Category Archives: zork

Curiouser and Curiouser

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Nathan

Pandora, by Susan Stokes-Chapman – This was an online recommendation for me some time ago, probably because I was reading a lot of stuff based on Greek mythology. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the book. It uses … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Games, Greek Mythology, infocom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Prejudice, Relationships, Religion, Star Trek, Technology, Video Games, zork | Tagged archaeology, caramon majere, classic dragonlance chronicles, dragonlance, dragons, dragons of autumn twilight, dragons of spring dawning, dragons of winter night, dungeons and dragons, dwarves, elves, emma hamilton, fizban, flint fireforge, ganelon silvermane, gondwane, kender, kitiara uth matar, krynn, lin carter, mages, margaret weis, pandora, pirates, raistlin majere, robots, susan stokes-chapman, tanis half-elven, tasselhoff burrfoot, the pirate of world's end, tracy hickman, william hamilton, zork aargh | Leave a comment

Undoing the Undead

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Nathan

Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness – This is the fourth game in the series, but the number doesn’t officially appear in the title. I think there was kind of a stigma on using numbers for too many sequels at … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Celebrities, Gender, Humor, infocom, lucasarts, Magic, Maps, Medicine, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Prejudice, quest for glory, Russian, Science, Sierra, Slavic, space quest, Video Games, zork | Tagged ad avis, avoozl, baba yaga, domovoi, dr. brain, dr. cranium, erana, fairies, frankenstein, gnomes, gypsies, jack nicholson, leshy, machopolis, microprose, monkey island 2, mordavia, punny bones, quest for glory iii, quest for glory iv, rabbits, rex nebular, rex nebular and the cosmic gender bender, rodney dangerfield, rusalka, shadows of darkness, Street Fighter, vampires, vorpal bunnies, werewolves, wraiths | 1 Comment

G.U.E. on Nine Zorkmids a Day

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Nathan

I recently wrote about the Zork gamebooks, but there were also a few novels published back in the day. As far as video game tie-ins go, they’re pretty good. They often feel like pretty standard fantasy with some Zorkian humor … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, craig shaw gardner, Greek Mythology, Humor, infocom, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Relationships, Video Games, zork | Tagged autoexec, brogmoids, caspar wartsworth, control character, corky crisp, dryads, duncanthrax, enchanter, festeron, franz kafka, george alec effinger, great underground empire, grues, lucien kaine, mirakles of the elastic tendon, morgrom, muses, nymphs, robin w. bailey, satchmoz the incomparable, stribel wartsworth, the lost city of zork, the zork chronicles, time travel, valhalla, violet voss, wishbringer, y'gael, zork iii | Leave a comment

It’s Educational

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Nathan

The Lurking Horror – This Infocom text adventure game is heavily inspired by the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft. It includes references to the Zork series, and I’ve seen suggestions that it might be part of the same universe, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Alchemy, Education, Food, Humor, infocom, Language, Monsters, Technology, Video Games, zork | Tagged coca-cola, dave lebling, elixir of life, george underwood edwards, great underground empire, grues, gue tech, h.p. lovecraft, massachusetts institute of technology, the lurking horror, zork grand inquisitor | 1 Comment

If Found, Send to Sorhed (the Postage Is Prepaid)

Posted on April 12, 2026 by Nathan

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix – Art student Susan Arkshaw has just turned eighteen and come to London seeking information on her absent father. She tries to confront her mother’s old boyfriend, who’s actually a crime boss. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Celtic, Discworld, Families, Humor, infocom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Language, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Prejudice, Relationships, Religion, Technology, Terry Pratchett, ursula vernon, Video Games, Welsh, zork | Tagged ankh-morpork, anuket city, aragorn, bored of the rings, clocktaur war, clockwork boys, demons, douglas kenney, dragons, dwarves, elves, ents, fairies, gandalf, garth nix, gimli, gnoles, henry beard, hobbits, jessica khoury, jolly green giant, learned edmund, lord of the rings, misogyny, national lampoon, old man of coniston, pigs, puns, robots, saruman, sheep, t. kingfisher, the left-handed booksellers of london, the moorwitch, the wonder engine, thermofax, wishbringer, witches, wizards | 2 Comments

