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)

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  

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

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)

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

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)  

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 Cluely. 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 Cluely (IFDB) Jacaranda Jim (play online or download) Christopher Drum's Infocom Zork on Cosmopolitan  Graham Cluely's computer security news (YouTube)   Cover photo CC-BY 2.0 khakidoggy

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)  

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

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

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

🎂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

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  

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  

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  

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

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

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  

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)

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