The Retro Adventurers

It's Infocom and Iron Curtain classic text adventures from the final years of the Cold War!
With special guest Ana Meisel (ana.help), Nick and Jason take on two entertaining political-statement classics of the 1980s. First up is PRESTAVBA, aka PERESTROIKA, a once-anonymous satire set in the Prague Spring of 1968 and published (very carefully and also anonymously) in the former Czechoslovakia for ZX Spectrum. Then it's a not-so-distant flash-forward to Rockvil in the year 2031 for A Mind Forever Voyaging, Steve Meretzky's immersive statement on Reagan-era socioeconomic policies in the United States.
Does Perry Simm have free will? Is a Soviet lighter reliable in a pinch?  It's the first (and last?) time both our games are the standout selections of Aaron Reed's 50 Years of Text Games project: are they worthy? Join us and find out!
A Mind Forever Voyaging (IFDB)
A Mind Forever Voyaging docs (code table for Simulation Mode on p31)
A Mind Forever Voyaging (playable online)
Přestavba, original Czech and English translation downloads (ZXArt)
Prestavba (IFDB)
50 Years of Text Games (features both games as the standout of 1985 and 1988, respectively)
Gaming the Iron Curtain
London Permacomputing Club
Our Friend the Computer podcast
Bonus - 1980s Czech film recommendations from Ana:
Rozpuštěný a vypuštěný (https://www.oneplay.cz/film/1102-rozpusteny-a-vypusteny)
Vážení přátelé, ano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vážení_přátelé,_ano)
any Cimrman movies (https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/134221-divadlo-jary-cimrmana-kolekce)

Contest deadlines, international reviews, and some Ramsberg groveling lead our news coverage for text adventure enthusiasts this month. Tim, Jason, and Nick bring you the latest for one of the oldest gaming disciplines... aside from that one story we accidentally repeated from last month.
Nick's a little heavy on the reverb filter in this one, let us know if you get seasick.
Spanish discussion of RetroAdv:
https://mastodon.social/@DekaBlack/117166787290154461
https://mastodon.social/@textualizame/117166805431903978
Madman, port of 1983 VIC-20 game by the dread Ramsberg:
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6ymufgd24jnxg256
Wyrmward, Z6 PunyInform title:
https://johanberntsson.itch.io/wyrmward
Darkwood V: The Lost God found and preserved: https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=263342
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EightBitAdventures/posts/28558175203785812/
Inform 6 DM4:
https://inform-fiction.org/manual/about_dm4.html
Inform 6 Programmer's Guide: https://jxself.org/inform-guide/
OS9 Infocom interpreter: https://github.com/rlucente-retro/infocom-os9-port/releases/tag/v1.0.0 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164528820297641/
Raaka-Tu: https://github.com/DrPitre/raakatu 
CoCo Nation Podcast Episode 474: 
Galaxy's Edge, BBC Micro title by Graham Nelson:
https://ahopeful.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/galaxys-edge-1984-by-graham-nelson/
Oo-Topos C64 cracked:
https://csdb.dk/release/?id=263365
FairLight TV #156: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewUo92awZ0
Z-Machine BBS details: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1814239092232631
David Youd hacks Secrets of the Pyramid (duplicate, oops): https://youtu.be/OiUZ7qtRHB4
Inform Trail Camera: https://www.twitch.tv/informtrailcamera
Zork NES:
https://github.com/lupinthird/zorknes
AGI-64:
https://meanhamster.com/games/agi-64 
Beatle Quest Python runner: https://www.amigaretro.com/projects/blakes-7-beatle-quest/
Blake's 7 for Oric:
https://defenceforce.itch.io/blakes-7 
Wander System for Ubuntu Touch:
https://mastodont.cat/@cibersheep/117151878472175318
Clash of the Type-Ins returns:
https://rcveeder.net/clash/ 
The Hobbit for TI-99 4/A:
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/392212-the-hobbit-for-ti994a 
Classic Infocom playable library:
https://jamiedurrant.com/infocom/
Iron ChIF Adventuron battle:
https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-3-flacrabbit-vs-dee-cooke-using-adventuron/81129
Out of Luck: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=n1y41pmdrk8ikk26
A Bonded Harvester: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=mbsybax9swkzp81o
Adventurer's Rest channel: https://youtu.be/fgg_-9Rb2zY
PARANOID game: https://www.play-paranoid.online
Astaria MUD: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6x86ablx3lg3u2y2
 

