The Retro Adventurers

OPEN MAILBOX November 2026

Miss Congeniality and Miss Clairol are in the news this month as we recap the results in the unofficial Neo-Retro Division of this year's IFComp, share the developing story of putting a "beauty computer" to its best use as a text adventure platform, and much more. Jason, Nick, and Tim are on the mic in a busier-than-usual month for our ever-changing genre. (And don't let Rockbox purge Frotz!) Retro Adventurers on Discord Visible Zorker project IFComp 2026 results Carl Muckenhoupt's remarks ECTOCOMP 2026 PAW for Dragon Plague on the Discovery River Software David Bitton's Apple II collection David Bitton episode (French w/English subtitles) Futuria (Forbidden Planet Part II) for Apple IIGS Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (IFDB) The Mystery of Silver Mountain StoryTllr engine Colossal Cave Adventure for Pascal HOME.BASE Z6 support for Agon Light Clarion/Clairol Computer research Bex's call for other Aegis Visionary users Shadowgate Commodore 64 STAG adventure creator for Spectrum A Ceia Inesperada (STAG example game) Famous Five: Five on a Treasure Island CPC Disk fix Textadventures.co.uk content policy Text Adventure 2600 Rockbox RFC Frotz removal (!) Andrew Plotkin's Roguelike Celebration presentation The Problems of Dreaming lost edition found Magic Mushroom ZX Spectrum DAAD Builder Intro to DAAD Builder Another DAAD Builder demo video Mark Hardisty's blog (DAAD tutorials) DAAD Sam Coupe support Call for testers on rebuilt Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina Flathead Electric Cooperative Graeme Cree's Flathead discovery Cover photo by Bex

IFComp 2026 Roundup

Fourteen (!) capsule reviews of games submitted to this year's Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp 2026), all with at least one claim to neo-retro status. Joining regulars Jason, Tim, and Nick are three guests from past episodes: Robin Raymond, Christian Neuhaus, and Dudley of Yesterzine. Some of this year's entries can be played in ancient languages (Hittite!) and on ancient devices (Atari 2600!) Let us know what you think of this experiment and if you'd like to see adjustments made if there is a next-time! Games covered: Copper Tavern (Tavern Heist) The Rat Demonstration Ruined Temple Bob the Barbarian Forensic Necromancy 9:00 AM Train Gambler’s Quest Meet the Timesheet Wait-Our-Way Tower Ḫattušumna Laḫḫa (Hittite Adventure) The Count and the Communist The Two Seasons: Encounter With a Vampire Logic Land

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OPEN MAILBOX October 2026

It's our 50th episode! Jason, Nick, and Tim make it a working holiday with news on the peak of competition season (Ectocomp! Introcomp! Iron ChIF! And of course IFComp!), news on developments for Z-Machine developers and Å-Machine players, five new Fairlight releases on C64, and, yes, reverb Ramsberg. Iron ChIF Adventuron wrapup: https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-3-flacrabbit-vs-dee-cooke-using-adventuron/81129/138 Iron ChIF TADS sought: https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chef-looking-for-tads-challengers/75758/36 Introcomp: https://introcomp.org/ ECTOCOMP 2026: https://itch.io/jam/ectocomp-2026 ReZet80: https://rezet80.blogspot.com/p/rezet80-sentinel.html Tiny Text Adventure Engine: https://rezet80.blogspot.com/2026/02/tiny-text-adventure-engine.html Haunted House: https://rezet80.blogspot.com/2023/09/haunted-house.html Adventure Family Tree: https://www.ifwiki.org/Adventure_Family_Tree Adventure Family Tree discussion: https://intfiction.org/t/adventure-family-tree-using-ifwiki-to-record-and-display-information/77211/2 ZigZag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigZag_(software) Lantern: https://textadventure.net Swiss Family Robinson/FLT: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=263890 FairLight TV 159 (Synapse cracks): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2x1xYSHCFQ The Demon Jar: https://qladventures.itch.io/the-demon-jar AGI-64/AGI-ANTIC: https://meanhamster.com/games/agi-64 Vanyar: https://johanberntsson.itch.io/vanyar I'm Still a Cannibal For the FBI: https://cannibalforthef.bi/ Dialog interpreter for Apple II: https://intfiction.org/t/help-dialog-choose-a-commodore-64-color-palette/81746/9 SCUMMVM MADS support: https://www.scummvm.org/news/20260826/ Fish on Apple platforms?!: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/09/fish Magnetic Scrolls' Upon Westminster Bridge: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/09/upon-westminster-bridge/ DAAD tutorials: https://markhardisty.wordpress.com/ The Greedy Dwarf: https://mjhardisty.itch.io/the-greedy-dwarf/devlog/1674561/the-greedy-dwarf-now-available Adjunct of Computing #1: https://youtu.be/tojYY6hdnNY Plague On the Discovery testers wanted: https://intfiction.org/t/testers-needed-for-new-bdb-project-s-game-plague-on-the-discovery-morgan-tyler-series-3/82097 Dracula Spectrum Next: https://giadacu.itch.io/dracula-english-zx-spectrum-next-illustrated-edition A Spy's Heist: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=au4s1nyuqonq10fw PARANOID blog: https://play-paranoid.online/blog/best-mystery-text-adventure-games Legends: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=3xgiq6kxz60zvff2

