External Links


Advent.z5
350 points
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
abent.z5
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
adv.arc
three-score version
MS-DOS Application
adv350.lha *
350 points
Amiga Application
adv350de.zip
walkthrough
MS-DOS Application
adv350jg.lha *
350 points
Amiga Application
adv350kb.zip
Contains adventur.mtx
350 points
MS-DOS Application
adv350kp.zip
Contains ATEXT.DAT
Requires an AdvSys interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
adv350r4.lha *
350 points
Amiga Application
adv370.zip
370 points
MS-DOS Application
adv375.zip
Contains Asm.key
375 points
MS-DOS Application
adv430.lha *
430 points
Amiga Application
adv440.zip
440 points
MS-DOS Application
adv440-linux.tgz
440 points
Linux Application
adv550.lha *
550 points
Amiga Application
adv550.zip
550 points
MS-DOS Application
adv550​_glk.zip
550 points
MS-DOS Application
adv551.lha *
551 points
Amiga Application
adv550​_glk​_linux.tar.gz
Linux Application
adv551.zip
551 points
MS-DOS Application
adv660.lha *
660 points, requires Kicksart 2.​04
Amiga Application
adv660.zip
660 points
MS-DOS Application
adv660​_glk.zip
660 points
MS-DOS Application
adv770-1.80-dos.zip
770 points
MS-DOS Application
adv660​_glk​_linux.tar.gz
660 points
Linux Application
adv770-1.80-linux-glk.tgz
770 points
Linux Application
adv770-1.80-win-glk.zip
Windows Application
advbds.zip
three-score version
MS-DOS Application
advc64.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
advent.blb
GUI enhancements
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
advent.z6
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
advent.ulx
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
advent​_rus.zip
MS-DOS Application
advent25.zip
430 points
MS-DOS Application
adventions.tar.gz
all the Adventions games gzipped together
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
adventions.zip
all the Adventions games zipped together
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
adventr.arc
Atari ST Application
Adventure.lha *
contains all of Kinder's amiga ports listed below
Amiga Application
Adventure.sit ***
430 points
Mac OS Application
adventure-11.hqx
550 points
Mac OS Application (Encoded in Macintosh Bin/Hex format.)
advos2.zip
three-score version
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
advtc2.zip
three-score version
MS-DOS Application
atari8gm.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
aventura.zip
Contains AVENTURA.Z5
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
aventure.z5
French Inform version.
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
Avontuur.z5
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
beebgames.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
C64adv.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
CCave.zip
GUI version
Windows Application
cpm-advent.zip
350 points
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
cpm-advent-b03.zip
Contains ADV.COM
580 points
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
ccr.oldtr.tar.Z ****
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
ccr.sit.bin
Mac OS Application (Compressed with StuffIt, encoded in MacBinary format. Free StuffIt Expanders are available for most systems at www.stuffit.com.)
ccr.sit.hqx
Mac OS Application (Compressed with StuffIt, encoded in BinHex format. Free StuffIt Expanders are available for most systems at www.stuffit.com.)
ccr.tar.Z ****
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
ccr.zip
MS-DOS Application
colossal.hex
Requires a Hugo interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
firstadv.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
HCMacPkg.sit ***
hints
Mac OS Application
hugecave.lzh
1000 points
Amiga Application
HugeCave.z8
1000 points
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
hugecave.zip
1000 points
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
Int-Fic.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
nuntalylihu.z5
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
polyadv.gam
original 350-point version, 550-point version by David Platt, 551-point version by David Long, 580-point version by Mike Goetz, and combined 701-point versions
Requires a TADS interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
winadv21.zip
550 points
Windows Application
zx.zip
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
polyadv​_320a.zip
original 350-point version, 550-point version by David Platt, 551-point version by David Long, 580-point version by Mike Goetz, and combined 701-point versions
HugeHint.z5
hints in Z-code format for Humongous Cave 1000-point version
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
advent​_forth.zip
350 points, compatible with Gforth, Win32Forth, bigFORTH, VFX Forth, Swiftforth, and PFE
adv350-php.zip
requires MySQL
advent-orig550.tar.gz
550 points
advent​_acode.tar.gz
550 points
adv440.tgz
440 points
hcavesol.zip
solution to 1000-point "humongous" version
Adv​_walk.zip
solution and map in GUEmap format for 350 point version
adv660-hints.txt
hints for 660-point version
adventure-walkthrough.txt
solution for the 350-point version
adv350jg.zip
350 points
Sols1.zip
solution
adv370s.zip
370 points
advent-original.tar.gz
This is the ur-text from which most other versions are derived.
Adventure2.5.tar.gz
430 points
hugecv-s.zip
1000 points
adv660.tar.Z ****
660 points
jgunness.zip
Walkthrough for Level 9 version
Craft.Of.Adventure.txt
essay by Graham Nelson, containing quite a bit of background on this game
advos2s.zip
three-score version, for OS/​2
advqnx.tar.gz
three-score version, for Unix
adven550.sol
solution for the 550-point version
adv550s.zip
550 points
cave.zip
350 points
adventure.step
solution for the 350-point version
advent.tar.Z ****
501 points
advsrc.zip
551 points
winadsol.zip
solution to the 550-point version
Crowther's Adventure
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
VMC10​_073D.zip
Contains VMC10.exe
Type CLOAD & hit ENTER. Select COLOSSAL.​C10 in the JimG subdirectory of the Cassette directory. Type RUN...
Windows Application (Windows XP and later)
advent.z3
350 points (ZIL port)
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
Play Adrift 4 version online (350 points)
Play this game in your Web browser.
Adrift 4 version download (350 points)
Requires an ADRIFT version 4 interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
* Compressed with LHA (also known as LHArc). Free unpacking tools are available for most platforms.
Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.
Compressed with the Unix-style .tar.gz "tarball" format. Free unpacking tools are available for most platforms.
*** Compressed with StuffIt. Free StuffIt Expanders are available for most systems at www.stuffit.com.
**** Compressed with the Unix-style .tar.Z "tarball" format. Free unpacking tools are available for most platforms.

