🧭 THE ARCHIVES

Quote of the day

The ship rocks from the force of multiple explosions. The lights go out, and you feel a sudden drop in pressure accompanied by a loud hissing. Too bad you weren't in the escape pod...

-- Planetfall

Factoid of the day

In Zork III, an earthquake occurs after about 150 turns. If you haven't completed a certain part of the story before the earthquake, the game cannot be finished. Frustratingly, there is no obvious way to know when the game has been soft-locked in this manner.

*Find a well. Cast a spell. Make a mistake. Go to #*%!!*
Nov 1993

Status Line, The, v6(1)

~2 minute read

Jan-Jun 1987

Genuine Zorkmid coin minted for the Zork Trilogy

Zork Trilogy Cover — Here’s the surprisingly original cover of the new Zork Trilogy, chosen from literally thousands of entries from across the globe.

Together again for the first time; Zork I, Zork II and Zork III in the same package

In the beginning, three little Zorks lived happily together in one big mainframe computer. They flourished under the loving care of Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, and a lot of other nurturing computer types, and grew up to be humorous, challenging, and full of riveting puzzles.

Finally, it was time for Zork® I, Zork II, and Zork III to venture out into the world of personal computers. As everybody knows, they made their parents proud. One million people welcomed the little Zorks into their homes. They were called "remarkable," "fascinating," "beautifully written," "masterpieces of logic." Countless awards and accolades were won, including "Best All-Time Computer Game" from Playboy Magazine in 1986.

Now, five years later, Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III are together again, happily reunited in one incredible Zork Trilogy package.

To commemorate this momentous occasion, the staff of the Frobozz Mint struck a special Zorkmid coin. The coin, which bears the handsome visage of Belwit the Flat, is included in The Zork Trilogy package, along with the complete games of Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III on disk; a history of the Great Underground Empire; a Frobozzco International stock certificate; resort brochures from Bozbarland and Grayslopes; a letter from John D. Flathead IX; and a strange old map.

Just imagine... Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, a heap of fascinating documents, and a not-available-anywhere-else Zorkmid coin. And it's all yours at a savings of 50% off the original combined cost of the three Zork packages. Commodore 64/128 and Atari XL/XE versions cost just $59.95. Apple II series, Macintosh, Atari ST, Amiga, and IBM versions carry a suggested retail price of $69.95.

If you haven't yet welcomed the three little Zorks into your home, now is the time to do so... now that they're all together in the extra special Zork Trilogy.

These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.