

Ask HN: Best Text Adventure games? - tomrod

I feel like going retro for awhile. What are the best text adventures&#x2F;MUDs you&#x27;ve ever played?
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BryantD
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/](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](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](http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7)
Christminster (puzzle-oriented, very tough):
[http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=fq26p07f48ckfror](http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=fq26p07f48ckfror)
Curses (puzzle-oriented, great setting, time travel):
[http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=plvzam05bmz3enh8](http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=plvzam05bmz3enh8)

How to play these:
[http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/FAQ#How_can_I_download_and_p...](http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/FAQ#How_can_I_download_and_play_IF.3F)
Easy entry point: [http://pr-if.org/play/](http://pr-if.org/play/)

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Splendor
I don't know if this counts but:
[http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/](http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/)

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

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32bitkid
Deadline
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_(video_game)](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.

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airza
A Mind Forever Voyaging

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

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agjones
HellMOO ([http://www.hellmoo.org](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.

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Balantine
[http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org](http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org)

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

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

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

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impendia
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.

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LarryMade2
The Pawn, Guild of Thieves and Knight Orc were pretty fun to play... Of course
the classic Zork Series and other Infocom games.

