Collossal Cave Adventure (1976) is a text parser based simulation of cave explorations containing elements of fantasy roleplaying and thus the very first adventure game in history. The entire genre is named after it. It may seem outdated and quaint by today's standards, but "Playing adventure games without tackling this one is like being an English-teacher who's never glanced at Shakespeare. Steven Levy". Consult a walkthrough when you're stuck. There's also a useful collection of hints available online. Play it and get the ultimate retro feeling (50 years back in time)!
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1980) is another classic text-adventure game. Together together with Colossal Cave, it prepared the ground for the bright but brief triumphal march of interactive fiction in the 80s. The plot is as follows: by exploring a small white house in the forest you find that you are sitting above a great underground empire. You then have to fill a trophy case with 19 items in order to score 350 points and win the game. Sounds easy? Here's the walkthrough!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984) is a captivating and funny masterpiece of interactive fiction, in which a clueless earthling named Arthur Dent wakes up one day to find his house about to be destroyed by a construction crew to make way for a new bypass. His friend Ford Prefect, who is secretly an extraterrestrial, helps to calm Arthur down and hitches them a ride on one of the ships in the approaching Vogon constructor fleet, moments before the fleet destroys the Earth to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. It's just plain fun to accompany the two of them on their hilarious odyssey through any and all corners of our galaxy, the game itself however is considered to be cruel in its difficulty. But don't panic, use a walkthrough! Text adventures don’t get much better than this, so if you're a fan of the book or the TV-series, this one is a must. It was co-created by Douglas Adams himself! And never forget where your towel is...
A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is a deep and thought-provoking science fiction adventure. It remains today as a major milestone in interactive fiction. You assume the role of a normal guy in a normal town in South Dakota, but in fact you are a computersimulation designed by the government. You've been sent ten years into the future to see how a new government program affects the town and its residents. One actually spends most of the game exploring the town and observing changes rather than solving puzzles, but there are some excellent riddles towards the end. So don't forget to download and consult the Hintbook!
Hollywood Hijinx (1986) is a funny text adventure game, which places you in a Hollywood mansion of your recently deceased aunt and uncle, who were big movie insiders. You have one night to complete a scavenger hunt for old movie props in said mansion to prove you're worthy of being their heir. As you explore the house and its surroundings, solve puzzles and unravel the mystery of your ancestor's will, you will meet numerous eccentric characters and find yourself in humorous situations. Hollywood Hijinx is remembered for its engaging storyline, clever puzzles, and the snarky humor that is characteristic of Infocom games. Here are manual and walkthrough!
Bureaucracy (1987) is a hilariously bizarre interactive fiction game written by Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams. The player must confront a long and complicated series of bureaucratic hurdles resulting from a recent change of address. Mail is being delivered to the wrong address, bank accounts are inaccessible, and nothing is as it should be. While undertaking the seemingly simple task of retrieving misdirected mail, the player encounters a number of bizarre characters, including an antisocial hacker, a paranoid weapons enthusiast, and a tribe of Zalagasan cannibals. Here's the manual, and you definitely need a walkthrough!
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987) is an erotic and humorous adventure game that introduces us to a short, tacky, balding, forty-year-old man who has been living with his mother until recently, and is remembered as the biggest loser (speaking of women and girls). Although this first installment of Leisure Suit Larry can be counted among the pioneers of graphical adventure games, you do not control Larry via the graphical user interface, but must enter commands such as "take", "use" or "open" in the command line. English is therefore a necessary requirement to play this game, because without knowing the commands, you won't get very far with Larry. Play it using ScummVM. You can bypass the age verification questions with Alt-X and employ the manual and a walkthrough.
Dune (10191) ist eine faszinierende Mischung aus Adventure und Strategie: Sie müssen auf dem Wüstenplanet Arrakis (Dune) Ihre Gefolgsleute (die einheimischen Fremen) auf verschiedene Aufgaben verteilen, die Gewürzproduktion maximieren und schließlich das feindliche Haus Harkonnen bekämpfen. Dune zeichnet sich durch wunderschöne VGA-Grafiken aus, und ist mit Sicherheit eines der einzigartigsten und grafisch beeindruckendsten Spiele, die je gemacht wurden. Hier sind Komplettlösung in Deutsch und Handbuch in Englisch.