Rumble in the Jungle

Posted on April 9, 2026 by Nathan

SpiritWrak – Since I’ve played pretty much all of the official Zork games, I decided to try this fan game that I’d seen mentioned, created by Daniel S. Yu. It definitely feels like something a fan would make, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Animals, Authors, Conspiracy Theories, Egyptian, Food, Humor, infocom, jules verne, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Prejudice, quest for glory, Relationships, Sierra, Television, Video Games, zork | Tagged aardvarks, daniel s. yu, demons, dinosaurs, fricana, golems, journey to the center of the earth, katta, kreesha mar asha, laurel and hardy, law, leopardmen, liontaurs, monks, paladins, puzzles, quest for glory i, quest for glory ii, quest for glory iii, rajah sah tarna, rakeesh sah tarna, reeshaka dar kreesha, sanford and son, sekhmet, simbani, spellbreaker, spiritwrak, tarna, tyrannosaurus, wages of war, zork grand inquisitor | 1 Comment

Choose Your Own Grues

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Nathan

I recently wrote about the King’s Quest tie-in novels, and now I’m turning to the Zork gamebooks from the early 1990s. These are referred to as What-Do-I-Do-Now Books, obviously an attempt to capitalize on Choose Your Own Adventure. How you proceed … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authors, Book Reviews, Greek Mythology, Humor, infocom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Video Games, zork | Tagged belboz, bivotar, choose your own adventure, conquest of quendor, cyclopes, demons, doctor dolittle, dragons, ellron, elves, enchanter, exorcism, general thaddeus kaine, great underground empire, grues, hades, hugh lofting, jeearr, juranda, logrumethar, lord of the rings, magic carpet, riddles, sorcerer, steve meretzky, swords, syovar, temple of agrippa, the cavern of doom, the forces of krill, the malifestro quest, trolls, what-do-i-do-now books, zork i, zork ii, zork nemesis, zork zero | 1 Comment

It’s Britannia, Bitch

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Nathan

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar – I didn’t finish this one, but I did find quite a bit about it and the series in general to be interesting. Technically speaking, the first game in this series that I played … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Animals, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Food, Humor, infocom, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Philosophy, Ultima, Video Games, zork | Tagged bards, britannia, dragon quest iii, grand inquisitor, great underground empire, grues, iolo fitzowen, lord british, magic portals, marc blank, michael berlyn, mir yannick, moongates, paladins, richard garriott, shamino salle dacil, sosaria, tantegel castle, tarot cards, teleportation, the undiscovered underground, ultima iii: exodus, ultima iv, ultima iv: quest of the avatar, zork grand inquisitor, zork the undiscovered underground | Leave a comment

The Final Insult

Posted on March 18, 2026 by Nathan

Escape from Monkey Island – While I can’t speak to other ports of this game, the version that comes with Steam doesn’t have mouse support at all, so I used the keyboard for everything. Guybrush moves with what I’ve seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Humor, infocom, lucasarts, Magic, Maps, Religion, Video Games, Voodoo, zork | Tagged assault on egreth castle, conroy bumpus, day of the tentacle, dirinthrax, duncanthrax, egreth castle, escape from monkey island, frobwit the fair, governor elaine marley, gurthark the stout, guybrush threepwood, herman toothrot, infocomics, lechuck, lord dimwit flathead, maniac mansion, melee island, monkey island, monkey kombat, monkeys, ozzie mandrill, pirates, sam and max hit the road, sorcerer, spellbreaker, the crystal of doom, thorman the red-beard, time travel, triax, zorkquest, zorkquest i, zorkquest ii | 3 Comments

I’ll Be a Platypus for You

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Nathan

Wishbringer – This game was designed to be a simpler text adventure for beginners, but how well it succeeds at that is questionable. It is fairly simple and generally child-friendly, but it’s still Infocom, and there are still things you … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Fairy Tales, Food, Humor, infocom, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Names, Ultima, Video Games, zork | Tagged beyond zork, cats, corky crisp, dogs, evil one, festeron, grues, hawkwind the seer, hellhounds, implementors, king antatinus, platypus, princess morning-star, queen alexis, trolls, ultima iv, ultima iv: quest of the avatar, violet voss, wishbringer, wishes, y'gael, zork grand inquisitor | 3 Comments

Category Archives: zork

Curiouser and Curiouser

Undoing the Undead

G.U.E. on Nine Zorkmids a Day

It’s Educational

If Found, Send to Sorhed (the Postage Is Prepaid)

Rumble in the Jungle

Choose Your Own Grues

It’s Britannia, Bitch

The Final Insult

I’ll Be a Platypus for You

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