Adventureland (video game)

Adventureland is a text adventure video game for microcomputers,^[1] released by Scott Adams in 1978. The game has no plot^[2] but simply involves searching for thirteen lost artifacts in a fantasy setting. Its success led Adams to form Adventure International,^[3] which went on to publish thirteen similar games in the Adventure series, each in different settings.

Adventureland
Publisher(s)	Creative Computing Software Adventure International
Designer(s)	Scott Adams
Series	Adventure
Platform(s)	TRS-80, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TI-99/4A, PET, Commodore 64, IBM PC, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Dragon 32/64, Exidy Sorcerer
Release	1978
Genre(s)	Interactive fiction

Gameplay

Adventureland is controlled through the use of written commands. These can consist of a single word, such as those used for player character movement, including north, south, east, west, up, and down. They can also take the form of simple, two-word verb/noun phrases, such as "climb tree". Although the game can recognize about 120 words, the parser only takes the first three letters into account.^[4][5] This means not only that the parser occasionally misidentifies words, but also that commands can be truncated: "lig lam" would be interpreted as "light lamp".

In order to complete the game, the player has to collect the thirteen lost artifacts: A statue of Paul Bunyan's blue ox, Babe, jeweled fruit, golden fish, a dragon's egg, a golden net, a magic carpet, a diamond necklace, a diamond bracelet, a pot of rubies, "royal honey", a crown, a magic mirror, and a "firestone".^[6]

Development

Adventureland, Adams' first program, was inspired by^[7] the earlier Colossal Cave Adventure, though it is not on the same scale.^[8] The source code for Adventureland was published in SoftSide magazine in 1980^[9] and the database format was subsequently used in other interpreters such as Brian Howarth's Mysterious Adventures series.^[10]

The cover of the graphical version of Adventureland

Adventureland was written for the TRS-80, then ported to other systems, most of which didn't exist in 1978: Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, TI-99/4A, PET, VIC-20, Commodore 64, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Dragon 32/64, and Exidy Sorcerer. A cut-down, three treasure version entitled Adventure 0: Special Sampler was also sold at a lower price.^[11]

In 1982, Adventureland was re-released with graphics, thus enabling the player to view visible representations of the scenery and objects.^[12][13]

Reception

Mark Herro for Dragon commented that "I can't recommend ANY version of Scott Adams' Adventure series highly enough. Beg, borrow, or steal a chance to play Adventure!"^[8] British print magazine Micro Adventurer praised the VIC-20 version was released as a cartridge as the loading times would be too long otherwise. The screen format and parser were "standard" according to the magazine. It criticized minor controlling features, the non-consistent map and the seemingly random placement of treasures.^[14] InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers recommended the game as "the best of the early" adventures.^[15]