Editing List of text-based computer games

{{Short description|none}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2014}}

The following list of [[text-based game]]s is not to be considered an authoritative, comprehensive listing of all such games; rather, it is intended to represent a wide range of game styles and genres presented using the text mode display and their evolution across a long period.

==On mainframe computers==
Years listed are those in which [[early mainframe games]] and others are believed to have originally appeared. Often these games were continually modified and played as a succession of versions for years after their initial posting. (For purposes of this list, [[minicomputer]]s are considered mainframes, in contrast to microcomputers, which are not.)

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Title!!Year Created!!Creator!!Notes
|-
| ''BBC''||1961||[[John Burgeson]]||Baseball simulator
|-
| ''[[The Sumerian Game]]''||1964||[[Mabel Addis]], William McKay||The first [[edutainment]] game.
|-
| Unnamed American football game<ref name="dtss196810">{{cite journal | url=http://dtss.dartmouth.edu/sciencearticle/index.html | title=Dartmouth Time-Sharing | author1=Kemeny, John G. | author2=Kurtz, Thomas E. | journal=Science | date=11 October 1968 | volume=162 | issue=3850 | pages=223–228 | doi=10.1126/science.162.3850.223 | pmid=5675464 | bibcode=1968Sci...162..223K | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304221336/http://dtss.dartmouth.edu/sciencearticle/index.html | archivedate=4 March 2016 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>||1968 or before||Unknown||For the [[Dartmouth Time-Sharing System]]. One of "many games" in library of 500 programs.
|-
| ''[[Hamurabi (video game)|The Sumer Game]]''||1968||Doug Dyment||AKA ''Hamurabi''
|-
| ''Highnoon''||1970||Christopher Gaylo||
|-
| ''[[Baseball (Computer Game)|Baseball]]''||1971||[[Don Daglow]]||
|-
| ''[[The Oregon Trail (1971 video game)|Oregon Trail]]''||1971||[[Don Rawitsch]]||
|-
| ''[[Star Trek (text game)|Star Trek]]'' (strategy game)||1971||[[Mike Mayfield]]||
|-
| ''[[Star Trek (script game)|Star Trek]]'' (script game)||1972||Don Daglow||
|-
| ''[[Hunt the Wumpus]]''||1973||[[Gregory Yob]]||
|-
| ''[[Trek73|TREK73]]''||1973||William K. Char, Perry Lee, and Dan Gee||
|-
| ''[[Cornell U. Hockey]]''||1973||Charles Buttrey||
|-
| ''[[Wander (adventure game)|Wander]]''||1974||[[Peter Langston]]||
|-
| ''[[Dnd (computer game)|dnd]]''||1975||[[Gary Whisenhunt]] and Ray Wood||
|-
| ''[[Dungeon (computer game)|Dungeon]]''||1975||Don Daglow||
|-
| ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]''||1976||[[Will Crowther]]||The original [[adventure game]]
|-
| ''[[Dukedom (game)|Dukedom]]''||1976||Vince Talbot||
|-
| ''[[Empire (1977 video game)|Empire]]''||1977||[[Walter Bright]]||
|-
| ''[[Mystery Mansion (video game)|Mystery Mansion]]''||1977||Bill Wolpert||
|-
| ''[[Zork]]''||1977||[[Tim Anderson (Zork)|Tim Anderson]], [[Marc Blank]], [[Bruce Daniels]] and [[Dave Lebling]]||
|-
| ''Acheton''||1978||[[Jon Thackray]], David Seal and [[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Decwar]]''||1978||Hysick, Bob and Potter, Jeff||
|-
| ''[[MUD1|MUD]]''||1978||[[Roy Trubshaw]] and [[Richard Bartle]]||The first multi-user dungeon. See [[List of MUDs]] for later examples.
|-
| ''[[Battlestar (computer game)|Battlestar]]''||1979||[[David Riggle]]||
|-
| ''Brand X''||1979||[[Peter Killworth]] and [[Jonathan Mestel]]||AKA ''Philosopher's Quest''
|-
| ''[[HAUNT]]''||1979||[[John Laird (game designer)|John Laird]]||
|-
| ''[[Martian Adventure]]''||1979||[[Brad Templeton]] and [[Kieran Carroll]]||
|-
| ''[[New Adventure]]''||1979||[[Mark Niemiec]]||
|-
| ''[[FisK]]''||1980||[[John Sobotik]] and [[Richard Beigel]]||Text based adventure game
|-
| ''[[Hezarin]]''||1980||[[Steve Tinney]], [[Alex Shipp]] and [[Jon Thackray]]||
|-
| ''[[Kingdom of Hamil]]''||1980||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Monsters of Murdac]]''||1980||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''Quondam''||1980||Rod Underwood||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Rogue (computer game)|Rogue]]''||1980||Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, and [[Ken Arnold]]||
|-
| ''[[LORD (computer game)|LORD]]''||1981||[[Olli J. Paavola]]||Based on ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''
|-
| ''Star Trader''||1982||[[Bretten Au]], Kevin Ryan, [[Kent Beck]], [[Ron Lumsden]], and James Walters||A space game originally hosted on [[University of Oregon]]'s mainframe computer
|-
| ''[[Avon (game)|Avon]]''||1983||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Shakespeare]]an [[adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Castle (computer game)|Castle]]''||1983||[[Barry Wilks]]||
|-
| ''[[Dunnet (game)|Dunnet]]''||1983||[[Ron Schnell]]||
|-
| ''[[Fyleet]]''||1986||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Crobe]]''||1987||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''[[Nidus (video game)|Nidus]]''||1987||[[Adam Atkinson]]||
|-
| ''[[Quest of the Sangraal]]''||1987||[[Jonathan Partington]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe
|-
| ''Spycatcher''||1989||[[Jonathan Partington]] and [[Jon Thackray]]||[[Adventure game]] originally hosted on [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]]'s [[Phoenix (computer)|Phoenix]] mainframe; released commercially by [[Topologika|Topologika Software]] as ''[[Spy Snatcher]]''
|-
|}

