Here's a bit of trivia from the Infocom source code collection. All modern parser-IF tools let you type X as an abbreviation for EXAMINE. It's such a familiar shortcut that we forget that most Infocom games didn't work that way. Back when we ...| Zarf Updates
A few days ago, Kate Willaert wrote: As much as I love the word "Metroidvania," I dislike people calling these games Metroidbrainias because it makes it sound like their root is in Metroid games when they're just standard Adventure games in ...| Zarf Updates
In this final essay on Steve Meretzky's Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Drew Cook considers the difference between titillation and comic joy.| Gold Machine
In part 2 of Gold Machine's 3-part series about Infocom's Leather Goddesses of Phobos, we examine its worldbuiding and play.| Gold Machine
The Gold Machine interprets and critiques interactive texts via literary and cultural analysis, beginning with Infocom’s games from the 1980’s.| Gold Machine
Here's a little something I've been working on: The Visible Zorker! This screenshot has spoilers for Zork 1. This whole project is spoilers for Zork 1. That's the point. Really, go give it a shot. It's a toy. You can read the rest of this ...| Zarf Updates
[I wrote a few reviews of graphic adventure games in 2001, and Stephen Granade hosted them on the About.| >INVENTORY
In this final post about Infocom's Trinity, Drew considers philosophical responses to its rather bleak conclusion.| Gold Machine
When bad things happen to all sorts of people. The Tragic Plane Crash and Other Myths “Tragedy” is a word that gets repeated often in our media. When something horrific happens, it is called a tragedy. Plane crashes, we are told, are tragedies, and so are collapsing buildings. You might think I’m going somewhere pedantic […] The post The Dearth of Tragedy appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
The best ending is not the ending. Depraved Indifference as a Cosmic Horror For the past handful of posts, I’ve maintained the position that humanity is, separate from humans as individuals, a kind of inexorable force, a destructive tendency or eventuality visited upon the earth. In fact, I’ve consistently preferred the term “creation” over “earth” […] The post Suffer the Children appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
Another Pull at an Old Thread Recent discussions have attempted to bolster a few, key ideas. The first and most controversial, given the present critical landscape, is that while historical detail informs our understanding of humanity, it isn’t, in and of itself, a theme or interpretive “code wheel” that can unlock the meaning of Trinity. […] The post Now I Am Become Death appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
Examining the Libra episode of Infocom's Trinity, which features a swarm of lemmings at a Soviet atomic test site.| Gold Machine
Reframing my current assessment of Infocom's Trinity. A controversial opinion regarding the construction and meaning of a beloved game.| Gold Machine
From nowhen to somewhen: narrative vignettes, cumulative storytelling, and a bad day at the beach. Further discussion of Narrative and Geographical Modularity In Trinity In a previous post, I discussed the wide, middle part of Trinity‘s structure. This so-called “Wabe” is a highly effective design, unifying both storytelling and mechanics. Narratively, it establishes Trinity as […] The post “Tell the Truth, but Tell It Slant:” Modularity and Sacrifice appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
In this second of two posts about critical reactions to Infocom's Trinity, Gold Machine considers content published after 2010.| Gold Machine
Gold Machine takes a look at reviews of Trinity from years ranging from 1994 to 2010 before drawing some tentative conclusions.| Gold Machine