A Mind Forever Voyaging and PRESTAVBA

It's Infocom and Iron Curtain classic text adventures from the final years of the Cold War! With special guest Ana Meisel (ana.help), Nick and Jason take on two entertaining political-statement classics of the 1980s. First up is PRESTAVBA, aka PERESTROIKA, a once-anonymous satire set in the Prague Spring of 1968 and published (very carefully and also anonymously) in the former Czechoslovakia for ZX Spectrum. Then it's a not-so-distant flash-forward to Rockvil in the year 2031 for A Mind Forever Voyaging, Steve Meretzky's immersive statement on Reagan-era socioeconomic policies in the United States. Does Perry Simm have free will? Is a Soviet lighter reliable in a pinch? It's the first (and last?) time both our games are the standout selections of Aaron Reed's 50 Years of Text Games project: are they worthy? Join us and find out! A Mind Forever Voyaging (IFDB) A Mind Forever Voyaging docs (code table for Simulation Mode on p31) A Mind Forever Voyaging (playable online) Přestavba, original Czech and English translation downloads (ZXArt) Prestavba (IFDB) 50 Years of Text Games (features both games as the standout of 1985 and 1988, respectively) Gaming the Iron Curtain London Permacomputing Club Our Friend the Computer podcast Bonus - 1980s Czech film recommendations from Ana: Rozpuštěný a vypuštěný (https://www.oneplay.cz/film/1102-rozpusteny-a-vypusteny) Vážení přátelé, ano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vážení_přátelé,_ano) any Cimrman movies (https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/134221-divadlo-jary-cimrmana-kolekce)