==On personal computers==

===Commercial text adventure games===
These are commercial [[interactive fiction]] games played offline.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Title!!Year Created!!Creator!!Notes
|-
| ''[[Adventureland (computer game)|Adventureland]]''||1978||[[Scott Adams (game designer)|Scott Adams]] of [[Adventure International]]||series
|-
| ''[[Zork I|Zork I: The Great Underground Empire]]''||1980||Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels and Dave Lebling||series
|-
| ''[[C.I.A Adventure]]''||1980||[[Hugh Lampert]] of [[CLOAD]]||
|-
| ''[[Softporn Adventure]]''||1981||[[On-Line Systems]]||
|-
| ''[[Madness and the Minotaur]]''||1981||for [[Spectral Associates]]||
|-
| ''[[The Hobbit (1982 video game)|The Hobbit]]''||1982||[[Philip Mitchell (video game designer)|Philip Mitchell]] and [[Veronika Megler]] of [[Beam Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Valhalla (video game)|Valhalla]]''||1983||Legend||
|-
| ''[[Time and Magik]]''||1983||[[Level 9 Computing|Level 9]]||
|-
| ''[[Forbidden Quest (video game)|Forbidden Quest]]''||1983||[[Pryority Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Valley of the Minotaur]]''||1983||Nicolas van Dyk of [[Softalk]]||
|-
| ''[[The Wizard of Akyrz]]''||1983||[[Brian Howarth]] of [[Mysterious Adventures]] and [[Cliff J. Ogden]] for [[Adventure International]]||
|-
| ''[[The Biz (video game)|The Biz]]''||1984||[[Chris Sievey]] of [[Virgin Interactive|Virgin Games]]||Music band simulator for the [[ZX Spectrum]]
|-
| ''[[High Stakes (1984 video game)|High Stakes]]''||1984||[[Angelsoft]]||
|-
| ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy]]''||1984||[[Douglas Adams]] and [[Steve Meretzky]] of [[Infocom]]||
|-
| ''[[Mindwheel]]''||1984||[[Robert Pinsky]] for [[Synapse Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Zyll]]''||1984||[[Marshal W. Linder]] and [[Scott B. Edwards]] for [[IBM]]||
|-
| ''[[The Pawn (video game)|The Pawn]]''||1985||[[Magnetic Scrolls]]||
|-
| ''[[A Mind Forever Voyaging]]''||1985||[[Steve Meretzky]] of [[Infocom]]||
|-
| ''[[Brimstone (computer game)|Brimstone]]''||1985||[[James Paul (game designer)|James Paul]] for [[Synapse Software|Synapse]]||
|-
| ''[[Essex (computer game)|Essex]]''||1985||[[Bill Darrah]] for Synapse||
|-
| ''[[Hampstead]]''||1985||[[Peter Jones (game designer)|Peter Jones]] and [[Trevor Lever]] for [[Krome Studios Melbourne|Melbourne House]]||
|-
| ''[[Bored of the Rings (video game)|Bored of the Rings]]''||1985||[[Delta 4]]||
|-
| ''[[Mind Wheel]]''||1985||[[Brøderbund Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Heavy on the Magick]]''||1986||[[Gargoyle Games]]||
|-
| ''[[Breakers (computer game)|Breakers]]''||1986||[[Rodney R. Smith]] for Synapse||
|-
| ''[[Terrormolinos]]''||1986||[[Peter Jones (game designer)|Peter Jones]] and [[Trevor Lever]] for [[Krome Studios Melbourne|Melbourne House]]||
|-
