We played seven different computer role-playing games in 1979 and twenty text adventure offerings. We’ve moved away from PLATO and mainframes and are now ushering in the era of the home computers. Early programmers and game designers, much like early pioneers, are paving the way and setting the stage for later games and what Matt Barton would call The Bronze Age. In 1979 we’re starting to see a glimpse of what computer role-playing games might become as well as the rise of the interactive text adventure. Many of these early text adventures followed a particular recipe or form. There would usually be a maze or two which would have to be traversed and there was almost always a treasure hunt that involved the player finding a number of items. Some games would be scored and others would have a time limit or a move limit imposed to make things a bit harder. There were some early pioneers who would experiment with the medium and create original pieces of work that broke away from these text adventure tropes. Scott Adams, Gary Bedrosian, and Robert LaFore come to mind. If you are a fan of the medium their games are standouts and scream originality and innovation.
Each year I’d like to make it a tradition to pick a category award winner and an overall winner. Last year, in 1978, Beneath Apple Manor won in the CRPG category and Lords of Karma won in the Interactive Fiction category. The Overall Winner for 1978 was awarded to Lords of Karma.
Now for the 1979 Retrogame.com award winners:
1979 CRPG Game of the Year: Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai
This is a must play from a historical perspective. Epyx worked around the current technology limitations by creating an amazing game manual. The writing and presentation were very good which included a Brian Hammerhand short story and room and treasure descriptions for every room on every level in the game. It worked to help create an immersive experience and later the Gold Box series from SSI adopted this same format. The Temple of Apshai was a tremendous commercial success for its era.
1979 Interactive Fiction Game of the Year: Empire of the Overmind
The story, setting, and plot of this game are extraordinary. The poem that comes packaged with the game foreshadows the cloth maps that would later be packaged with epic computer role-playing games. Deciphering the cryptic clues in the poem is necessary in order to advance in the game. Spending time poring over the lines in the poem helps to create an otherworldly and immersive experience. The writing is so well done that the Overmind feels like an actual adversary that needs to be defeated. The ending was suspenseful and amazing. This is still my favorite overall text adventure through 1979.
1979 Overall Game of the Year: Empire of the Overmind.
The Temple of Apshai may have been the commercial success but it was Empire of the Overmind that I was entranced by. It was engaging like no other game has been engaging in this era and it was stunningly original. The amount of writing and the content was revolutionary. The plot was like reading an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel and for the first time a game throws an adversary at you that seems threatening and real. The engagement between the player and the game is real and the coup de tat is including a poem in the documentation that the player will have to analyze again and again. This creates an additional level of immersion that takes things to an entirely different playing experience. If you love adventure & fantasy or are a fan of interactive fiction and you have not yet played Empire of the Overmind I strongly recommend that you do so. You will feel as if you are playing one of the stronger Infocom games that are still a few years away.
Last but certainly NOT least; a special Retrogames.com award has to be given to Scott Adams who game us six completely different text adventures in 1979. Scott Adams continues to be a pioneer in this medium as he continued to experiment with each successive adventure that was published. I am awarding him the special moniker of Grandfather of Interactive Fiction. It was his business acumen, courage, energy, and enthusiasm that brought eight different text adventures to home computers in this era. He would be a huge influence on future developers and games. I had a lot of fun playing through the computer role-playing games and text adventures from 1979. A large part of that fun and time allotment was spent playing through the six different Scott Adams adventures. No other personality came close to the quantity and quality of adventures published in 1979. Congratulations Scott and thank you for your artistry and for giving us something that brings joy and happiness to our lives.