Best Text Based Games
Ov On Games Browser Games. What is a browser game A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser.1 Browser based games can be run using standard web technologies2 or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer. If you like this game, you might like other games by the same developer. Available on iOS (Rs. 370), Android (Rs. 360), Steam (Rs. Is a text-based adventure game with.
The following list of text-based games is not to be considered an authoritative, comprehensive listing of all such games; rather, it is intended to represent a wide range of game styles and genres presented using the text mode display and their evolution across a long period.
- 2On personal computers
- 3On Android phones
- 4Online games
On mainframe computers[edit]
Years listed are those in which early mainframe games and others are believed to have originally appeared. Often these games were continually modified and played as a succession of versions for years after their initial posting. (For purposes of this list, minicomputers are considered mainframes, in contrast to microcomputers, which are not.)
Title | Year Created | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
BBC | 1961 | John Burgeson | Baseball simulator |
Unnamed American football game[1] | 1968 or before | Unknown | For the Dartmouth Time Sharing System. One of 'many games' in library of 500 programs. |
The Sumer Game | 1968 | Doug Dyment | AKA Hamurabi |
Highnoon | 1970 | Christopher Gaylo | |
Baseball | 1971 | Don Daglow | |
Oregon Trail | 1971 | Don Rawitsch | |
Star Trek (strategy game) | 1971 | Mike Mayfield | |
Hunt the Wumpus | 1972 | Gregory Yob | |
Star Trek (script game) | 1972 | Don Daglow | |
TREK73 | 1973 | William K. Char, Perry Lee, and Dan Gee | |
Cornell U. Hockey | 1973 | Charles Buttrey | |
Wander | 1974 | Peter Langston | |
dnd | 1975 | Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood | |
Dungeon | 1975 | Don Daglow | |
Colossal Cave Adventure | 1976 | Will Crowther | The original adventure game |
Dukedom | 1976 | Vince Talbot | |
Empire | 1977 | Walter Bright | |
Mystery Mansion | 1977 | Bill Wolpert | |
Zork | 1977 | Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels and Dave Lebling | |
Acheton | 1978 | Jon Thackray, David Seal and Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Decwar | 1978 | Hysick, Bob and Potter, Jeff | |
MUD | 1978 | Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle | The first multi-user dungeon. See List of MUDs for later examples. |
Battlestar | 1979 | David Riggle | |
Brand X | 1979 | Peter Killworth and Jonathan Mestel | AKA Philosopher's Quest |
HAUNT | 1979 | John Laird | |
Martian Adventure | 1979 | Brad Templeton and Kieran Carroll | |
New Adventure | 1979 | Mark Niemiec | |
FisK | 1980 | John Sobotik and Richard Beigel | Text based adventure game |
Hezarin | 1980 | Steve Tinney, Alex Shipp and Jon Thackray | |
Kingdom of Hamil | 1980 | Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Monsters of Murdac | 1980 | Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Quondam | 1980 | Rod Underwood | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Rogue | 1980 | Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, and Ken Arnold | |
LORD | 1981 | Olli J. Paavola | Based on Lord of the Rings |
Avon | 1983 | Jonathan Partington | Shakespeareanadventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Castle | 1983 | Barry Wilks | |
Dunnet | 1983 | Ron Schnell | |
Fyleet | 1986 | Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Crobe | 1987 | Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Nidus | 1987 | Adam Atkinson | |
Quest of the Sangraal | 1987 | Jonathan Partington | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe |
Spycatcher | 1989 | Jonathan Partington and Jon Thackray | Adventure game originally hosted on Cambridge University's Phoenix mainframe; released commercially by Topologika Software as Spy Snatcher |
On personal computers[edit]
Commercial text adventure games[edit]
These are commercial interactive fiction games played offline.
