Beyond Zork
1987
Brian Moriarty
Software
Infocom
Label written by Emma Chenette
Released in 1987 for the Apple II Series, Beyond Zork is a text-based interactive fiction computer game. Pictured here, the game’s cover details how the player (as the main character) must unravel the mysteries of the Kingdom of Quendor.
The game boasts a complex storyline and complete centering of player choices. Beyond Zork was one of the first videogames to utilize procedural generation, with playthroughs drastically changing based on character creation and player commands. By modern standards, Beyond Zork is more akin to a book than a video game, considering its lack of graphics. The game is reminiscent of other media like the Choose Your Own Adventure novels and the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons. However, For the time, the amount of player choice and autonomy was extremely unusual, and the Zork games sold over one million copies.
Beyond Zork continues to have an avid fanbase and is still available to play in a browser.
Image citation:
- Media Archaeology Lab, Beyond Zork, Creative Commons: Attribution, Non-Commercial
Resources:
- “Beyond Zork”, Media Archaeology Lab, 2013. https://www.mediaarchaeologylab.com/collection/beyond-zork-b4dd256
- “Beyond Zork – The Coconut of Quendor”, Classic Reload. https://classicreload.com/beyond-zork-the-coconut-of-quendor.html
- Jimmy Maher, “Beyond Zork”, The Digital Antiquarian, 2015. https://www.filfre.net/2015/11/beyond-zork/