of before starting the project, but we’ve spent an awful lot of time with now. They originally wrote their games targeted at the ludicrously small-…
on Sep 27
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
This is, as far as I can find, the only game or article of any kind by Stewart F. Rush. It comes froms a BASIC type-in listing printed in the January 1982 edition of Creative Computing (the same on…
on Sep 25
From bluerenga.blog
Dungeon Adventure: You Seem to Have Survived
0 0
I have finished the game; my previous posts on this game are needed to understand this one. A recent discussion that happened with Starcross is relevant here. In that game, the player is taking a &…
on Sep 23
From bluerenga.blog
Dungeon Adventure: Our Doom Is to Remain Here Whilst He Lives
0 0
(Continued from my previous posts, which are needed to make sense of this one.) I’ve managed to get into the black tower, and … wow. One quick thing first: I have managed to resolve my …
on Sep 21
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
(Continued from my previous posts here.) I made progress last time mostly on the giant towers full of traps. Before getting too deep in, I should mention I’ve now played around with a third p…
on Sep 21
From bluerenga.blog
Dungeon Adventure: Not Authorised
0 1
(Continued from my previous posts.) I haven’t had time to play much, but I did resolve something major that’s worth a post: how the teleportation system works. First, though, the puzzle…
on Sep 18
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
(You can read my posts about Dungeon Adventure in order here.) I’ve finally hit the scene such that this cover (used on later printings of the game) makes sense: I’m just going to divid…
on Sep 16
From bluerenga.blog
Dungeon Adventure: I’ll Strengthen the Flames of Your Soul
0 0
(Continued from my previous post.) This time around I’ve stopped at a good progress point to give an update rather than getting stopped by the game, so that’s a good sign. The character…
on Sep 14
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
A day has passed since the success of Adventure Quest and jubilation reigns in Valaii! At sunset yesterday the city was beseiged by a sea of orcs, with more arriving every hour, and it seemed that …
on Sep 14
From bluerenga.blog
Des Cavernes dans le poquette: Objects énigmatiques
0 0
(This continues from my previous post about this French game for the Tandy PC-1 Pocket Computer.) Last time, my two issues with Des Cavernes were (a.) I only had a “simulator” and not a…
on Sep 13
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
For All the Adventures we’ve gone through multiple diskmags and tapemags now, like Cursor for the Commodore PET, Softdisk for Apple II, and CLOAD for TRS-80 (along with its spinoff for Tandy …
on Sep 12
From bluerenga.blog
Uncle Harry’s Will: The End of the Search
0 1
I have finished the game. For reasons you will discover I may have been the first person to finish the game since the author. (You can read my entries on Uncle Harry’s Will in order here.) Wh…
on Sep 9
From bluerenga.blog
Uncle Harry’s Will: What’s Behind Me Is Not Important
0 0
(Continued from my previous post.) I did finally get to grips with the monstrous map, and I even included the whole thing so far as a 4143 by 2839 image file, but first a few words on rallies vs. r…
on Sep 7
From bluerenga.blog
Adventures (1974-1982): Lost Media and Otherwise Unplayable Games
0 1
This lists, straightforwardly, the games I know about that are missing, or have some technical barrier to playing them. Most of these were unearthed by people other than myself. Many are from the f…
on Sep 2
From bluerenga.blog
Starcross: Death and Transfiguration
0 1
Your score would be 400 (total of 400 points), in 507 moves. You can read my prior posts on Starcross at this link. For those avoiding the ending, now is the time to veer away. I was rather close t…
on Sep 1
From bluerenga.blog
Starcross: No Matter How Hard You Try
0 1
(My previous posts on Starcross are here.) I’ve made enough incremental progress for a report. I was hoping to have everything on the “main floor” wrapped up, but alas, one puzzle…
on Sep 1
From bluerenga.blog
Starcross: This Area Will Be Marked
0 1
