Episode description

Gil and Sen sit down with game designer and chronicler Aaron A. Reed to talk about his project 50 Years of Text Games, in which he covered one important game for each year between 1971 and 2020. The project will be made into a book.

SHOW NOTES

2m21s: The Oregon Trail

3m13s: Gil mentions a bunch of games that Aaron wrote about: Adventure, Hunt the Wumpus, games made with Inform and Twine, 80 Days, Fallen London.

9m22s: Sen's childhood PET computer, Gil's childhood Panasonic computer

10m24s: The game Adventure, the company Infocom, and the rise of Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs).

14m16s: You can probably add board games like Gloomhaven to this list too!

17m28s: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game, with the infamous Babel Fish puzzle. Here is the text of the Infocom hint guide for that puzzle. Click "Next Answer" for the next step. Each step has spoilers, obviously!

Also, Gil was wrong, it was "only" 30 steps.

18m33s: Myst

20m07s: Infocom's "feelies." Several fan sites have information on them; this is one.

20m38s: Infocom's game Suspended had a ridiculously cool cover; a plastic injection-molded face with cut-outs for the eyes. The eyes you see on the cover are printed on cardboard beneath the face. Because the images for the eyes are recessed, they will seem to follow you if you walk past the game on the shelf. 

22m54s: Robert Lafore's "Interactive Fiction"

26m46s: St. Bride's School

30m45s: The Oz Project

33m09s: The digital game Façade.

36m00s: Adventuron, Choice of Games' ChoiceScript, Inkle

37m00s: So Far, Photopia, Galatea, Trinity

42m01s: The harrowing dramatic film The Sweet Hereafter, which was an inspiration for Photopia.

44m46s: The seminal ARG The Beast, created to promote the film AI

49m47s: Here's the article Gil was talking about. Also, Porpentine's game With Those We Love Alive

52m35s: PixelBerry's interactive romances Choices, of which The Freshman is a story in the game.

56m10s: Ludology 151, where Geoff and Gil discuss what a game actually is.

57m57s: Aaron's book Subcutanean, which is different for everyone who buys it.

58m51s: Sen is likely thinking of Cain's Jawbone, a puzzle released in 1934 by Edward Mathers, under the pseudonym Torquemada.

1h01m27s: Archives of the Sky

1h03m03s: The short IF game 9:05. It's really quick; play it if you can!

1h04m10s: Star Saga One: Beyond the Boundary.

1h05m05s: Above & Below, Near & Far, Tales of the Arabian Nights

1h06m02s: Aaron's 50 Years of Text Games book