The Retro Adventurers

Episode 40 - OPEN MAILBOX May 2026

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 20:34:11 -0500

There's news out there in classic text adventures and neo-retro interactive fiction, and it's past time The Retro Adventurers got serious about delivering it! So, welcome to the first installment of a new monthly feature, OPEN MAILBOX -- where you GET NEWS AND LISTEN TO IT.

This episode compiled and presented by Retro Adventurers Nick and Jason covers multiple new Infocom/Z-Machine interpreters, Andrew Plotkin's Visible Zorker developments, an amazingly layered Cornerstone prank-that's-also-real, and other novel developments.

Zym II and Inform 6 Optimization:

https://intfiction.org/t/zym-ii-an-8-bit-z-machine-interpreter-for-symbos/79520

https://intfiction.org/t/accelerating-inform-6-games-on-8-bit-interpreters/79531

https://github.com/fredrikr/krebf

Visible Zorker - Deadline hijinx:

https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/03/visible-zorker-march

https://www.patreon.com/VisibleZorker

New Features for Old Hardware:

https://intfiction.org/t/statusline-options/79162

https://github.com/johanberntsson/ozmoo/releases

Retro Adventurers on Discord:

https://discord.gg/8jrbVptACc

Springtime in the PunyInform Century:

https://discord.com/channels/830344544679493644/830344937252978718/1491913229721665840

https://www.springthing.net/2026/

Zabbrev:

https://intfiction.org/t/zabbrev-has-been-ported-from-c-to-c/75176/24

https://jxself.org/git?p=zabbrev.git;a=summary

The Linchpin to Infocom’s Database Strategy?:

https://intfiction.org/t/cornerstones-vm-was-cornerstone-for-atari/79644

https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/04/cornerstone-and-the-mu-machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgz5GIbKx3Y

https://zilf.io/

Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) Grants:

https://blog.iftechfoundation.org/2026-04-08-announcing-the-2026-iftf-grant-recipients.html

Keep Circulating the Tapes:

https://ifdb.org

Episode 39 - Second Anniversary Chatisode

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:03:00 -0500

Thank you for another year of Retro Adventuring with us! To celebrate we've gathered together to share important news about a change in the team roster, an exciting new monthly department, and to share a first look at our new handcrafted artwork (thank you, Emily Sergent)!

Spend a little time with Jason, Nick, and Tim and watch for more game, interview, and news episodes coming soon to your feed (and YouTube, which did get sorted out!)

Our YouTube channel

Douglas Adams BBC interview (1985)

The BDB Project (Bonaventura Di Bello adventure translations)

Tim's 1987 (?) photo

Adventure Game Aptitude Test (Maniac Mansion 4-hour challenge)

Zork 78 logo pillow

Episode 38 - Aldebaran III and Dog Star Adventure

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 19:05:00 -0500

Hyperspace adventure awaits as Tim Gilberts joins Jason to play two underrated science fiction games from the 1970s. For starters it's Dog Star Adventure, the first type-in text adventure in Softside Magazine. True to its 1979 roots it's steeped in Star Wars lore and vocabulary, and was ported to plenty of classic platforms in its heyday.

The feature game is Aldebaran III, one of the games created by Peter Langston in his Wander system. It, too, leans heavily on genre fiction, in this case the Retief novels by Keith Laumer, covering interstellar espionage, diplomacy, and bureaucracy in equal measure.

Aldebaran III (IFDB)

Wander source code (Github)

Wander game analysis (Renga In Blue)

Aldebaran III (CRPG Adventures)

Dog Star Adventure (IFDB)

Dog Star Adventure in Softside May 1979

Dog Star Adventure (Old School Gamer Magazine)

Episode 37 - Another Conversation With Ron Martinez

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 19:05:00 -0600

Ron Martinez, our guest from Episode 11, returns! This is actually a holdover from the 2025 Year-End Chatisode sessions, but it really stands alone as an exploration of Ron's recent work in narrative design involving generative AI, large language models, and other 21st century interactive storytelling techniques. Joining us on the call are regular Retro Adventurers Jason and Nick, along with This Week in Retro's Dave "Velociraptor" (Episode 29).

And it's a big day for Nabokov fans as both Pale Fire and his lecture on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are invoked.