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OPEN MAILBOX September 2026

Contest deadlines, international reviews, and some Ramsberg groveling lead our news coverage for text adventure enthusiasts this month. Tim, Jason, and Nick bring you the latest for one of the oldest gaming disciplines... aside from that one story we accidentally repeated from last month. Nick's a little heavy on the reverb filter in this one, let us know if you get seasick. Spanish discussion of RetroAdv: https://mastodon.social/@DekaBlack/117166787290154461 https://mastodon.social/@textualizame/117166805431903978 Madman, port of 1983 VIC-20 game by the dread Ramsberg: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6ymufgd24jnxg256 Wyrmward, Z6 PunyInform title: https://johanberntsson.itch.io/wyrmward Darkwood V: The Lost God found and preserved: https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=263342 https://www.facebook.com/groups/EightBitAdventures/posts/28558175203785812/ Inform 6 DM4: https://inform-fiction.org/manual/about_dm4.html Inform 6 Programmer's Guide: https://jxself.org/inform-guide/ OS9 Infocom interpreter: https://github.com/rlucente-retro/infocom-os9-port/releases/tag/v1.0.0 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164528820297641/ Raaka-Tu: https://github.com/DrPitre/raakatu CoCo Nation Podcast Episode 474: Galaxy's Edge, BBC Micro title by Graham Nelson: https://ahopeful.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/galaxys-edge-1984-by-graham-nelson/ Oo-Topos C64 cracked: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=263365 FairLight TV #156: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewUo92awZ0 Z-Machine BBS details: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1814239092232631 David Youd hacks Secrets of the Pyramid (duplicate, oops): https://youtu.be/OiUZ7qtRHB4 Inform Trail Camera: https://www.twitch.tv/informtrailcamera Zork NES: https://github.com/lupinthird/zorknes AGI-64: https://meanhamster.com/games/agi-64 Beatle Quest Python runner: https://www.amigaretro.com/projects/blakes-7-beatle-quest/ Blake's 7 for Oric: https://defenceforce.itch.io/blakes-7 Wander System for Ubuntu Touch: https://mastodont.cat/@cibersheep/117151878472175318 Clash of the Type-Ins returns: https://rcveeder.net/clash/ The Hobbit for TI-99 4/A: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/392212-the-hobbit-for-ti994a Classic Infocom playable library: https://jamiedurrant.com/infocom/ Iron ChIF Adventuron battle: https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-3-flacrabbit-vs-dee-cooke-using-adventuron/81129 Out of Luck: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=n1y41pmdrk8ikk26 A Bonded Harvester: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=mbsybax9swkzp81o Adventurer's Rest channel: https://youtu.be/fgg_-9Rb2zY PARANOID game: https://www.play-paranoid.online Astaria MUD: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6x86ablx3lg3u2y2

Invincible Island and Adventure in the Fifth Dimension

Pack your phrasebook and get ready to defend democracy as Ben and Jason take on a pair of quirky early 1980s adventures. For an appetizer, we order Infocom legend Brian Moriarty's early effort, a type-in published in ANALOG Computing Magazine no less: the Nicolas Cage-coded Adventure In the Fifth Dimension. The feature game is Invincible Island by Pete Cooke... that's Cooke with an e, sadly, although Ben and Jason do find time for a little Derek & Clive discourse which steers clear of the need to flag this episode for adult content. Both games have mindbending maps, but do they have anything else in common? Also, there's quite a bit of listener mail and news... from the summer of 2025, which is how long this episode has been waiting for publication! Thanks to Nick for breathing life into this one. If nothing else, let it serve as a reminder why we've created the monthly >OPEN MAILBOX series! Invincible Island (IFDB) Invincible Island (playable online, ZX Spectrum) Adventure In the Fifth Dimension (IFDB) Adventure in the Fifth Dimension (playable online, Atari 8-bit) The Guild of Thieves, Hit It With a Hammer! playthrough (YouTube) Encounter HD Asimov's The Black Widowers