| ''[[Amnesia (1986 video game)|Amnesia]]''||1987||[[Thomas M. Disch]]||The only entirely non-graphical text adventure ever published by [[Electronic Arts]]
|-
| ''[[Braminar]]''||1987|| ||
|-
| ''[[Dodgy Geezers]]''||1987||[[Peter Jones (game designer)|Peter Jones]] and [[Trevor Lever]] for [[Krome Studios Melbourne|Melbourne House]]||
|-
| ''[[Enchanted Castle]]''||1987||[[Michael R. Wilk]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/EnchantedCastleR3SW2000MichaelR.WilkAdventureInteractiveFiction|title=Enchanted Castle|last=Michael R. Wilk|date=1 January 1987|publisher=|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>||
|-
| ''[[Gnome Ranger]]''||1987||[[Level 9 Computing|Level 9]]||
|-
| ''[[Jacaranda Jim (computer game)|Jacaranda Jim]]''||1987||[[Graham Cluley]]||
|-
| ''[[Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It]]''||1987||[[Jeff O'Neill]] for [[Infocom]]||
|-
| ''[[Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels]]''||1987||[[Bob Bates]] for [[Infocom]]||
|-
| ''[[Shadows of Mordor]]''||1987||[[Krome Studios Melbourne|Melbourne House]]||
|-
| ''[[Knight Orc]]''||1987||[[Level 9 Computing|Level 9]]||
|-
| ''[[The Guild of Thieves]]''||1987||[[Magnetic Scrolls]]||
|-
| ''[[Fish!]]''||1988||[[Magnetic Scrolls]]||
|-
| ''[[Ingrid's Back]]''||1988||[[Level 9 Computing|Level 9]]||
|-
| ''[[Corruption (interactive fiction)|Corruption]]''||1988||[[Magnetic Scrolls]]||
|-
| ''[[Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I.]]''||1988||[[Michael Berlyn|Michael]] and [[Muffy Berlyn]]||
|-
| ''[[Avalon (MUD)|Avalon]]''||1989||[[Yehuda Simmons]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avalon-rpg.com/|title=Online RPG Game - Avalon - Text Based Games|first=Avalon, The Legend|last=Lives|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205233853/http://www.avalon-rpg.com/|archivedate=2015-12-05}}</ref>||A [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]], notable for its pioneering introduction of various innovations such as plotted quests, real estate, banking and distinct skills <ref>{{cite web|url=http://mud.co.uk/richard/imucg4.htm|title=Richard A. Bartle: Reviews - UK|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228220559/http://mud.co.uk/richard/imucg4.htm|archivedate=2015-12-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mud.co.uk/dvw/index.html|title=Designing Virtual Worlds|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118103355/http://mud.co.uk/dvw/index.html|archivedate=2015-11-18}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[The Hound of Shadow]]''||1989||for [[Eldritch Games]]||
|-
| ''[[Humbug (computer game)|Humbug]]''||1990||[[Graham Cluley]]||
|-
| ''Islands of Danger''||1990||[[Carr Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Danger! Adventurer at Work!]]''||1991||[[Simon Avery]]||
|-
| ''[[Spy Snatcher]]''||1992||Jonathan Partington and [[Jonathan Thackray]] for [[Topologika]]||
|}