Hidden Agenda 2026 preview

Hidden Agenda 2026 landing page

Invention Arts

Headcanon

Episode 36 - Zork Novelties #1: Zork-285 and Mini-Zork I

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 19:05:00 -0600

It's the Infocom classic Zork, but in two unusual formats!

First Nick and Jason explore the unusual covertape edition of Mini-Zork I, a stripped-down, memory-resident version of the original Great Underground Empire created in 1987 and later provided free to readers of the November 1990 issue of ZZap 64 magazine for the Commodore 64. It's a bold undertaking, but is it art? Indeed, does it even work at all?

Then the Retro Adventurers take on Zork-285, a reconstruction "of the very first MDL version of Zork from June 14, 1977" as provided by Henrik Åsman. Only available to play by a small cadre of MIT insiders, this version has the bones of what would later become the full-fledged Dungeon game before being carved up for Infocom's commercial products Zork I, II, and III. It's full of pitfalls but notably empty of grues.

Cover image from David Ardito's 1981 Zork poster, sourced from zarfhome.com

Mini-Zork I on IFDB

Zork 285 on IFDB

The Newton (excerpt from The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, performed by Jason)

Episode 35 - 2025 Year-End Chatisode

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 19:05:00 -0600

Holiday merriment with many past guests and minimal editing!

Retro Adventurers Jason and Nick chat about the year that was including recent developments in classic adventure open source, plans for 2026, and more with many of our past participants:

Robin Raymond, author of Kingdom of the Seven Stones (Episode 9)
Tim Gilberts of Gilsoft (Episodes 5, 13, 17, 25)
Scott Adams of Adventure International (Episodes 3, 13)
Andrew Plotkin (Inhumane covered in Episode 27 and interviewed in Episode 28)
Dave "Velociraptor" of This Week in Retro (Episode 29)
Christian Neuhaus, co-writer of You've Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery! (Episode 23)
Iain Lee, game show pilot host and media icon (Episode 18)

A separate chat with Ron Martinez (Episode 11) will be published in a later episode.

Parsely tabletop game

Nick's unfinished PunyInform book

Episode 34 - Gremlins and A Spell Of Christmas Ice

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 19:17:42 -0600

Nick and Jason deliver holiday cheer straight from Santa's Grotto in the form of two 1980s Christmas classics. First up is the bite-sized Quill adventure A Spell Of Christmas Ice by Mike Turner, originally published on the tape-based 16/48 Magazine for ZX Spectrum users. For the main course, enjoy Brian Howarth's very British adaptation of the very American monster mayhem classic Gremlins.

Curl up by the fire with your favorite picturebook adaptation of a Hollywood blockbuster, listen, and enjoy the season!

16/48 Magazine Issue 12

A Spell Of Christmas Ice, stand-alone tape image

Mike E. Turner (IFDB)

Gremlins: The Adventure (IFDB)

Gremlins: The Adventure (MOCAGH)

Level 9 Archive (Github)

Andrew Plotkin's analysis of Zork I-III becoming open source

Original cover photo by Gy21dds

Episode 33 - A Conversation with Mathbrush

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 18:48:13 -0600

No one has reviewed more text adventures and works of interactive fiction over the past decade than MathBrush. A self-described newcomer to the scene he has nonetheless posted over 3,600 reviews and counting of games old and new, along with creating or collaborating with others to create 30 games of his own.

MathBrush's thousands of reviews

MathBrush's IFDB profile

MathBrush's games

Intfiction.org profile

Episode 32 - L: A Mathemagical Adventure and Beyond the Tesseract

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 21:37:45 -0500

Get ready to type out every letter in "dodecahedron"!

Nick, Jason, and Ben play two games steeped in math, science, and trippy physics in this episode. Beyond the Tesseract by David Lo is the appetizer course, a game originally designed in TRS-80 Level II BASIC, then ported to C and published on a variety of platforms before later being reimplemented in Inform 6 by Andrew Plotkin. A self-professed "abstract adventure", you'll have a better time with it if you paid attention in school.

The main course was published in 1984 for the BBC Micro by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (UK) and goes by L: A Mathemagical Adventure. It's a core memory for many who were young and remember their school experiences with BBC Micros, but does the plot to rescue the fair maid Runia from the Drogos hold up today?

