Overview

Since a winter morning in 1971 when a teacher wheeled a teletype into his classroom to debut a game about the Oregon Trail, people have been telling interactive stories on digital platforms. From text adventures to VR poetry, MUDS to mobile romance sims, and chatbots to roguelikes, these games without graphics have pioneered new techniques for interactive storytelling, engaged imaginations with clever engines and beautiful prose, and explored the new terrain of fiction you can play. 50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to AI Dungeon picks one text-based game from each year between 1971 and 2020 and studies how it works, what it's about, why it's special, and its lasting legacy. From famous classics to overlooked gems, from personal stories to million-word epics, and from games printed by teletypes to games downloaded on smart watches, this is the fascinating story of interactive fiction's first half-century.

Full Product Details

9798985966114

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Absolutely essential... a stunning, peerless introduction to interactive fiction."" - Colin Post ""Mandatory reading... if you're interested in games writing or design you really must read this."" - Bruno Dias"

Author Information

Aaron A. Reed is an award-winning writer working at the intersection of writing and play. He is the creator of Blue Lacuna, voted in 2011 one of the top ten text adventures of all time, and was lead author on the nonfiction book Adventure Games: Playing the Outsider (Bloomsbury Press).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available