The Greatness of Text Adventures

Summary

I have played a few text adventures the past months, and here’s a brief excerpt from one4 The Dreamhold; Andrew Plotkin; self-published; 2004. Playable online.. This transcript begins when we have exited the starting area, and just begun to explore what lies beyond. CURVING HALL, WEST END The curving corridor ends here, in a blank plaster wall relieved by a single window. The window looks out on a strange subterranean prospect to the west. You can return east, pass through the archway to the north, or try the closed door to the south. > look at window A broad glass pane looks out over a dark cavern. This end of the corridor seems to be deep underground. A natural cave spreads out below; its mammoth columns and cascades of flowstone are only dimly picked out by the candlelight behind you. The farther reaches are hidden in darkness. But the shining waterfall before you is easily visible. A stream pours in from your right, tumbles from a ledge, and plummets into a pit beneath the window. The water seems to sparkle with some natural phosphorescence. > break window The glass ignores your assault. > enter archway ARBORETUM The walls here are painted white and are utterly undecorated. An archway leads south. In the center of the room stands an earthenware tub. From it sprouts a tangle of vines, broad fan-like leaves, and an enormous golden flower. The luxuriant growth clashes, you think, with the room’s stark emptiness. > look at flower The plant sits alone in its pot, in the center of the empty room. The golden flower is nearly the size of your head. It rises from a tangle of vines and leaves that would better suit an unexplored south-coast swamp than someone’s home. > take flower The plant’s stems look too thick to break. > smell flower You lean forward and take a deep breath of the flower’s aroma. Memory nearly bursts through. This moves us to DANK JUNGLE (IN THE EARTHENWARE TUB) You are standing waist-deep in an empty earthenware tub, in the midst of a trackless jungle...