Beyond the Tesseract (IFDB, includes playable link)

L: A Mathemagical Adventure (IFDB)

L: A Mathemagical Adventure (playable online, BBC)

Beatle Quest for BBC Micro

Shawn McClure's How To Design Adventure Games (IntFiction.org)

Episode 31 - The Colour of Magic and MST3K: Detective

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 19:02:28 -0500

WE'VE GOT TEXT ADVENTURE SIGN!!

Ben, Jason, and Nick stooge their way through two comedy games. First up is the 1993 Matt Barringer "classic" Detective as put (unofficially) through the wringer of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew by CE Forman and a collection of subsequent riffers. One player was (and remains) completely baffled by this format in which a man and two robots are forced to watch a bad movie (slash play a bad game) for the entertainment of two mad scientists, against a backdrop of scenery bought for peanuts.

Then they take on Delta 4's treatment of Terry Pratchett's Discword in The Colour of Magic, a waiting simulator disguised as a four-part comedy adventure. Watch out for the end of the world!

The Colour of Magic (IFDB)

MST3K: Detective (IFDB)

Detective, author's original version (IFDB)

Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 2 (The Digital Antiquarian)

Review of Detective (SPAG #5)

MST3K Satellite News

Discworld Emporium

Episode 30 - Captain Cutter's Treasure, Young Arthur's Quest, and 10 Cave Adventure

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 19:45:55 -0500

Ben, Jason, and Nick set sail for adventures new and old on this episode, starting with 10 CAVE ADVENTURE, so named for the number of BASIC lines making up its entire codebase. They then head to the Commodore VIC-20 for a crack at Young Arthur's Quest before journeying to the not-so-long-ago 2021 release Captain Cutter's Treasure, a neo-retro style adventure created in the PunyInform system.

Captain Cutter's Treasure (IFDB)

Young Arthur's Quest (Renga in Blue)

Young Arthur's Quest (MobyGames)

10 Cave Adventure (Spectrum Computing)

8-Bit Show and Tell's breakdown of 10 CAVE

Episode 29 - The Robots of Dawn and Souls of Darkon

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:05:00 -0500

Ben, Jason, and special guest Dave "Velociraptor" of This Week in Retro take on a double dose of robot-themed games. First up is Souls of Darkon by Andy Walker, published by Taskset and Bug-Byte for Amstrad CPC, Spectrum, and Commodore 64. The robot "Komputa" aids the player on their quest to combat a variety of dread evil forces.

For the main course we take on Epyx's text adventure adaptation of Isaac Asimov's novel The Robots of Dawn, written by Jon Leupp. The team note the substantial departure from the book's plotlines, the surplus of empty offices, and some inconsistencies between the Apple II and Commodore 64 versions.

Ben solves a decades-long gaming mystery, plus there's a cat and a mouse and only one of them survives to the end of the episode!

Souls of Darkon (MobyGames)

Souls of Darkon (MOCAGH)

The Robots of Dawn (MobyGames)

The Robots of Dawn (MOCAGH)

The Robots of Dawn (playable online, C64)

The Robots of Dawn (playable online, Apple)

The Robots of Dawn by Asimov (novel, Wikipedia)

Episode 28 - A Conversation with Andrew Plotkin

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 19:34:06 -0500

Creator of games including Hadean Lands, Spider and Web, and Shade, as well as a long-time maintainer of Inform and participant in Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) leadership, Andrew "Zarf" Plotkin was also a teenager once. And back then he wrote Inhumane, as covered in Episode 27.

Jason and Nick welcome him to the program discuss the creation of Inhumane, the evolution of his work as a participant in the modern interactive fiction community, and the prospects for another "Infobom" title in that parody vein.

Zarfhome (personal homepage and contact info)

IFDB credits

IFTF

A Change in the Weather

Praser 5

Grimtooth's Traps

Episode image from The Book of Adventure Games II

Episode 27 - Knight Orc Part 1 and Inhumane

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 19:03:00 -0500

All the way back in Episode 1 we promised to play Level 9's Knight Orc. Ben and Jason chip away at that obligation by playing... the first of three independent-load sections of the game. (We're working on it!) They do their best to navigate the aptly-named "KAOS" engine and assemble rope. (So much rope.)

But first, a clearout of news and listener mail, and a visit to the wry parody of Infidel, Andrew Plotkin's Inhumane. The game is loaded with death traps and unlicensed appearances by famous characters, including a cameo from the villain of Episode 20's Mask of the Sun.