Pack your phrasebook and get ready to defend democracy as Ben and Jason take on a pair of quirky early 1980s adventures. For an appetizer, we order Infocom legend Brian Moriarty's early effort, a type-in published in ANALOG Computing Magazine no less:  the Nicolas Cage-coded Adventure In the Fifth Dimension.
The feature game is Invincible Island by Pete Cooke... that's Cooke with an e, sadly, although Ben and Jason do find time for a little Derek & Clive discourse which steers clear of the need to flag this episode for adult content. Both games have mindbending maps, but do they have anything else in common?
Also, there's quite a bit of listener mail and news... from the summer of 2025, which is how long this episode has been waiting for publication! Thanks to Nick for breathing life into this one. If nothing else, let it serve as a reminder why we've created the monthly >OPEN MAILBOX series!
Invincible Island (IFDB)
Invincible Island (playable online, ZX Spectrum)
Adventure In the Fifth Dimension (IFDB)
Adventure in the Fifth Dimension (playable online, Atari 8-bit)
The Guild of Thieves, Hit It With a Hammer! playthrough (YouTube)
Encounter HD
Asimov's The Black Widowers
 

No rest for retro adventuring news this summer as Tim and Jason bring you lots of news: contest developments (don't delay, some deadlines are very very very soon!), Visible Zorker updates which aren't as stark as they seem, lost games and a lost development environment unearthed, and really quite a bit more.
Special thanks to Andrew Johnson for permission to use ZorkPBX demo audio.
ParserComp 2026 voting closes soon
https://itch.io/jam/parsercomp-2026
IFComp entries accepted (closing very soon!)
https://blog.ifcomp.org/post/821438949798084608/ifcomp-2026-now-accepting-intents-entries
Visible Starcross
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/07/visible-starcross
Arcturus Z-Machine compiler
https://github.com/ByteProject/Arcturus/tree/main
https://intfiction.org/t/arcturus-a-new-programming-language-compiler-for-the-z-machine/81091
pdp10 issues in Z1/Z2 Zork
https://intfiction.org/t/frotz-and-bocfel-cant-parse-pdp10-in-v1-v2-zork-a-shift-lock-z-machine-spec-3-7-1-easter-egg/81002
Game console Linux ports
https://github.com/LinuxMD/linuxmd
https://cakehonolulu.github.io/linux-for-jaguar/
Zork-PET / BitShifter interpreter work resumes
https://codeberg.org/root42/zork-pet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wznA6SHQnMQ
https://youtube.com/live/IvGJ7XQSHcc?feature=share https://youtube.com/live/Ywp51hY5GDo?feature=share
https://github.com/Edilbert/BSA
R.A.I.L. language unearthed
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/r-a-i-l/
Iron ChIF Adventuron
https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-3-flacrabbit-vs-dee-cooke-using-adventuron/81129
https://intfiction.org/t/volunteer-to-beta-test-flacrabbits-game-in-iron-chif-s1e3-aug-23-27/81255
Catacombs and Goblin Towers for Commodore PET recovered
https://www.commodoregames.net/catacombs.asp 
ZorkPBX
https://github.com/aejx00/zorkpbx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIENNmuUlY
Babelmap interpreter
https://intfiction.org/t/babelmap-rust-z-machine-glulx-scott-tui-w-graphics-and-sound-linux-macos-windows/81213
https://github.com/sharkusk/babelmap
Review-a-Thon
https://intfiction.org/t/review-a-thon-2026/80860
Never Gives Up Her Dead on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4815350/Never_Gives_Up_Her_Dead/
Mega Adventure Creator
https://theoasisbbs.com/mega-adventure-creator-adds-new-menu-system-and-status-bar/ 
https://github.com/lipi650/MAC
Multiple Choice Adventure Engine
https://solhsa.com/mucho/mucho.html 
https://github.com/jarikomppa/speccy/tree/master/mucho 
Adventure Coder Magazine
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christopherhester/albums/page2
https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Chris+Hester%22
The Fool and His Money recovered
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/07/the-fool-and-his-money-returns
David Youd Enhances Secrets of the Pyramid of Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiUZ7qtRHB4
Atari games optioned by major film studio -- what about Infocom?
https://bsky.app/profile/neilpolowin.bsky.social/post/3mre5rfptgk2x
Interactive Fiction Discord Server (visit #retro-adventurers-podcast !)
https://discord.com/invite/8jrbVptACc
TREK37 on IFDB
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=a026gnl4v2aclec2
Skull Island on IFDB
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=jrvu7excy55dtjuu

