Text-only Indie game Text Zedventure arrives on Xbox Live

Ryan Wilsey 10 May, 2010 at 1:08pm ET Article published in Gaming

Hearkening back  to the days of text-based adventure games such as Zork, Text Zedventure has recently been released for Xbox Live Indie Games. With no immersive over-the-top 3D imagery at your side, you are charged with having to escape a city under assault from a mysterious infection.

Indie Games box art

Text Zedventure, similar to to old-fashioned computer games and choose-your-own-adventure books offers a wealth of choice-driven options in order to tell the ghastly story of the events happening around you. Every step of the way you are faced with multiple paths to take, where even seemingly insignificant decisions will lead to vastly different outcomes. With multiple endings and three unique chapters that take you through locales such as a train station and a shopping center, the game is designed from the ground up for replayablility.

Text Zedventure is set up to be a charitable game. Affordably priced at just 80 Microsoft Points ($1.00), all profits between now and May 31, 2010 will be donated straight to the animal conservation charity “Save the Rhino” (registered charity 1035072). After May 31, 25% of sales will still go to the charity.

Text Zedventure was created by Matthew Reynolds. More about the game can be found at his blog, Crazy Reyn.

Screenshot from the game showing multiple context-sensitive choices to select

Comments

1. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 1:34pm Bandrik I loved text-based games as a kid. My favorite was The Labyrinth on the Commodore 64 based on the movie of the same name by LucasArts, Jim Henson, starring David Bowie. You had control to do some hilarious things, such as eating things you find in your pocket. Eat + Movie Ticket = "You force yourself to eat your movie ticket. It tastes surprisingly good."
   
   Choose-your-own-adventure books were the same deal. The choices were crucial, with everything have a big impact on the story. I would always re-read to see what other options I could have taken.
   
   For the 360, it's nice to see a game that values the power of the imagination. I don't always need stellar graphics to tell me what I should be seeing. That, and you can't complain about the price. Even avatar clothing items don't come this cheap.
   
   Icrontic will likely be reviewing this game soon, so stay tuned.
2. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 2:10pm Blib This isn't a text adventure. Text Adventures were actually a genre and they had parsers so you could communicate with them in simple english sentences. This is a bunch of goto statements reminiscent of the find your fate type of game books popular in the late 80's. One problem. Most of the find your fate books, had maps, pictures, and other niceties that this game doesn't. Another begger asking for free money on XBLIG!
3. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 3:00pm primesuspect I would argue that those "parsers" were no better than selecting from a menu of valid choices. I played a great many text adventures back in my day (in fact, I wrote one as a project to learn GFA Basic on my old Atari ST), and the choices were so limited that you may as well have had a menu of valid options, as it would have saved a great deal of time.
   
   Nostalgia goggles are often rose-colored. If you were to sit down and play an original Infocom game like Ballyhoo or Wishstone, you may remember how incredibly frustrating the parser could be...
4. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 3:06pm Thrax

   primesuspect said:

   Nostalgia goggles are often rose-colored. If you were to sit down and play an original Infocom game like Ballyhoo or Wishstone, you may remember how incredibly frustrating the parser could be...

   Well-said, and I agree. Having played more than a few text adventures in my day, the plain English parsers accepted so few inputs as valid that they might as well have simply programmed a list of canned options.
   
   The end result would have been the same, and they would have been easier to play and code.
5. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 3:28pm Blib Your argument and my argument are not the same argument. Go dig up the code for an old infocom game, and try to figure out the parser.
6. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 3:57pm primesuspect Oh, I understand what you're arguing, but you're missing my point: While "technically" a parser is an entirely different animal—and this Zedventure doesn't contain one, clearly—my point is that in the end, it doesn't really matter. What matters is the picture that the story paints.
7. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 4:22pm Winfrey To argue that Text Adventures require a parser to be considered as Text Adventures seems a bit contrived to me. I'm going to agree with primesuspect and Thrax on this.
   
   I'm a little more interested in how popular this game might be. Who's the target audience? Hopefully the generation that missed out on Text Adventures growing up get a great example of how all the graphics and physics and whatever isn't required for an enjoyable gaming experience.
8. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 4:57pm mondi As I remember them, a large amount of the appeal inherent in these games was figuring out what the game understood as input, and how you could combine various actions and items to advance the story. Frustrations aside, it's a little different when you can finish/win with a predetermined sequence of commands that amounts to nothing more than up/down/enter
9. 
   10 May 2010 ~ 5:09pm QCH Pick up stick
   ...You cannot do that
   Pick up Rock
   ...You pick up rock and throw it at the troll
   ...You hit him and anger him
   ...You die
10. 
    10 May 2010 ~ 5:37pm John the Great I saw someone paying it the other day. It's not as frustrating as old text adventures when it came to figuring out what to do but otherwise it was great.
11. 
    10 May 2010 ~ 7:13pm jpparker88 I bought it. and while not as in depth as like zork or other games, it's well worth the money spent. and you dont spend hours wondering around trying to remember where you are or were or anything else.
12. 
    10 May 2010 ~ 11:12pm Tommy Text Adventures is awesome, actually played it today at a friend's home and now purchasing it on Live :)