Frederik Pohl's Gateway (1992) is an animated, beautiful and impressive interactive fiction adventure, based on the eponymous science fiction novel. You embark on a cosmic adventure, where you explore a space station known as Gateway, which was built by an alien race called the Heechee, navigating through the station, encountering various characters and solving puzzles as they unravel the mysteries of the Heechee and their technology. Being one of the best sci-fi games ever made, this gem received critical acclaim for its immersive storytelling and atmospheric graphics. Here are manual and walkthrough!
Tomb Raider (1996) is the epoch-making, extremely successful first part of the famous Tomb Raider 3rd-person action-adventure series, and everyone knows the 2001 film starring Angelina Jolie. You assume the role of Lara Croft, a wealthy British fortune hunter and seeker of lost relics, and your journey takes you amidst the ruins of an ancient Inca civilization, right into the heart of demonic madness. The file you are downloading is an already configured special package. Simply uncompress the 7z-file and double click the icon "Name of the Game" (it's a ".bat" file). Here are manual and walkthrough!
Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom (1996) is an amazing collection of 33 text-adventures from interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, plus the top 6 winners of the 1995 Interactive Fiction Competition, released in 1996. All 39 games are combined on a single cross-platform CD-ROM, which also includes PDFs of all the Infocom games' instructions, maps, and hint booklets. A reviewer for Next Generation scored the compilation a perfect five out of five stars. He praised the "functionally comprehensive" selection of Infocom games and the six Interactive Fiction Competition games, estimated the total playtime at 1,200 hours minimum, and said the gameplay "represents the pinnacle of well written, interactive fiction."
Lunatix: The Insanity Circle (1999) is an excellent and funny state-of-the-art text-adventure game with graphics. The plot takes place in a madhouse that's terribly understaffed, where lots of escapes happen, and the patients are out of control. As Dr. Hammer (the hospital administrator) you must uncover the truth about the so-called "Insanity Circle" in the midst of this unending chaos. The game provides hours of entertainment and is dedicated to keep players coming back for more. If you enjoy text adventure games you'll probably want to give this one a try! Here are guide and walkthrough.
Collossal Cave Adventure (1976) is a text parser based simulation of cave explorations containing elements of fantasy roleplaying and thus the very first adventure game in history. The entire genre is named after it. It may seem outdated and quaint by today's standards, but "Playing adventure games without tackling this one is like being an English-teacher who's never glanced at Shakespeare. Steven Levy". Consult a walkthrough when you're stuck. There's also a useful collection of hints available online. Play it and get the ultimate retro feeling (50 years back in time)!
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1980) is another classic text-adventure game. Together together with Colossal Cave, it prepared the ground for the bright but brief triumphal march of interactive fiction in the 80s. The plot is as follows: by exploring a small white house in the forest you find that you are sitting above a great underground empire. You then have to fill a trophy case with 19 items in order to score 350 points and win the game. Sounds easy? Here's the walkthrough!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984) is a captivating and funny masterpiece of interactive fiction, in which a clueless earthling named Arthur Dent wakes up one day to find his house about to be destroyed by a construction crew to make way for a new bypass. His friend Ford Prefect, who is secretly an extraterrestrial, helps to calm Arthur down and hitches them a ride on one of the ships in the approaching Vogon constructor fleet, moments before the fleet destroys the Earth to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. It's just plain fun to accompany the two of them on their hilarious odyssey through any and all corners of our galaxy, the game itself however is considered to be cruel in its difficulty. But don't panic, use a walkthrough! Text adventures don’t get much better than this, so if you're a fan of the book or the TV-series, this one is a must. It was co-created by Douglas Adams himself! And never forget where your towel is...
A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is a deep and thought-provoking science fiction adventure. It remains today as a major milestone in interactive fiction. You assume the role of a normal guy in a normal town in South Dakota, but in fact you are a computersimulation designed by the government. You've been sent ten years into the future to see how a new government program affects the town and its residents. One actually spends most of the game exploring the town and observing changes rather than solving puzzles, but there are some excellent riddles towards the end. So don't forget to download and consult the Hintbook!