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OPEN MAILBOX August 2026

No rest for retro adventuring news this summer as Tim and Jason bring you lots of news: contest developments (don't delay, some deadlines are very very very soon!), Visible Zorker updates which aren't as stark as they seem, lost games and a lost development environment unearthed, and really quite a bit more. Special thanks to Andrew Johnson for permission to use ZorkPBX demo audio. ParserComp 2026 voting closes soon https://itch.io/jam/parsercomp-2026 IFComp entries accepted (closing very soon!) https://blog.ifcomp.org/post/821438949798084608/ifcomp-2026-now-accepting-intents-entries Visible Starcross https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/07/visible-starcross Arcturus Z-Machine compiler https://github.com/ByteProject/Arcturus/tree/main https://intfiction.org/t/arcturus-a-new-programming-language-compiler-for-the-z-machine/81091 pdp10 issues in Z1/Z2 Zork https://intfiction.org/t/frotz-and-bocfel-cant-parse-pdp10-in-v1-v2-zork-a-shift-lock-z-machine-spec-3-7-1-easter-egg/81002 Game console Linux ports https://github.com/LinuxMD/linuxmd https://cakehonolulu.github.io/linux-for-jaguar/ Zork-PET / BitShifter interpreter work resumes https://codeberg.org/root42/zork-pet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wznA6SHQnMQ https://youtube.com/live/IvGJ7XQSHcc?feature=share https://youtube.com/live/Ywp51hY5GDo?feature=share https://github.com/Edilbert/BSA R.A.I.L. language unearthed https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/r-a-i-l/ Iron ChIF Adventuron https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-3-flacrabbit-vs-dee-cooke-using-adventuron/81129 https://intfiction.org/t/volunteer-to-beta-test-flacrabbits-game-in-iron-chif-s1e3-aug-23-27/81255 Catacombs and Goblin Towers for Commodore PET recovered https://www.commodoregames.net/catacombs.asp ZorkPBX https://github.com/aejx00/zorkpbx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIENNmuUlY Babelmap interpreter https://intfiction.org/t/babelmap-rust-z-machine-glulx-scott-tui-w-graphics-and-sound-linux-macos-windows/81213 https://github.com/sharkusk/babelmap Review-a-Thon https://intfiction.org/t/review-a-thon-2026/80860 Never Gives Up Her Dead on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/4815350/Never_Gives_Up_Her_Dead/ Mega Adventure Creator https://theoasisbbs.com/mega-adventure-creator-adds-new-menu-system-and-status-bar/ https://github.com/lipi650/MAC Multiple Choice Adventure Engine https://solhsa.com/mucho/mucho.html https://github.com/jarikomppa/speccy/tree/master/mucho Adventure Coder Magazine https://www.flickr.com/photos/christopherhester/albums/page2 https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Chris+Hester%22 The Fool and His Money recovered https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/07/the-fool-and-his-money-returns David Youd Enhances Secrets of the Pyramid of Light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiUZ7qtRHB4 Atari games optioned by major film studio -- what about Infocom? https://bsky.app/profile/neilpolowin.bsky.social/post/3mre5rfptgk2x Interactive Fiction Discord Server (visit #retro-adventurers-podcast !) https://discord.com/invite/8jrbVptACc TREK37 on IFDB https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=a026gnl4v2aclec2 Skull Island on IFDB https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=jrvu7excy55dtjuu

Gruds In Space and Steve Silver Adventure #1

"I don't want to suggest this is a more obviously American game than some others, but I will say you do solve one problem by shooting a tree." - Dudley of Yesterzine Jason and special guest player Dudley from the Yesterzine YouTube channel take on two curiosities from the early 1980s. First up is a Spectrum-exclusive adventure with few champions but a lot of rooms: Steve Silver Adventure #1 by Colin Webb and Jim Bennett. The main course is Sirius Software's Gruds In Space by Chuck Sommerville and Joseph Dudar. It's one of many Sirius titles featuring the gremlin alien Gruds, a graphic/text puzzler with many similarities to the later Tracer Sanction as covered on Episode 4 of The Retro Adventurers. Gruds In Space (IFDB) Softalk November 1983 review of Gruds In Space Steve Silver Adventure #1 (IFDB) Your Computer September 1983 review of Steve Silver #1 Atari ST on Yesterzine Amiga Batman Pack on Yesterzine

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OPEN MAILBOX July 2026

Classic text adventure news so late-breaking that we have to interrupt our news to bring you new news about that news! Presented again this month by Retro Adventurers Nick, Tim, and Jason. University of Winchester alumnus https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/26175575.university-winchester-alumnus-won-award-game/ ABP: Help preserve Amstrad Infocom interpreter source code! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CwYXQ6FiV/ Oo-Topos Commodore 64 copy protection https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89439 SchoolAdventure, adapted to Inform https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6duybkh9bo1oq5s4 NAIL: Not An Inform Library https://github.com/fredrikr/nail Iron ChIF ZIL contest entries https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=v2b896mwtwf5mhwt https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b3vcdy1s1ukd5xcw PunyInform 6.7 https://github.com/johanberntsson/PunyInform/releases/tag/v6_7 Puny BuildTools https://github.com/ByteProject/Puny-BuildTools#build-targets Eclipse (Bonaventura Di Bello Project) https://bdb-project.itch.io/eclipse https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=03enp9z2oszblv5h Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026 Results https://itch.io/jam/talp2026/results IntroComp https://introcomp.org/ Strange Stories RPG https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/ed994b09-71cf-4128-88bc-e45f89cf7d1b/landing Zork Zero for Mac VoiceOver users https://intfiction.org/t/looking-for-mac-voiceover-users-to-test-zork-zero-in-spatterlight/80791 Mysterious eyeglasses-cleaning game (?!) https://bsky.app/profile/retroadventurers.bsky.social/post/3mnryqxe5k22e Interactive Fiction Discord Server (visit #retro-adventurers-podcast !) https://discord.com/invite/8jrbVptACc