Knight Orc (IFDB)

Knight Orc (playable online, BBC version)

Inhumane (IFDB)

Inhumane (playable online)

Retro Gaming Books collection

How to program a text adventure in C

Dog Star Adventure (IFDB)

Evertop PC

Mystery of Arkham Manor (Spectrum Computing)

Mystery of Markham Manor (IFDB)

Rick Hanson (IFDB)

Episode 26 - Jacaranda Jim and Beatle Quest

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:05:00 -0500

Ben and Jason take on the text adventure distillations of two uniquely British phenomena.

First up is the "prolific musical innovator" genre with Number 9 Software's Beatle Quest, a psychedelic trip into lots and lots of Beatle song concepts and name-checking.

For the main course, the duo explore the "slobs in space" phenomenon through the storytelling of shareware highlight Jacaranda Jim by modern-day InfoSec celebrity Graham Cluley. It's one of Ben's all-time games, but can he convert his American collaborator?

Beatle Quest by Garry Marsh (IFDB)

Beatle Quest (playable online, ZX Spectrum)

Jacaranda Jim by Graham Cluley (IFDB)

Jacaranda Jim (play online or download)

Christopher Drum's Infocom Zork on Cosmopolitan

Graham Cluley's computer security news (YouTube)

Cover photo CC-BY 2.0 khakidoggy

Episode 25 - Magazine Roundup #2

Mon, 26 May 2025 19:07:29 -0500

Tim Gilberts is back for another rummage through the magazine rack, this time with Jason and Dave. We pull a corporate newsletter and three full-length issues, all from the 1982-1984 period.

We look at the first (and only?) newsletter put out by Spinnaker sub-brand Trillium (later Telarium), browse through the general-interest UK mag Personal Computer Games and compare it to a similar American counterpart, Computer Gaming World, before finishing up in the Sierra On-Line sponsored Softline, with none other than Tron on the cover.

Trillium Newsletter v1n1 (1984)

Personal Computer Games #6 (May 1984)

Computer Gaming World Mar/Apr 1983

Softline May 1982

Bill Bowman, CEO of Spinnaker Software (ANTIC Interview #278)

David Seuss, co-founder of Spinnaker Software (ANTIC Interview #305)

Telarium Corp (Mobygames)

Galactic Adventures (The CRPG Addict)

Patricia Mitchell, Thorn EMI (ANTIC Interview #302)

Chris James, Thorn EMI (ANTIC Interview #326)

Journey to the Planet Pincus (Renga in Blue)

Episode 24 - A Conversation with Peter Golden

Tue, 13 May 2025 07:33:36 -0500

Peter Golden, author of Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow and a key figure in Bantam Software's Living Literature series joins us for a conversation about his work in text adventures and subsequent work as a novelist.

PeterGolden.com

Bantam Software's Living Literature

Episode 23 - Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow, and Sherlock: Riddle of the Crown Jewels

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 19:47:37 -0500

For this roundup of Sherlock Holmes adventures from the 1980s, Ben and Jason call in an expert: Sherlockian playwright Christian Neuhaus, co-creator of You've Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery. The trio of amateur sleuths take on the three major commercial releases in chronological order.

First up is Sherlock from Melbourne House, written in the same "Inglish" system that powered The Hobbit... and with many of the same strengths and liabilities. Written by Philip Mitchell, whose Australian take on 19th century London doesn't fool Ben for a second.

Next it's the smorgasbord of shipboard mayhem Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow. Author Peter Golden will join us on a future episode to talk about how this Bantam Software release came to be.

Finally we take on Infocom's final all-text creation, Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels by Bob Bates. Does it send the legendary series and unparalleled investigative team out on a triumphant note by putting the player in Watson's shoes?

Sherlock by Melbourne House (IFDB)

Sherlock (playable online, ZX Spectrum)

Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow (IFDB)

Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow (playable online, DOS)

Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (IFDB)

Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (playable online)

Peter Golden's fiction

Episode 22 - Questprobe: Spider-Man and Redhawk

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 20:49:21 -0500

POW! KABOOM! KWAH!

Dave and Jason explore two 1980s text adventures pulled from the world of comic books! (At the time, comics were just one of many forms of narrative expression and not the dominant storytelling platform as they are this century.)