Title | Year Created | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Adventureland | 1978 | Scott Adams of Adventure International | series |
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire | 1980 | Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels and Dave Lebling | series |
C.I.A Adventure | 1980 | Hugh Lampert of CLOAD | |
Softporn Adventure | 1981 | On-Line Systems | |
Madness and the Minotaur | 1981 | for Spectral Associates | |
The Hobbit | 1982 | Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler of Beam Software | |
Valhalla | 1983 | Legend | |
Time and Magik | 1983 | Level 9 | |
Forbidden Quest | 1983 | Pryority Software | |
Valley of the Minotaur | 1983 | Nicolas van Dyk of Softalk | |
The Wizard of Akyrz | 1983 | Brian Howarth of Mysterious Adventures and Cliff J. Ogden for Adventure International | |
The Biz | 1984 | Chris Sievey of Virgin Games | Music band simulator for the ZX Spectrum |
High Stakes | 1984 | Angelsoft | |
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy | 1984 | Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky of Infocom | |
Mindwheel | 1984 | Robert Pinsky for Synapse Software | |
Zyll | 1984 | Marshal W. Linder and Scott B. Edwards for IBM | |
The Pawn | 1985 | Magnetic Scrolls | |
A Mind Forever Voyaging | 1985 | Steve Meretzky of Infocom | |
Brimstone | 1985 | James Paul for Synapse | |
Essex | 1985 | Bill Darrah for Synapse | |
Hampstead | 1985 | Peter Jones and Trevor Lever for Melbourne House | |
Bored of the Rings | 1985 | Delta 4 | |
Mind Wheel | 1985 | Brøderbund Software | |
Heavy on the Magick | 1986 | Gargoyle Games | |
Breakers | 1986 | Rodney R. Smith for Synapse | |
Terrormolinos | 1986 | Peter Jones and Trevor Lever for Melbourne House | |
Amnesia | 1987 | Thomas M. Disch | The only entirely non-graphical text adventure ever published by Electronic Arts |
Braminar | 1987 | ||
Dodgy Geezers | 1987 | Peter Jones and Trevor Lever for Melbourne House | |
Enchanted Castle | 1987 | Michael R. Wilk[2] | |
Gnome Ranger | 1987 | Level 9 | |
Jacaranda Jim | 1987 | Graham Cluley | |
Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It | 1987 | Jeff O'Neill for Infocom | |
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels | 1987 | Bob Bates for Infocom | |
Shadows of Mordor | 1987 | Melbourne House | |
Knight Orc | 1987 | Level 9 | |
The Guild of Thieves | 1987 | Magnetic Scrolls | |
Fish! | 1988 | Magnetic Scrolls | |
Ingrid's Back | 1988 | Level 9 | |
Corruption | 1988 | Magnetic Scrolls | |
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. | 1988 | Michael and Muffy Berlyn | |
Avalon | 1989 | Yehuda Simmons[3] | A MUD, notable for its pioneering introduction of various innovations such as plotted quests, real estate, banking and distinct skills [4][5] |
The Hound of Shadow | 1989 | for Eldritch Games | |
Humbug | 1990 | Graham Cluley | |
Danger! Adventurer at Work! | 1991 | Simon Avery | |
Spy Snatcher | 1992 | Jonathan Partington and Jonathan Thackray for Topologika | |
dead rage | 2005 | Tate Productions | |
World War II: Heroes of Valor | 2009 | Samuel Horton | |
Cypher: Cyberpunk Text Adventure | 2012 | Cabrera Brothers [6] | |
The Yawhg | 2013 | Emily Carroll[7] | |
Shimlar | 2013 | SHIMLAR LTD. | Text-Based RPG |
Criminal Gangsters | 2014 | Inspire Gaming[8] | |
SanctuaryRPG: Black Edition | 2015 | Black Shell Games | Text-Based RPG[9] |