"I don't want to suggest this is a more obviously American game than some others, but I will say you do solve one problem by shooting a tree." - Dudley of Yesterzine
Jason and special guest player Dudley from the Yesterzine YouTube channel take on two curiosities from the early 1980s. First up is a Spectrum-exclusive adventure with few champions but a lot of rooms: Steve Silver Adventure #1 by Colin Webb and Jim Bennett.
The main course is Sirius Software's Gruds In Space by Chuck Sommerville and Joseph Dudar. It's one of many Sirius titles featuring the gremlin alien Gruds, a graphic/text puzzler with many similarities to the later Tracer Sanction as covered on Episode 4 of The Retro Adventurers.
Gruds In Space (IFDB)
Softalk November 1983 review of Gruds In Space
Steve Silver Adventure #1 (IFDB)
Your Computer September 1983 review of Steve Silver #1
Atari ST on Yesterzine
Amiga Batman Pack on Yesterzine

Classic text adventure news so late-breaking that we have to interrupt our news to bring you new news about that news! Presented again this month by Retro Adventurers Nick, Tim, and Jason.
University of Winchester alumnus
https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/26175575.university-winchester-alumnus-won-award-game/
ABP: Help preserve Amstrad Infocom interpreter source code!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CwYXQ6FiV/
Oo-Topos Commodore 64 copy protection
https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89439
SchoolAdventure, adapted to Inform
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=6duybkh9bo1oq5s4 
NAIL: Not An Inform Library
https://github.com/fredrikr/nail
Iron ChIF ZIL contest entries
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=v2b896mwtwf5mhwt
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b3vcdy1s1ukd5xcw
PunyInform 6.7
https://github.com/johanberntsson/PunyInform/releases/tag/v6_7
Puny BuildTools
https://github.com/ByteProject/Puny-BuildTools#build-targets
Eclipse (Bonaventura Di Bello Project)
https://bdb-project.itch.io/eclipse
https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=03enp9z2oszblv5h
Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026 Results
https://itch.io/jam/talp2026/results
IntroComp
https://introcomp.org/
Strange Stories RPG
https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/ed994b09-71cf-4128-88bc-e45f89cf7d1b/landing
Zork Zero for Mac VoiceOver users
https://intfiction.org/t/looking-for-mac-voiceover-users-to-test-zork-zero-in-spatterlight/80791
Mysterious eyeglasses-cleaning game (?!)
https://bsky.app/profile/retroadventurers.bsky.social/post/3mnryqxe5k22e
Interactive Fiction Discord Server (visit #retro-adventurers-podcast !)
https://discord.com/invite/8jrbVptACc

Unofficially official text adventure sequels to beloved media properties both published in 1984. That's what these two have in common.
Laugh While You Can, Monkey Boy! because this John Lithgow Appreciation Podcast features Nick and Jason playing the Adventure International-published unofficial sequel Buckaroo Banzai before marching into the world of post-war New York City as imagined in the world of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, published by Telarium/Trillium.
Fahrenheit 451 (IFDB)
Fahrenheit 451 in-game music (DeepSID)
Buckaroo Banzai (IFDB)