First up it's Redhawk from Melbourne House, which experiments with text/graphics adventure presentation by building a three-panel comic on-screen based on player input. Can you, as mild-mannered news photographer Kevin Oliver and as flying, fighting superhero Redhawk save the city?

Then it's Questprobe: Spider-Man from Adventure International, from the short-lived Marvel Comics series which just predated the company's end. Amazing feats of wall-walking and strength await!

Finally, we play the work-in-progress of the unfinished Questprobe: X-Men, provided by Scott Adams himself from his archives.

Questprobe: Spider-Man (playable online, Apple II verson)

Questprobe: Spider-Man on IFDB

Redhawk (playable online, Amstrad CPC version)

Redhawk on IFDB

Episode 21 - First Anniversary Chatisode

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:52:05 -0500

🎂It’s our first birthday!🎂Enjoy an anniversary celebration with all the hosts and minimal editing!

Founder Ben holds a contest of Retro Adventurers knowledge–who will reign supreme? How many countries have at least one download per episode? Who will be named the Seven of Nine of text adventure podcasting? Will the boys have a polite conversation about expanding to other genres or will chairs fly?

Thank you for listening to our first year of classic text adventure discussion and review. Please get in touch with us with suggestions for the years to come.

(And yes, Nick knows our frequent guest is Tim Gilberts, he was just distracted.)

Googlewhack definition

The Clarion Beauty Computer

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves playable online (not a text adventure!)

Sleuth for DOS

Labyrinth (Lucasfilm Games)

Amazing Quest by Nick Montfort

Twisty Little Passages

50 Years of Text Games

Episode 20 - The Mask of the Sun and Valkyrie 17

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 14:45:18 -0500

Dave and Jason confront a double dose of terrifying terrors! First up is the RamJam Corporation's Valkyrie 17, a Cold War thriller set in a pseudonymous Eastern Bloc nation, boasting excellent off-screen production values but some quirky on-screen choices. The title was originally published for ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, with a Windows update released more recently.

Then we travel to South America for the so-close-to-the-original, you-can-feel-the-stubble Indiana Jones-adjacent The Mask of the Sun originally published by Ultrasoft. You are rugged professor of archaeology Mac Steele, struggling under the debilitating effects of an ancient curse! Only by enduring many (many, many) Jeep and cave-navigating sequences can he be free of the exotic pills which keep him just barely clinging to life! The Mask of the Sun was published for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64, with a German translation to boot!

(And one of these days Jason will stop saying something has an "X-word" parser when he means an "X-letter" parser... but not today!)

Valkyrie 17 box, documentation, and audio

Valkyrie 17, C64 playable online

Valkyrie 17, Windows update

Valkyrie 17 on Mobygames

The Mask of the Sun documentation (Broderbund)

The Mask of the Sun on Mobygames

Episode 19 - Monsters of Murdac and Behind Closed Doors (SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1)

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:41:03 -0500

Ben occupies the throne, attended by minions Jason and Nick this episode to plumb the depths of the text adventure archives. In the featured spot is the Phoenix/Topologika title Monsters of Murdac by Dr. Jonathan Partington (Episodes #12 and #16), a punishingly creative game. Up first, however, is the 1991 disk magazine SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1 and its featured free game... the toilet-escape simulator Behind Closed Doors by "Balrog" John Wilson.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Monsters of Murdac (playable online, BBC version)

SAM Coupé Adventure Club archive

Browser-readable version of SAM Coupé Adventure Club Disk #1

Behind Closed Doors #1 (playable online, ZX Spectrum version)

Ink Console

Classic articles on games by Jonathan Partington

Episode 18 - Bored of the Rings / Calixto Island with Iain Lee

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:05:00 -0500

Iain Lee, "an old bloke who was popular in the Nineties" as well as counsellor, broadcaster, and I'm a Celebrity survivor joins Dave and Jason this episode. They discuss Tolkien sendup Bored of the Rings by Fergus McNeill and the Mark Data classic Calixto Island. Iain shares his love for the Dragon 32, memories of sneaking text adventure time on school BBC Micros, and Experienced Media Professional Image Advice with Jason.