Fahrenheit 451 and Buckaroo Banzai

Unofficially official text adventure sequels to beloved media properties both published in 1984. That's what these two have in common. Laugh While You Can, Monkey Boy! because this John Lithgow Appreciation Podcast features Nick and Jason playing the Adventure International-published unofficial sequel Buckaroo Banzai before marching into the world of post-war New York City as imagined in the world of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, published by Telarium/Trillium. Fahrenheit 451 (IFDB) Fahrenheit 451 in-game music (DeepSID) Buckaroo Banzai (IFDB)

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OPEN MAILBOX June 2026

Your monthly classic text adventuring news update delivered this month by Jason, Nick, and Tim. The top stories are game contests still open for players votes at time of publication! Don't delay, listen and click today! Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026 https://itch.io/jam/talp2026 https://gameobserver.com/6th-annual-game-jam-inspires-next-generation-of-developers-to-keep-text-adventures-alive/ Iron CHiF Season One Episode Two: ZIL https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-2-lancelot-vs-someone2-using-zil/79983 Inform 6 benchmarking https://discord.com/channels/830344544679493644/830344548315037739/1501871149288525844 PunyInform v6.6 https://github.com/johanberntsson/PunyInform/releases/tag/v6_6 Visible Zorker update: Deadline for backers, Zork III goes public https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/05/visible-zork-3 https://archive.org/details/Suspended_Map_Recreation https://archive.org/details/Infocom_Starcross_Chart_Recreation Dialog 1b/01 https://intfiction.org/t/dialog-1b-01-library-1-2-0-a-machine-1-0-0-is-released/80151 https://github.com/Dialog-IF/dialog/releases/tag/release-1b01-1.2.0 War of the Worlds for Commodore 64 https://michel-molenaar.itch.io/war-of-the-worlds-c64 Modern PAW environment https://www.reddit.com/r/interactivefiction/comments/1tgyyj2/show_if_a_modern_jsonbased_paws_engine/ https://carlosparamio.itch.io/paws-ai Text Adventure Studio (formerly Apple II Adventure Studio) https://www.reddit.com/r/textadventures/comments/1t3yypi/apple_ii_adventure_studio_is_now_officially_text/ https://textadventurestudio.com/ The Forgotten Nightmare release https://intfiction.org/t/the-forgotten-nightmare-series-platform-expansion-release/80323/5 Voyage of the Beano for Spectrum Next https://qladventures.itch.io/the-voyage-of-the-beano Spring Thing 2026 recognizes C64 Latinorum, other neo-retro titles https://www.springthing.net/2026/play.html 2026 IntroComp kickoff https://mastodon.social/@Feneric/116636591715718306

Episode 41 - Infidel and The Smirking Horror

It's an Infocom antiheroic classic and a throwback Infocom parody this time out as modern IF legend Andrew Plotkin (Zarf) joins Jason and Nick for two perilous adventures. Lurking Horror sendup The Smirking Horror by Jason Davis leads off, a reasonably faithful re-interpretation of The Lurking Horror from Infocom. It's the first Amstrad CPC exclusive on the show and makes surprisingly minimal use of the graphics available in Graphic Adventure Creator. For the main course we take on Infocom's Infidel, memorably parodied by Zarf himself (Episode 27's Inhumane) and created by Michael Berlyn and Patricia Fogleman. Legendary for its surly protagonist and shock ending, does it hold up to modern scrutiny? Infidel (IFDB) Infidel packaging (gray box) Infidel packaging (folio) The Smirking Horror (CPCWiki) The Smirking Horror (playable online)

Episode 40 - OPEN MAILBOX May 2026

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

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Episode 39 - Second Anniversary Chatisode

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

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)

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Episode 37 - Another Conversation With Ron Martinez

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

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

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)

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Episode 35 - 2025 Year-End Chatisode

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

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Episode 34 - Gremlins and A Spell Of Christmas Ice

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

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Episode 33 - A Conversation with Mathbrush

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