For whatever reason, I never played a game that has become almost legendary in the computer world. The game I’m referring to?

Zork.

It’s mentioned in all sorts of places, like UserFriendly, Mark’s account of a Windows XP installation (see #56), and even in Eric Raymond’s jargon dictionary. In spite of its pervasiveness, I had never played it until a few days ago.

I was able to play thanks to a site about Infocom, a selection of game files and ap2inf to convert them. I not only played Zork, but Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and since I have read the book now, it made a lot more sense.

Anyway, now that I’ve played Zork, I have learned firsthand the deathly ill that is a Grue in the dark. It was fun to experience what are fond memories of others, for the first time.