Bored of the Rings (playable online)

Calixto Island (playable online, MS-DOS with graphics)

Calixto Island (playable online, "Play Now" button next to "Calixto Island (Text)", CoCo plain text)

Iain Lee's Random Access Memories podcast

Quill Adventure Guides (Bored of the Rings and other Quill games, deconstructed)

MST3K: Detective

Episode 17 - Magazine Roundup #1

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 21:38:48 -0600

Jason, Nick, and the returning Tim Gilberts of Gilsoft dig into the magazines of the 1970s and 1980s that chronicled the rise of text adventures!

We look at two of the most significant Stateside issues of the early commercial period, the November 1979 issue of Creative Computing with a full (and unusual) implementation of Colossal Cave Adventure, and the December 1980 BYTE with articles by Dave Lebling, Jon Freeman, and of course one of the most significant events of the year in personal computer games: Scott Adams' release of the Pirate Adventure source code.

New Zork Times #3.1, early 1984

Micro Adventurer #1, November 1983

Creative Computing, November 1979

BYTE Magazine December 1980

Sinclair User #2, May 1982

Sinclair User #3, June 1982

Adventure Probe #1, June 1986

Be an Interplanetary Spy (Ron Martinez) discussion on IntFic

Mike Dornbrook (Infocom) oral history

Giant's Gold, Commodore 64 port

Atari Swordquest's Real-Life Treasures

Another Atari Swordquest overview

Treasure Quest

Treasure Quest prize winner mystery

Adventure (Colossal Cave) Family Tree

Episode 16 - A Conversation With Jonathan Partington

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 21:34:54 -0600

Jason and Dave welcome classic text adventure author Jonathan Partington to the program. While studying at Cambridge University, he created and contributed to several memorable games including Avon (featured in Episode 12), Crobe, Sangraal, Fyleet, Monsters of Murdac, and Spy Snatcher.

We discuss how Jonathan got hooked into text adventures, how the pipeline between Cambridge mainframe creations and the broader commercial market worked, and the best time of day to play games on official campus computers without getting scolded. And for the first time, we ask a living author which of his games we should play next!

Special thanks to Mark Hardisty for helping connect us with Jonathan.

CORRECTION: The interview mistakenly credits L to Peter Killworth. The game in question was actually GiantKiller.

Jonathan Partington on IFDB

Topologika (The Digital Antiquarian)

Phoenix (mainframe operating system) on IFWiki

Mystic Wood (board game)

Sorcerer's Cave (board game)

Peter Killworth on IFWiki

How To Write Adventure Games by Peter Killworth on MOCAGH

L: A Mathemagical Adventure

Episode 15 - Lancelot and G.F.S. Sorceress

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 18:05:00 -0600

Our first three-player episode since the premiere pits Ben, Jason, and Nick against challenges that span millennia! Learn the intricacies of long-lost Earth military law as Joe Justin fights for freedom in Avalon Hill's G.F.S. Sorceress before traveling way back to King Arthur's England in Level 9's Lancelot. Robots, colored objects, and companion knights (so, so many companion knights) stand ready to assist!

Lancelot on Level 9 Memorial

Lancelot on IFDB

Lancelot playable online (BBC Micro)

Lancelot documentation

Lancelot walkthrough (AppleAdventures)

G.F.S. Sorceress documentation

G.F.S. Sorceress walkthrough (AppleAdventures)

Avalon Hill computer titles (MobyGames)

The Visible Zorker

SAM Coupé Adventure Club

Crown of Arturo for Sharp MZ-700

Episode 14 - The Dark Crystal and Ship of Doom

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 18:27:06 -0600

Dave and Jason return to the pioneering Artic Adventure series with Ship of Doom (Adventure C) before plunging into a fantasy world on the brink in The Dark Crystal by Sierra, licensed from Henson Associates and representing the very last example of Roberta Williams' parser game design.

The Dark Crystal manual and short story

The Dark Crystal on SierraGamers

The Dark Crystal map and solution in New Atari User

Ship of Doom on Spectrum Computing

Ship of Doom, reimagined top-down

All Sierra On-Line Hi-Res Adventures

Roberta Williams full credits (Mobygames)

Artic Adventures gallery (MOCAGH)

Episode 13 - 2024 Year-End Chatisode

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 18:05:00 -0600

Holiday merriment! All the hosts! Return special guests! Minimal editing!