===Miscellaneous games===
{|class="wikitable"
!Title!!Year Created!!Creator!!Notes
|-
| ''[[Wizard's Castle]]''||1978||[[Joseph R. Power]]||
|-
| ''[[Aliens (Kaypro video game)|Aliens]]''||1982||[[Yahoo Software]]||''[[Space Invaders]]'' clone for [[Kaypro]].
|-
| ''[[CatChum]]''||1982||[[Yahoo Software]]||''[[Pac-Man]]'' clone for Kaypro.
|-
| ''[[Ladder (video game)|Ladder]]''||1982||[[Yahoo Software]]||''[[Donkey Kong]]'' clone for Kaypro.
|-
| ''[[Beagle Bag|Text Train]]''||1982||Bert Kersey, [[Beagle Bros Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Snipes (video game)|Snipes]]''||1983||[[SuperSet]]||
|-
| ''[[Sleuth (computer game)|Sleuth]]''||1983||[[Eric N. Miller]]||
|-
| ''[[Beast ASCII Game|Beast]]''||1984||Dan Baker, Alan Brown, Mark Hamilton and Derrick Shadel||
|-
| ''Manor'' || 1986 || [[Leon Baradat]] || Based on Hammurabi, Kingdom, and Dukedom for Apple II
|-
| ''[[Kingdom of Kroz]]''||1987||[[Scott Miller (programmer)|Scott Miller]] of [[3D Realms|Apogee Software]]||
|-
| ''[[Mtrek]]''||1987||[[Chuck L. Peterson (programmer)|Chuck Peterson]] of [[University of California, Santa Cruz|UCSC]]||
|-
| ''[[ZZT]]''||1991||[[Tim Sweeney (game developer)|Tim Sweeney]] of [[Epic MegaGames]]||
|-
| ''[[Curses (video game)|Curses!]]''||1993||[[Graham Nelson]]||
|-
| ''[[MegaZeux]]''||1994||[[Alexis Janson]] of [[Software Visions]]||Supports editing the character set to allow for more advanced graphical capabilities than most text mode games.
|-
| ''[[Jigsaw (video game)|Jigsaw]]''||1995||[[Graham Nelson]]||
|-
| ''[[Chibot Ultra Battle]]''||1999|| ||
|-
| ''PAEE''||1999||[[Enrique D. Bosch]]||
|-
| ''For a Change''||1999||[[Dan Schmidt]]||
|-
| ''Shade''||2000||[[Andrew Plotkin]]||
|-
| ''Shrapnel''||2000||[[Adam Cadre]]||
|}

==Online games==

===Play-by-email games===
These are [[PBEM|play-by-email]] games played online.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Title!!Year Created!!Creator
|-
| ''[[Lords of the Earth]]''||1983||
|-
| ''[[Stormfront Studios|Quantum Space]]''||1989||
|-
| ''[[Atlantis PbeM]]''||1993||
|-
| ''[[Eressea PbeM]]''||1996||
|}

===BBS door games===
These are [[BBS door]] games played online.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Title!!Year Created!!Creator
|-
| ''[[TradeWars 2002]]''||1987||[[Gary Martin (programmer)|Gary Martin]] for [[Martech Software]]
|-
| ''[[Legend of the Red Dragon]]''||1989||[[Seth Able Robinson]]
|}

{{See also|Category:Door games}}

===MUDs===

{{For|MUDs|Chronology of MUDs}}

===Text-Based Browser Multiplayer Games===
''[[Torn (online text game)|Torn City]] (2003) is'' played in a web browser and involves multiplayer components: it is based mainly around text and has very limited graphical elements.

==See also==
*[[List of graphic adventure games]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Lists of video games by technology or feature|Text-based]]
[[Category:Video games with textual graphics| ]]
[[Category:Multi-user dungeon]]