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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.
On mainframe computers
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 |
| The Sumerian Game | 1964 | Mabel Addis, William McKay | The first edutainment game. |
| Unnamed American football game | 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 | The game is similar to a text adventure, where the player is in a shootout with the villain Black Bart. |
| Baseball | 1971 | Don Daglow | It was the first interactive Baseball simulation game, allowing players to manage the game as it unfolded. |
| 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 The Lord of the Rings |
| Avon | 1983 | Jonathan Partington | Shakespearean adventure 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
Commercial text adventure games
These are commercial interactive fiction games played offline.
Miscellaneous games
| 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. |
| Text Train | 1982 | Bert Kersey, Beagle Bros Software | |
| 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 |
Online games
Play-by-email games
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 |
BBS door games
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
For MUDs, see Chronology of MUDs.Text-Based Browser Multiplayer Games
These games are played in a web browser and involve multiplayer components: based mainly around text but may have limited graphical user interfaces.
| Title | Year Created | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torn City | 2003 | Joe Chedburn (Torn LTD) | Torn is a text-based online RPG set in Torn City, a dark underworld where players strive to survive and build their characters. Offering a wide range of activities from character development to engaging with thousands of active players worldwide |
| Mafia Wars | 2008 | Zynga | Mafia Wars is a multiplayer social network game where players take on the roles of gangsters |
| Mafia Life | 2023 | N/A | Mafia Life is a modern text-based online game where players engage in various activities: accumulating wealth, power, and respect, as they compete with other players globally. |
| Tribal Wars | 2003 | InnoGames GmbH | Tribal Wars is a browser-based, multiplayer online real-time strategy game set in the Middle Ages, where players manage and expand their villages, trade resources, form alliances, and engage in warfare with other players. |
See also
References
- Kemeny, John G.; Kurtz, Thomas E. (11 October 1968). "Dartmouth Time-Sharing". Science. 162 (3850): 223–228. Bibcode:1968Sci...162..223K. doi:10.1126/science.162.3850.223. PMID 5675464. 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Richard A. Bartle: Reviews - UK". Archived from the original on 2015-12-28.
- "Designing Virtual Worlds". Archived from the original on 2015-11-18.
- "The Yawhg". Archived from the original on 2014-06-01.