I
Interactive Fiction 50
if50.substack.com · Group blog · on HN since 2021
Newsletter that became a book, covering 50 years of text games and interactive fiction, one game or year per post.
What HN saysCommenters strongly recommend the series, call it worth reading for anyone interested in interactive fiction, and praise its Oregon Trail write-up and the book's Kickstarter success.
36HN people shared it
19linked it in comments
56stories submitted
2.3Kstory points
10 months agolast shared
2021people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 150 Years of Text Games6 people · 21 points · first shared 2021 · 2 comments on HN
- 250 years of text games – 1976: Adventure5 people · 4 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 31992: Silverwolf4 people · 95 points · first shared 2021 · 12 comments on HN
- 4Patchwork Girl3 people · 5 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 51971 the oregon trail3 people · first shared 2022
- 61988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.2 people · 207 points · first shared 2021 · 64 comments on HN
- 71982: The Hobbit2 people · 190 points · first shared 2021 · 33 comments on HN
- 850 Years of Text Games – A 2021 Journey from Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon2 people · 153 points · first shared 2021 · 51 comments on HN
- 9Business Wargames: Early Complex Text Games2 people · 117 points · first shared 2022 · 32 comments on HN
- 101991: Trade Wars 20022 people · 76 points · first shared 2021 · 32 comments on HN
- 111999: King of Dragon Pass2 people · 6 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 121990: LambdaMOO2 people · 4 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 13Hutspiel and Dr. Dorothy K. Clark2 people · 4 points · first shared 2022 · 1 comments on HN
- 141979: The Cave of Time2 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 15The Antagonists: The rise and fall of type-in text games2 people · 2 points · first shared 2023 · 1 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
atribecalledqst · 2023-06-20
For anybody who didn't read TFA: the original series is at https://if50.substack.com/
This is a great series, definitely worth the read if you are at all interested in interactive fiction. I need to pick up a copy of the book at some point.
I tend not to be good at (or have patience for) the puzzle-heavy stuff like Zork, but Hadean Lands (which released in 2014) was excellent. That was the last IF I engaged with... sad!
eigenhombre · 2023-01-21
Any discussion of text games puts me in mind of the amazing blog and forthcoming book, "50 Years of Text Games": https://if50.substack.com/ Highly recommended and target of a recent Kickstarter which blew through its reserve by well over an order of magnitude.
grawprog · 2021-06-30
I'm really fascinated by that era of computer gaming, well that era of computers in general. I've been following this blog about text games since I first seen it on HN.
https://if50.substack.com/
The earlier entries talk about some of the same stuff mentioned in this article.
Reading about these things, I dunno, it reminds me of the wild west or something.
All these university students and programmers writing illicit games like outlaws, hiding their games under simple file names that became almost memes for the ones in the know at the school.
It's really cool and those people are the reason why video games and computers became a thing.
Everytime I learn more about the early history of computers or even video games it always makes me happy. I dunno, to see how far it's all come, to have grown up watching a lot of it evolve.
It's just always great to read about.
muzani · 2024-07-13
Excellent write up on it: https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail
The short: It was around since 1971. It was basically an AAA game on a teleprinter. It was random enough that you couldn't "game" it by getting calculations right. It calculated the accuracy of your shot by your speed of typing. It rang the bell when you got a hit.
Basically, it had a lot of 'juice' for games of that era and was an easy hit (pun intended). Some teachers would have played it by the time they became teachers. There's probably some nostalgia and they'd have brought the sequel to schools.
jwuphysics · 2023-10-24
You can read the [50 Years of Text Games](https://if50.substack.com/archive) newsletter that preceded the book. I highly recommend it!
myth_drannon · 2023-01-21
You can read this blog(soon a book to be published) :
https://if50.substack.com
It goes over the most important and influential text adventure games.
genmon · 2022-01-02
Every edition has been incredibly researched, and the stories so well told. I can't wait for the book.
Three personal favourites:
- Oregon Trail (1971) -- the first issue. Includes a great detail on the speed on typing "BANG" being used to tell the accuracy of the shot https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail
- Adventure (1976) -- the accidental invention of the computer game. Includes code https://if50.substack.com/p/1976-adventure
- Silverwolf (1992) -- mysterious anarcho-feminist group in a house in Ireland creates text adventures [update: I see this is another commenter's favourite too!] https://if50.substack.com/p/1992-silverwolf
5- · 2026-01-03
also of note: the "fifty years of interactive fiction" post series: https://if50.substack.com/archive?sort=top
(much discussed on hn)
or in book form: https://if50.textories.com/
arrakeen · 2025-06-15
i randomly stumbled upon the connection as well while reading about the St. Bride's School. such a random connection between two completely different interests of mine that i joked the universe is a simulation with limited RAM and reuses assets
Cure Dolly has _some_ connection to this group which, to me, just adds even more mystique to an already fascinating story[1]
[1] https://if50.substack.com/p/1992-silverwolf
crtasm · 2024-08-11
Has anyone tried the computer/console adaptations of these books?
Related, the prior Choose Your Own Adventure books https://if50.substack.com/p/1979-the-cave-of-time
gabrielsroka · 2023-08-24
Check out the source code, about 2/3 of the way down this page
https://if50.substack.com/p/the-antagonists
leejoramo · 2022-08-31
Oregon Trail goes back to 1971 as this first installment is 50 Years of Interactive Fiction explains
https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail
devindotcom · 2022-01-02
If you missed this entry, it's a wild one:
https://if50.substack.com/p/1992-silverwolf
An anachronistic set of quasi-Victorians possibly pulling an elaborate joke but putting out compelling text adventures at the same time. Fascinating and very weird.
throw0101a · 2021-08-17
Is this anything like the BBS game TradeWars 2002?
* https://if50.substack.com/p/1991-trade-wars-2002
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Wars
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27301478
d13 · 2021-06-06
https://if50.substack.com/p/1990-lambdamoo
Playing LambdaMOO in 1997. Reignited my childhood interest in programming. soon after discovering it I started learning HTML and Java, gradually developed a good freelance career as a web developer, transitioned to became a Flash game developer, and now specialise in web-based educational games (using Pixi and Phaser). It would not have happened without the Vic20 my parents gave me for Christmas as a child, and LambdaMOO.
gnulinux · 2021-06-06
I found this article remarkable: https://if50.substack.com/p/1988-prestavba
Never played a text game before but now I'm curious to take a look.
pugworthy · 2021-02-18
As someone that first played Adventure on a teletype in 1976, I always seem to take affront to article titles implying Zork was there first.
In this case "50 years of text games" is the substack name, and this is just the entry for Zork in 1977.
See https://if50.substack.com/p/1976-adventure for the real deal.
tusharchoudhary · 2021-01-03
On any Substack, you can add /feed at the end of the URL to get the RSS feed. https://if50.substack.com/feed
andyjohnson0 · 2023-01-21
50 Years of Text Games
https://if50.substack.com/archive