text adventures
Prose command games
Text adventures are a genre of computer games where players navigate fictional worlds through typed commands and written descriptions rather than graphics.
The player reads prose describing locations and situations, then types instructions like "go north" or "open door" to interact.
Popular in the 1980s before graphical games dominated, they survive as interactive fiction: I spent hours playing text adventures as a kid.
Also called text-based games.
- ZorkSeminal interactive fiction series
- choicesAvailable options to pick
- parserSyntax-interpreting program
- interactive fictionCommand-driven narrative software
- narrativeAccount of events
video games · computer games · retro gaming · descriptive prose · storytelling · game design · world-building · point-and-click · command-line interface · floppy disk · Twine · retro computing · puzzle-solving · fantasy realm · plot twists · save game · exploration · inventory management
- interactive bookspop-up books, lift-the-flap books, gamebooks, talking books, activity books
- digital storiese-literature, digital storytelling, interactive fiction, webnovels, hypertext
- game writingdialogue, strategy guides, walkthroughs, lore, backstory
- story gamesinteractive fiction, visual novels, gamebooks, narrative choices, player choice
- hobby codingopen source, web dev, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, hackathons
text adventuresVR games
Headset-based interactive entertainment
first-person shooters · arcade games · visual novels · open-world games · AAA games
text adventuresrhythm games
Games requiring musical timing
fighting games · button mashers · VR experiences · dance games · Wii Sports
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