What If… There Were No IF? An Alternative History of Games, sans Crowther's Colossal Cave

What If… There Were No IF? An Alternative History of Games, sans Crowther’s Colossal Cave (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) During a break in the Princeton video game conference a few months ago, David Thomas asked me, what would computer games be like today if Will Crowther hadn’t created Colossal Cave Adventure? I pulled Nick Montfort into the…

The Allegory of the Cave

And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that…

The Allegory of the Cave

But we have brought you into the world to be rulers of the hive, kings of yourselves and of the other citizens, and have educated you far better [520c] and more perfectly than they have been educated, and you are better able to share in the double duty. Wherefore each of you, when his turn…

Cave-Exploring Couple Nearly Eaten by Grues

Hadar, whose age wasn’t available, and DeCrow, 49, went into Hubbards Cave in Glenwood Canyon on the afternoon of Aug. 24 with flashlights but no food or water, said DeCrow’s daughter, Ramiah DeCrow. | Their flashlight batteries died and the pair couldn’t find their way out, the daughter said. —Cave-Exploring Couple Nearly Eaten by Grues (Wired…

Colossal Cave Adventure

“For a game that is so unfair, stylistically inconsistent, and frustrating, it has been tremendously influential.  This was the first of its kind — using words to create a rich simulated world.  Nobody had seen anything like it; it spread quickly across the Internet.” Dennis G. Jerz [Recently updated.] —Colossal Cave Adventure