Infocom was a software company founded in 1979 who released a series of graphics-free text adventure games, which came to be known as Interactive Fiction. Notable Infocom releases were the Zork series, Planetfall, Infidel, Deadline, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which we discussed a little bit in our previous installment), Trinity and A Mind Forever Voyaging. You'd interact with the game by typing in commands such as "Walk up stairs", "Go West", or "Pick up the Thing Your Aunt Gave You Which You Don't Know What It Is" and try to solve the various puzzles and mazes presented to you.

At their best the games genuinely felt like you were interacting with a book, expanding the Choose Your Own Adventure Model to what felt like infinite possibilities. Joining the show to discuss Infocom are Felicity Kusinitz ("The Mayor of Chickentown" from The Flopcast) and Ryan Evans from the Reading Graphic Novels comic book discussion series.

Other sites mentioned:

The Digital Antiquarian

Gold Machine

Infocom: The Documentary

Infocom's Unreleased Sequel to Hitchhiker's Guide

The Infocom Cabinet on The Internet Archive

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