(You should read my previous three posts about Starcross before this one.) I’ve made enough progress to feel like I’m “close” to finishing, yet I simultaneously feel far awa…
on Aug 30
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
(You can read my Starcross posts in order with this link.) As I am sure is obvious to my long-time readers, I am a huge fan of puzzles, and would have been just as happy doing an All the Puzzle Gam…
on Aug 29
From bluerenga.blog
Starcross: They Would Be Disappointed if They Knew
0 0
(This continues my previous post.) I mostly did mapping without puzzle solving. There’s a lot to take in. Before I start showing maps, I should mention this game describes directions in terms…
on Aug 27
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
“Just as Mark is almost entirely responsible for Deadline, Starcross is mostly mine,” Lebling smiles. “I have always been a science fiction fan and have wanted to do an adventure …
on Aug 26
From bluerenga.blog
Haunted House (Apex Trading, 1982)
0 1
From Apex Trading (and the proprietor, Vince Apps) we have seen the games Devil’s Island (open world that started with a real-time puzzle using a turn-based puzzle), Forbidden City (lots of r…
on Aug 25
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
This is the third time Star Trek has appeared on this blog. First came Trek Adventure (1980) by the oddball company Aardvark, with a parser meant for a system with a tight memory limit; the game it…
on Aug 23
From bluerenga.blog
Cracks of Doom: Update on “First Commercial Tolkien Game” Status
0 0
Bonus post! This is thanks to Gus Brasil who commented in my last post. I mentioned a 1979 North Star game (Middle Earth) which might be somehow related to Tolkien, although the situation was ambig…
on Aug 23
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
Howard W. Sams — previously employed for Goodyear and General Battery — eventually landed at the battery manufacturer P.R. Mallory during the 1930s (headquarters: Indianapolis, Indiana)…
on Aug 16
From bluerenga.blog
The Mouse That Ate Chicago: Won!
0 1
I’ve finished the game, and you’ll need to have read my previous post to make sense of this one. Before I get back into the game proper, I’d like to do a side trip into history, a…
on Aug 15
From bluerenga.blog
The Mouse That Ate Chicago (1982)
0 1
Then Hans, holding a dripping cheeseburger in one hand, said, “This is a great moment, Professor!” “Yes, Hans, we shall be able to enlarge anything we so choose. We shall be riche…
on Aug 14
From bluerenga.blog
Haunted House: The Secret of the Skeleton
0 1
I’ve finished the game. This link will read my posts in order. My sequence was: conquering one bit where I had previously tried a verb correctly, but not on the sub-noun the game wanted, reve…
on Aug 12
From bluerenga.blog
Haunted House: This Tape Will Self Destruct in 5 Seconds
0 1
(Continued from my previous post.) No source code diving yet. I managed get at least part of the “vibe” of the parser, although some authorial decisions still mystify me. “GO̶…
on Aug 11
From bluerenga.blog
Haunted House (Sharpsoft, 1982)
0 0
Today we re-visit the Sharp series of computers, and specifically the Sharp MZ-80K, the original built from a kit. Haunted House is the third game we’ve had from Sharpsoft. We’ve alread…
on Aug 10
From bluerenga.blog
The Werewolf Howls at Dawn, The Case of the Pig-Headed Diamond, The Labyrinth of the Minotaur (1982)
0 0
Ken Rose’s Adventures in Adventuring column has featured in this blog once before, where I wrote about the first three installments, including Journey to Planet Pincus. The column was printed…
on Aug 8
From bluerenga.blog
Escape from Pulsar 7: Pinpricks
0 0
(Continued from my last post.) I have been making progress in the game, but in a weird scattered way that is hard to write about. I was getting tripped up by how you look at things in the game. Whe…
on Aug 6
From bluerenga.blog
0 0
We are back in the house of Brian Howarth, whose Mysterious Adventures series started with Golden Baton, followed by The Time Machine, Arrow of Death Part I, and Arrow of Death Part II. Howarth sti…
on Aug 4
From bluerenga.blog
El Diablero: Enfrentamiento Final
0 0
I have finished the game. You’ll have needed to read my previous entries for this one to make sense. First, let me go over two chunks of contents from before the cave that I had missed. Neith…
on Aug 2