Your monthly classic text adventuring news update delivered this month by Jason, Nick, and Tim. The top stories are  game contests still open for players votes at time of publication! Don't delay, listen and click today!
Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026
https://itch.io/jam/talp2026
https://gameobserver.com/6th-annual-game-jam-inspires-next-generation-of-developers-to-keep-text-adventures-alive/
Iron CHiF Season One Episode Two: ZIL
https://intfiction.org/t/iron-chif-season-one-episode-2-lancelot-vs-someone2-using-zil/79983
Inform 6 benchmarking
https://discord.com/channels/830344544679493644/830344548315037739/1501871149288525844
PunyInform v6.6
https://github.com/johanberntsson/PunyInform/releases/tag/v6_6
Visible Zorker update: Deadline for backers, Zork III goes public
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/05/visible-zork-3
https://archive.org/details/Suspended_Map_Recreation
https://archive.org/details/Infocom_Starcross_Chart_Recreation
Dialog 1b/01
https://intfiction.org/t/dialog-1b-01-library-1-2-0-a-machine-1-0-0-is-released/80151
https://github.com/Dialog-IF/dialog/releases/tag/release-1b01-1.2.0
War of the Worlds for Commodore 64
https://michel-molenaar.itch.io/war-of-the-worlds-c64
Modern PAW environment
https://www.reddit.com/r/interactivefiction/comments/1tgyyj2/show_if_a_modern_jsonbased_paws_engine/ 
https://carlosparamio.itch.io/paws-ai
Text Adventure Studio (formerly Apple II Adventure Studio)
https://www.reddit.com/r/textadventures/comments/1t3yypi/apple_ii_adventure_studio_is_now_officially_text/
https://textadventurestudio.com/ 
The Forgotten Nightmare release
https://intfiction.org/t/the-forgotten-nightmare-series-platform-expansion-release/80323/5
Voyage of the Beano for Spectrum Next
https://qladventures.itch.io/the-voyage-of-the-beano
Spring Thing 2026 recognizes C64 Latinorum, other neo-retro titles
https://www.springthing.net/2026/play.html
2026 IntroComp kickoff
https://mastodon.social/@Feneric/116636591715718306
 
 

It's an Infocom antiheroic classic and a throwback Infocom parody this time out as modern IF legend Andrew Plotkin (Zarf) joins Jason and Nick for two perilous adventures.
Lurking Horror sendup The Smirking Horror by Jason Davis leads off, a reasonably faithful re-interpretation of The Lurking Horror from Infocom. It's the first Amstrad CPC exclusive on the show and makes surprisingly minimal use of the graphics available in Graphic Adventure Creator.
For the main course we take on Infocom's Infidel, memorably parodied by Zarf himself (Episode 27's Inhumane) and created by Michael Berlyn and Patricia Fogleman. Legendary for its surly protagonist and shock ending, does it hold up to modern scrutiny?
Infidel (IFDB)
Infidel packaging (gray box)
Infidel packaging (folio)
The Smirking Horror (CPCWiki)
The Smirking Horror (playable online)
 
 
 

There's news out there in classic text adventures and neo-retro interactive fiction, and it's past time The Retro Adventurers got serious about delivering it! So, welcome to the first installment of a new monthly feature, OPEN MAILBOX -- where you GET NEWS AND LISTEN TO IT.
This episode compiled and presented by Retro Adventurers Nick and Jason covers multiple new Infocom/Z-Machine interpreters, Andrew Plotkin's Visible Zorker developments, an amazingly layered Cornerstone prank-that's-also-real, and other novel developments.
Zym II and Inform 6 Optimization:
https://intfiction.org/t/zym-ii-an-8-bit-z-machine-interpreter-for-symbos/79520
https://intfiction.org/t/accelerating-inform-6-games-on-8-bit-interpreters/79531
https://github.com/fredrikr/krebf
Visible Zorker - Deadline hijinx:
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/03/visible-zorker-march
https://www.patreon.com/VisibleZorker
New Features for Old Hardware:
https://intfiction.org/t/statusline-options/79162
https://github.com/johanberntsson/ozmoo/releases
Retro Adventurers on Discord:
https://discord.gg/8jrbVptACc
Springtime in the PunyInform Century:
https://discord.com/channels/830344544679493644/830344937252978718/1491913229721665840
https://www.springthing.net/2026/
Zabbrev: 
https://intfiction.org/t/zabbrev-has-been-ported-from-c-to-c/75176/24
https://jxself.org/git?p=zabbrev.git;a=summary
The Linchpin to Infocom’s Database Strategy?:
https://intfiction.org/t/cornerstones-vm-was-cornerstone-for-atari/79644
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2026/04/cornerstone-and-the-mu-machine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgz5GIbKx3Y
https://zilf.io/
Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) Grants:
https://blog.iftechfoundation.org/2026-04-08-announcing-the-2026-iftf-grant-recipients.html
Keep Circulating the Tapes:
https://ifdb.org