I absolutely *loved* IF back in the 1980s, although I didn't get to play Infocom's stuff until the 1990s. If I had been any good at either writing or playing IF I'd probably still be a part of the IF community - I hung out with them on Usenet for much of the 1990s but never managed to contribute much. While I loved the idea of IF, games with actual deep stories or puzzles were usually beyond me and I couldn't get far, while the easy ones were too trivial. Maybe what I really wanted was just stories written in the second person. I dunno. 🤷‍♂️

Ars Technica

2024-06-20 11:04:58

From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction

MUDs, Usenet, and open source all play a part in 50 years of IF history.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/06/from-infocom-to-80-days-an-oral-history-of-text-games-and-interactive-fiction/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction

^{Ars Technica}