Hollywood Hijinx (1986) is a funny text adventure game, which places you in a Hollywood mansion of your recently deceased aunt and uncle, who were big movie insiders. You have one night to complete a scavenger hunt for old movie props in said mansion to prove you're worthy of being their heir. As you explore the house and its surroundings, solve puzzles and unravel the mystery of your ancestor's will, you will meet numerous eccentric characters and find yourself in humorous situations. Hollywood Hijinx is remembered for its engaging storyline, clever puzzles, and the snarky humor that is characteristic of Infocom games. Here are manual and walkthrough!
Bureaucracy (1987) is a hilariously bizarre interactive fiction game written by Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams. The player must confront a long and complicated series of bureaucratic hurdles resulting from a recent change of address. Mail is being delivered to the wrong address, bank accounts are inaccessible, and nothing is as it should be. While undertaking the seemingly simple task of retrieving misdirected mail, the player encounters a number of bizarre characters, including an antisocial hacker, a paranoid weapons enthusiast, and a tribe of Zalagasan cannibals. Here's the manual, and you definitely need a walkthrough!
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987) is an erotic and humorous adventure game that introduces us to a short, tacky, balding, forty-year-old man who has been living with his mother until recently, and is remembered as the biggest loser (speaking of women and girls). Although this first installment of Leisure Suit Larry can be counted among the pioneers of graphical adventure games, you do not control Larry via the graphical user interface, but must enter commands such as "take", "use" or "open" in the command line. English is therefore a necessary requirement to play this game, because without knowing the commands, you won't get very far with Larry. Play it using ScummVM. You can bypass the age verification questions with Alt-X and employ the manual and a walkthrough.
Dune (10191) ist eine faszinierende Mischung aus Adventure und Strategie: Sie müssen auf dem Wüstenplanet Arrakis (Dune) Ihre Gefolgsleute (die einheimischen Fremen) auf verschiedene Aufgaben verteilen, die Gewürzproduktion maximieren und schließlich das feindliche Haus Harkonnen bekämpfen. Dune zeichnet sich durch wunderschöne VGA-Grafiken aus, und ist mit Sicherheit eines der einzigartigsten und grafisch beeindruckendsten Spiele, die je gemacht wurden. Hier sind Komplettlösung in Deutsch und Handbuch in Englisch.
Frederik Pohl's Gateway (1992) is an animated, beautiful and impressive interactive fiction adventure, based on the eponymous science fiction novel. You embark on a cosmic adventure, where you explore a space station known as Gateway, which was built by an alien race called the Heechee, navigating through the station, encountering various characters and solving puzzles as they unravel the mysteries of the Heechee and their technology. Being one of the best sci-fi games ever made, this gem received critical acclaim for its immersive storytelling and atmospheric graphics. Here are manual and walkthrough!
Tomb Raider (1996) is the epoch-making, extremely successful first part of the famous Tomb Raider 3rd-person action-adventure series, and everyone knows the 2001 film starring Angelina Jolie. You assume the role of Lara Croft, a wealthy British fortune hunter and seeker of lost relics, and your journey takes you amidst the ruins of an ancient Inca civilization, right into the heart of demonic madness. The file you are downloading is an already configured special package. Simply uncompress the 7z-file and double click the icon "Name of the Game" (it's a ".bat" file). Here are manual and walkthrough!
Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom (1996) is an amazing collection of 33 text-adventures from interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, plus the top 6 winners of the 1995 Interactive Fiction Competition, released in 1996. All 39 games are combined on a single cross-platform CD-ROM, which also includes PDFs of all the Infocom games' instructions, maps, and hint booklets. A reviewer for Next Generation scored the compilation a perfect five out of five stars. He praised the "functionally comprehensive" selection of Infocom games and the six Interactive Fiction Competition games, estimated the total playtime at 1,200 hours minimum, and said the gameplay "represents the pinnacle of well written, interactive fiction."
Lunatix: The Insanity Circle (1999) is an excellent and funny state-of-the-art text-adventure game with graphics. The plot takes place in a madhouse that's terribly understaffed, where lots of escapes happen, and the patients are out of control. As Dr. Hammer (the hospital administrator) you must uncover the truth about the so-called "Insanity Circle" in the midst of this unending chaos. The game provides hours of entertainment and is dedicated to keep players coming back for more. If you enjoy text adventure games you'll probably want to give this one a try! Here are guide and walkthrough.