(This page is part of the Annotated "Adventure" Frameset.)
"Adventure," or "Colossal Cave Adventure," is the original text-based computer game; much of the modern computer gaming industry owes a great deal, directly or indirectly, to this humble, but at the same time wonderfully innovative, game.
Hints and Tips
Your immediate goal is to find and enter an underground cave.
Move around by typing compass directions:
>go north
>west
>se
Are you lost in the forest? You can go back to the beginning of the game by typing "restart".
>restart
You should be "At End of Road".
This part of the game is a bit annoying... the game has been translated into a different format in order to run on a web page, and in the process the programmers introduced a few bugs. Bear with me, and I'll try to get you into the more interesting parts of the game.
First of all, type the following command:
>verbose
(This will just make things a little easier.)
To get into the building:
>enter
(Note: Variations like "enter building", "go inside" and "go into building" are all reasonable synonyms, but the old computers in the 1970s, when this game was created, weren't expected to be reasonable. Part of the "fun" of this game was attacking it via logic and trial and error -- very much in the manner of a computer hacker.)
Once you're inside, you might "examine [object]" or try some other verbs.
(Hint... be sure to "take keys". That lamp looks like it could be useful, too. And you never know when you might need a bottle... or some tasty food...)
After you're through inside here, it's time to go exploring again.
>exit
Since caves are created by water, it makes sense to follow the stream.
>down
Now we're getting somewhere.
>down
You should be "At Slit in Streambed."
>down
Hey, wait a minute! (Remember what I said about how this game was designed for the first computer users -- professional programmers who love a challenge. The rules seem to have changed a bit...)
>s
That one was completely unfair, but it's what you have to do in order to make progress.
Now you should be standing "Outside Grate."
>enter grate
Hmm.
>open grate
Drat! You did remember to bring the keys, didn't you?
Further tips:
If something unsavory happens to you during your travels, you can "undo" a turn and try something else.
Sketch out a map -- but be aware that the geography can be tricky. (If you go north and then then south, you might not always end up where you began.)