What Would You Do As a Nigerian Tribal Chief | 2015 | Nathaniel Ogungbuyi[10] | |
Commandverse | 2015 | Cyborg Reality | Text-Based God Game[11] |
Open Sorcery | 2017 | Open Sorcery Games | Text-Based RPG[12] |
City of Ages | 2017 | Darren N. Lory of formsmatter.com[13] | written in Visual Basic 6.0 sr 6 |
On Android phones[edit]
Title | Year Created | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Snipes | 2017 | Charles Bergren of bdesigncorp.com[14] | rewritten in Java |
Miscellaneous games[edit]
Title | Year Created | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Wizard's Castle | 1978 | Joseph R. Power | |
Aliens | 1982 | Yahoo Software | Space Invaders clone for Kaypro. |
CatChum | 1982 | Yahoo Software | Pac-Man clone for Kaypro. |
Ladder | 1982 | Yahoo Software | Donkey Kong clone for Kaypro. |
Snipes | 1983 | SuperSet | |
Sleuth | 1983 | Eric N. Miller | |
Beast | 1984 | Dan Baker, Alan Brown, Mark Hamilton and Derrick Shadel | |
Kingdom of Kroz | 1987 | Scott Miller of Apogee Software | |
Mtrek | 1987 | Chuck Peterson of UCSC | |
ZZT | 1991 | Tim Sweeney of Epic MegaGames | |
Curses! | 1993 | Graham Nelson | |
MegaZeux | 1994 | Alexis Janson of Software Visions | Supports editing the character set to allow for more advanced graphical capabilities than most text mode games. |
Jigsaw | 1995 | Graham Nelson | |
Chibot Ultra Battle | 1999 | ||
PAEE | 1999 | Enrique D. Bosch | |
For a Change | 1999 | Dan Schmidt | |
Shade | 2000 | Andrew Plotkin | |
Shrapnel | 2000 | Adam Cadre | |
The Gostak | 2001 | Carl Muckenhoupt | |
Cantr II | 2001 | Jos Elkink | Text-Based Society Simulator |
Deadline Enchanter | 2007 | Alan DeNiro | |
combatgrounds | 2008 | war games | |
sie fate | 2014 | fate team | |
Tau Station | 2018 | Makes Dreams Happen | Narrative sci-fi MMORPG[15] |
Warsim: The Realm of Aslona | 2019 | Huw Millward | Complex kingdom management simulator with procedurally generated ascii art systems [16][17] |
Online games[edit]
Play-by-email games[edit]
These are play-by-email games played online.
Title | Year Created | Creator |
---|---|---|
Lords of the Earth | 1983 | |
Quantum Space | 1989 | |
Atlantis PbeM | 1993 | |
Eressea PbeM | 1996 | |
WW2 The Big One PbeM | 2010 |
BBS door games[edit]
These are BBS door games played online.
Title | Year Created | Creator |
---|---|---|
TradeWars 2002 | 1987 | Gary Martin for Martech Software |
Legend of the Red Dragon | 1989 | Seth Able Robinson |
MUDs[edit]
Other[edit]
- Multi-Trek (MTrek) (1986) by Chuck L. Peterson
- Imperium (1989) by Pocketfiction
- Rise to Glory (1997) by Jason Granum
- JavaTrek (JTrek) (2003) by Joe Hopkinson and Jay Ashworth
- 'Thy Dungeonman' (2004) by The Brothers Chaps
- Text Gangsters (2014) by Pan Gamers
- 'Crypt Shyfter' (2017) by Kung Fu Space Barbarian
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Kemeny, John G.; Kurtz, Thomas E. (11 October 1968). 'Dartmouth Time-Sharing'. Science. 162: 223–228. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^Michael R. Wilk (1 January 1987). 'Enchanted Castle' – via Internet Archive.
- ^Lives, Avalon, The Legend. 'Online RPG Game - Avalon - Text Based Games'. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05.
- ^'Richard A. Bartle: Reviews - UK'. Archived from the original on 2015-12-28.
- ^'Designing Virtual Worlds'. Archived from the original on 2015-11-18.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'The Yawhg'. Archived from the original on 2014-06-01.