Retro Adventurers Dave, Jason, Nick, and founder Ben(!) chat about the year that was, later joined by Scott Adams (Episode 3) and Tim Gilberts (Episode 5)!

Hear about Tim Gilberts' Heathkit, Scott Adams' next professional moves, adventures in ADABAS / Natural, and a long-overdue callback to the Clarion Beauty Computer!

Ken Reed's Adventure II article in Practical Computing

Maze for the MK/14 computer kit

PDP-12: HELLORLD!

The Beepy handheld computer

Adventuron

Nick's Cloak of Darkness in AWK

Knytt Stories

The Book of Adventure Games

Tim Gilberts on YouTube

Scott Adams Consulting

Bubble Bonk

Final Pilot

Adventureland XL

Episode 12 - Avon and Macbeth

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:00:00 -0600

Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancy, Jason and Nick ask for a double-helping of Shakespeare text adventures. The chef heaps a challenging amount of "appetizer" Macbeth (1984, Oxford Digital Enterprises) on their plates, but main course Avon (1982/1988, Topologika) has its day. And that day may be foul, and/or fair, as you like it.

Macbeth on MobyGames

Macbeth on MOCAGH

Avon on MobyGames

Avon (Playable online, BBC Micro)

Avon mainframe source code

Topologika Ltd. overview

Topologika on The Digital Antiquarian

Macbeth solution (almost)

The Tempest (1997)

Episode 11 - A Conversation with Ron Martinez

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 18:45:42 -0600

In this interview episode we're transfixed by the career of Ron Martinez, whose interactive fiction began as a writer for the Be an Interplanetary Spy book series, the Trillium/Telarium home conversion of Rendezvous With Rama, and the design and implementation of Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy powered by his own TRANS Fiction System parser. Since then Ron has had a widely varied career, and a widely varied career since then including pioneering work in NFTs.

Ron and Jason discuss the wild experimental days at Electronic Arts, the nature of "post-linear" storytelling and the trade-offs of writing in the Star Trek universe, and Ron's brush with actual immortality.

Invention Arts

Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy on archive.org

Rendezvous with Rama on archive.org

Full GET LAMP documentary interview

Ron Martinez MobyGames credits

Episode 10 - The Lurking Horror and Crypt of Medea

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 18:55:20 -0600

Jason and first-time Retro Adventurer Nick Moffitt sample two courses of text adventure horror, featuring Infocom's "MIT with the serial numbers filed off" The Lurking Horror and Sir-Tech Software's "don't call it a Murder Hospital, call it the" Crypt of Medea.

Jason also speaks with Strange Studies of Strange Stories co-host Chad Fifer about how, when, and why the Lovecraftian school of horror became mainstream entertainment fodder.

The Lurking Horror

Crypt of Medea

The Call of Cthulhu (2005 film)

The Apple II Mockingboard

Episode 9 - A Conversation with Robin Raymond

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 13:51:49 -0500

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Kingdom of the Seven Stones, a sprawling text/graphic adventure has just been published for the Commodore 64 by The Future was 8 Bit. Creator (and Retro Adventurers listener!) Robin Raymond joins Jason to talk about how the game took shape, why it's cartridge-only, and what the future might hold for his new C-based 8-bit adventure game engine.

Kingdom of the Seven Stones @ TFW8b

Martin Piper's technical analysis

Dithertron

The Coveted Mirror

Ulysses and the Golden Fleece

Episode 8 - Valhalla and Swiss Family Robinson

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:29:20 -0500

Dave and Jason make another transatlantic cultural exchange in this episode, beginning with the youth-oriented Windham Classics' Swiss Family Robinson before heading to the deadly grownup world of Norse mythology for Legend's Valhalla.

Valhalla playable online (ZX Spectrum)

Swiss Family Robinson playable online (Commodore 64)

August 1983 ad for Valhalla (Sinclair User Magazine)

Episode 7 - A Conversation with Roberta and Ken Williams

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 11:40:40 -0500

In this interview episode (cruelly cut short by an impatient harbormaster) we barely scratch the surface of the careers of the legendary power couple of adventure gaming. Jason speaks with Roberta and Ken Williams of On-Line Systems / Sierra On-Line fame. We touch on chapters from the late 1970s to present day, including the first text/graphics adventures on the Apple II to King's Quest and Phantasmagoria, and the new reimagined Colossal Cave published by Cygnus Entertainment.

