Ask HN: Best Text Adventure games? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best Text Adventure games?

20 pointstomrod11 comments

I feel like going retro for awhile. What are the best text adventures/MUDs you've ever played?

The old stuff is fun, but I've gotta recommend the newer efforts for really high quality text adventure. The current interactive fiction subculture is doing some pretty keen stuff, both novel and retro-flavored.

I think Emily Short's list of recommended IF (http://emshort.wordpress.com/how-to-play/reading-if/) is very good since it breaks up games by category. Nick Monfort also has some good recommendations (http://nickm.com/if/rec.html).

Personally, if you're looking for the old time feel, I would recommend:

Anchorhead (big, Cthulhoid, genuinely chilling in places): http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 Christminster (puzzle-oriented, very tough): http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=fq26p07f48ckfror Curses (puzzle-oriented, great setting, time travel): http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=plvzam05bmz3enh8

How to play these: http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/FAQ#How_can_I_download_and_p... Easy entry point: http://pr-if.org/play/

I don't know if this counts but: http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/

A dark room is what turned me on to the idea, actually. Awesome gameplay and such a subtle conception.

Deadline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_(video_game)

Easily one of the best detective games ever created, and also my favorite Infocom game. Time passes as the game goes by, things happen in the game world independent of the player, multiple-endings, its got it all.

A Mind Forever Voyaging

If you feel like going "neo-retro", try some modern text adventures / interactive fiction http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Recommended_games

HellMOO (http://www.hellmoo.org) is a fun MUD I've played on and off over the years. If you're in to post-apocalyptic scenarios and pop culture references, this game is for you.

http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org

Of course this is a MUD and not a standalone game.

"Where Roleplay and Tactics Collide" -- highly addictive, beware!

If you’re feeling adventurous (zing!) consider looking at games developed out of the interactive fiction compo: http://ifcomp.org

I recommend Gateway and Gateway II, based on Frederik Pohl's science fiction series.

There's graphics and sound, but the interface is classic text adventure.

The Pawn, Guild of Thieves and Knight Orc were pretty fun to play... Of course the classic Zork Series and other Infocom games.

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