PC Magazine, v1(4)

~1 minute read

Aug 1982

PCommuniques

Zork Invades PC

Zork, one of the famed games for personal computers, is now available to PC users. This intricate prose adventure, which takes place in "The Great Underground Empire." is offered by Infocom of Cambridge, Massachusetts, hometown of MIT, where it reputedly was developed (in the artificial intelligence lab). The designers of Zork seem to have thought of everything, outwitting players at practically every turn and providing dangerously logical, and often hilarious, responses to players' actions. This is a game you can play for weeks and never finish; you can, however, save your current position to take up where you left off when your strength or wits return. Infocom also has several companions to Zork, including Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz and Deadline.

If you've played Zork or know people who have, you probably also know that many players become Zork addicts. One of the most challenging aspects of this game (and its successors) is that your imagination must supply all the visuals. This is a prose game in which you move about in an unseen world, with only your mind's eye and your memory for guides. But hark — here comes the Zork Users Group to the rescue! These folks have risen from the underground empire long enough to publish maps, clues, and blueprints for the Infocom games. For clues to their clues, write the Zork Users Group at P.O. Box 20923, Milwaukee, WI 53220: for the games, contact Infocom, 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138, or check with your dealer.

This article appeared in
PC Magazine
Aug 1982

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