Colossal Cave

Farewell to Tara by Roberta Williams

Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings by Ken Williams

Sierra Gamers

Mystery House (Hi-Res Adventure #1) playable online

Episode 6 - Twin Kingdom Valley and Sphinx Adventure

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:58:13 -0500

Dave and Jason take on a pair of BBC Micro originals from the early 1980s in this episode, with the appetizer course of Acornsoft's first adventure game Sphinx Adventure by Paul Fellows, followed by the main course of Twin Kingdom Valley by Trevor Hall.

Twin Kingdom Valley playable online

Sphinx Adventure playable online

Episode 5 - A Conversation With Tim Gilberts

Sat, 08 Jun 2024 12:54:06 -0500

Tim Gilberts published legendary text adventure creation systems The Quill and Professional Adventure Writer (PAW) through family publishing house Gilsoft in the 1980s. These products became the basis for hundreds of commercial games, many developed and sold as part of a late direct-to-consumer wave of adventure development in the late 1980s into the 1990s. Dave and Jason discuss with Tim the origins of The Quill and its successors, the reasons for its success and lasting impact, and Tim's connections to gaming today.

Gilsoft

Tim Gilberts' YouTube channel

Zenobi Software

Stranded by Dave Hawkins

Ghostship Delgado by Tony Kingsmill (2024 Quill game)

Episode 4 - The Tracer Sanction and Down Among the Dead Men

Sun, 26 May 2024 15:45:28 -0500

Dave and Jason seek revenge on the dread pirate Skarvench and go on an interplanetary hunt for the mysterious Wing. This episode of The Retro Adventurers explores the neo-retro title Down Among the Dead Men (originally published as a Virtual Reality Adventures gamebook in 1993, converted into ZIL (Zork Implementation Language) and Z-Machine binary format in 2020 by SD Separa) and the oft-overlooked Interplay launch title The Tracer Sanction, originally published by Activision.

The Tracer Sanction playable online

Down Among the Dead Men (includes play link)

Transporter by Andrew Laker (includes play link)

Solution and map for Transporter

Dead Flesh Retro

Terrormolinos

Slaine

Episode 3 - A Conversation With Scott Adams

Fri, 17 May 2024 10:50:49 -0500

Scott Adams of Adventure International and Clopas fame joins Dave and Jason for a conversation on this episode of The Retro Adventurers. We discuss the rise and fall of Adventure International, the Marvel Comics relationship behind the Questprobe games featuring The Hulk, Spider-Man, and The Human Torch & The Thing, building international business relationships, and more.

>GO WEST
You are in an office.
Big Tall Jim Shooter is here.

Clopas LLC

Adventureland XL

Stereotypical by Clopas (in development)

Adventure International (Mobygames profile)

Portland Retro Gaming Expo

Episode 2 - The Hobbit and Planet of Death

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 10:18:34 -0500

Retro Adventurers Jason Compton and Dave Hawkins explore iconic early text adventure The Hobbit (by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler, adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien) and Planet of Death (by Richard Turner and Chris Thornton).

Includes listener mail, an explanation for postponing the promised Knight Orc, and a dive into both games.

Special thanks to Robin Harbron of 8-Bit Show and Tell for final engineering.

Links

Planet of Death playable ZX81 edition

The Hobbit playable Spectrum 128 enhanced edition

AppleAdventures on YouTube

Renga in Blue's Planet of Death finale (featuring "Dusty Bin")

The Tracer Sanction

Down Among the Dead Men

Episode 1 - The Pawn and Around the World

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 13:37:04 -0500

(Please note that Episode 1 has some audio issues which are ironed out in future episodes.)

The premiere of The Retro Adventurers. Three old-school gamers talk about text adventures they have loved, hated, or are just experiencing for the first time. In this episode, Ben Collier, Jason Compton, and Dave Hawkins take a look at early text adventure Around the World and the first Magnetic Scrolls adventure, The Pawn.

Includes news, biographical notes, and a dive into both games.

Links

Ronin by David Alzofon

Ghosts Of Blackwood Manor

PunyInform

Infocom Z-Machine interpreter source code

The Classic Adventurer

Softside adventure archive including Around the World (Apple II emulator image)

The Pawn at the Magnetic Scrolls Memorial (playable online)