The Retro Adventurers

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

Thank you for another year of Retro Adventuring with us! To celebrate we've gathered together to share important news about a change in the team roster, an exciting new monthly department, and to share a first look at our new handcrafted artwork (thank you, Emily Sergent)!
Spend a little time with Jason, Nick, and Tim and watch for more game, interview, and news episodes coming soon to your feed (and YouTube, which did get sorted out!)
Our YouTube channel
Douglas Adams BBC interview (1985)
The BDB Project (Bonaventura Di Bello adventure translations)
Tim's 1987 (?) photo
Adventure Game Aptitude Test (Maniac Mansion 4-hour challenge)
Zork 78 logo pillow

Hyperspace adventure awaits as Tim Gilberts joins Jason to play two underrated science fiction games from the 1970s. For starters it's Dog Star Adventure, the first type-in text adventure in Softside Magazine. True to its 1979 roots it's steeped in Star Wars lore and vocabulary, and was ported to plenty of classic platforms in its heyday.
The feature game is Aldebaran III, one of the games created by Peter Langston in his Wander system. It, too, leans heavily on genre fiction, in this case the Retief novels by Keith Laumer, covering interstellar espionage, diplomacy, and bureaucracy in equal measure.
Aldebaran III (IFDB)
Wander source code (Github)
Wander game analysis (Renga In Blue)
Aldebaran III (CRPG Adventures)
 
Dog Star Adventure (IFDB)
Dog Star Adventure in Softside May 1979
Dog Star Adventure (Old School Gamer Magazine)
 

Ron Martinez, our guest from Episode 11, returns! This is actually a holdover from the 2025 Year-End Chatisode sessions, but it really stands alone as an exploration of Ron's recent work in narrative design involving generative AI, large language models, and other 21st century interactive storytelling techniques. Joining us on the call are regular Retro Adventurers Jason and Nick, along with This Week in Retro's Dave "Velociraptor" (Episode 29).
And it's a big day for Nabokov fans as both Pale Fire and his lecture on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are invoked.
Hidden Agenda 2026 preview
Hidden Agenda 2026 landing page
Invention Arts
Headcanon