- ^http://www.criminalgangsters.co.ukArchived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-05-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^http://www.cyborgreality.com/[dead link]
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2017-05-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2018-03-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^http://www.bdesigncorp.comArchived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Tau Station'. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ^'Warsim: the realm of Aslona on Steam'. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
- ^'Warsim: the realm of Aslona community on Reddit'. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
Text based games, a.k.a. interactive fiction, have been one of the many genres of gaming for a long time. In fact, they're one of the first! Since the '70's there have been many great games the genre, such as Zork, Colossal Cave Adventure and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Even nowadays, people can still enjoy text-based games thanks to the power of the internet. There are even websites where people can make their own! But for the most part, even the most well-known games in the genre are free to play, and luckily, we've found a few (new and old) ones that you might like! Take a look and enjoy!
5. The Dreamhold
This is a good game for newcomers to IF games, as it features a guide that will give you tips when you're in difficult situations. It even has guides that help you learn how to play.
In The Dreamhold, you play as someone who woke up in some sort of cell. You cannot remember how you got there -- you can't even remember how to read certain books, which help you progress through the game. But once your character explores the areas outside the cell, you quickly realize that you are really in a Dreamhold, or a wizard's high house.
the story only gets crazier (and juicer) from there.
PlayThe Dreamhold here.
4. Zork
You have likely heard of this one before. A classic RPG, Zork is a predecessor to games like Skyrim and Fallout 4. Yes, this little text-based adventure game is what inspired industry greats like Rand Miller to design games in the first place and give us some of the amazing worlds we have today.
You start the game out in the middle of nowhere in front of a white house with a boarded up door and barred up windows. You must enter the house, and after that, you must explore the house. (Spoiler: It's not easy to get inside!)
Exploring will eventually find you many treasures that you can collect for a higher score, but as there is more to the house than at first glance, how many can you find without dying?
Play Zork here.
3. Nameless Quest
In this story, you start out in a tavern bustling with merriment -- like any good game that's influenced by D&D. Once your character leaves, he finally becomes too tired to go anywhere, so he lays down on the ground to sleep. But when he wakes up, there's an old man tugging at his sleeve, who tells you a few (strange and peculiar) things and runs off to leave you on your adventure -- which I'm not ever sure you asked for!
Nonetheless, this is a fun, whimsical experience that can entertain you for awhile.
Play Nameless Quest here.
Note: Keep hitting keys at the beginning to finish loading. It might seem buggy, but it's not. It's just taking you on an adventure to prepare you for the trials ahead.
2. Spider And Web
In this game, you play as a spy who is infiltrating a facility to obtain a mysterious item, a la' Mission Impossible. The dialogue is very simple, consisting of Yes, No, or no answer at all.
There's a lot of trial and error with this one. Sometimes, it's not really clear what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to go. But that's the fun of it all, right?
As such, there can be more than one bill in any denomination with the same serial number in a given year.)So how do you get your hands on one? It helps if you have friends in high and very secure places. 100 bill serial number lookup.
Best Text Based Games Online
But keep one thing in mind: Save often, especially toward the end as you can make a few critical errors that will end all game progress before your last save.
Play Spider And Web here.
1. Night House
This game is pretty creepy. You start as a young boy who wakes up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but he soon realizes his family isn't home -- but maybe something else is.
This horror IF is a neat experience because unlike most IF adventures that support only one type of command input, Night House functions with multiple input variations. You can type everything out, but you can also use a side menu to control your actions. It really is an interesting take on an almost age-old way of playing IF games.
Note: You will still occasionally have to type some things out, e.g. 'Put batteries in flashlight.' But you do have options, that's more than most IF games.
Play Night House Psp roms. here.
Best Text Based Games Pc
Of course, there are plenty more text-based adventure games and RPGs out there. If you're looking for even more to play, check out websites like TextAdventures and GameShed, where highly active communities come together to make and share some truly great interactive fiction.
Best Text Based Games
What do you think of these games? Did you try playing them? Do you have more IF games to share? Let us know in the comments!