Though “1893” is a homage to bygone text adventures, the sophistication of the programming is a step up. In “Zork,” commands more complicated than, say, “attack troll with rusty knife” would confuse the game. But “1893” can handle much more.

“The parser is pretty elaborate at this point,” Mr. Nepstad said. “You can type ‘get ax,’ or you can type ‘pick up the short-handled ax and put it in the bag.’ It’ll understand you.” —Brendan I. Koerner —A Game With a Low Body Count (NY Times)

I didn’t know that Enron’s fate had anything to do with the production of this game… A good little article that goes beyond the nostalgic. Here’s hoping Nepstad drums up some more sales — his game really is an impressive accomplishment.