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Adventure

by William Crowther and Donald Woods

Cave crawl
1976

(based on 93 ratings)
8 reviews

Game Details

Language: English (en)
Current Version: 1.80
License: Freeware
Baf's Guide ID: 1
IFIDs:  ZCODE-5-961209-B430
0E123F50-20A2-4F5B-8F01-264678ED419D
HUGO-22-43-48-12-18-96
ZCODE-0-000531-2DA4
ZCODE-10-011123-3377
ZCODE-1-000001-DCAF
ZCODE-22895--AT-TH
GLULX-5-961209-2C56ABC1
ZCODE-5-980419-A9E9
GLULX-5-961209-FB0F3A3C
E9FD3D87-DD2F-4005-B332-23557780B64E
ZCODE-1-971209-D0D6
ZCODE-0--V2R-5
ALAN-146D643563C964EE452CADDBCED51C0E
10B1AA06-6802-47A5-88A0-5BBE814A0CB5
ZCODE-5-961209-4589
TADS2-745972E65DED27D9A8A86A9CCE8CFC6E
ZCODE-8-020822-3C26
ALAN-A2C683626F71BE821FBBD056D5E7B4DA
ZCODE-7-970904-F4BB
ZCODE-3-951220-B31C
TUID: fft6pu91j85y4acv

Adaptations:
Colossal Cave, by G. L. Watson
Colossal Cave Adventure, by Ross Harris
Colossal Cave Afterhours, by Digimath
Spadventure, by Patrick Walton
Translations:
Abenteuer, by William Crowther, Don Woods, Graham Nelson, Toni Arnold
Äventyr, by William Crowther and Donald Woods
Aventure, by William Crowther, Don Woods
Avontuur, by William Crowther, Don Woods
Spoofs:
Not Found, by Unknown
Coke Is It!, by Lucian P. Smith, Adam Thornton, J. Robinson Wheeler, Michael Fessler, Dan Shiovitz, David Dyte
The Spelunker's Tremendous Cave Adventure, by Doug Harter
The Very Big Cave Adventure, by Anonymous
Ports:
Colossal Cave, by G. L. Watson
Colossal Cave Adventure, by Ross Harris
Remakes:
Colossal Adventure, by Pete Austin, Mike Austin, Nick Austin, James Horsler
Colossal Cave, by G. L. Watson
Colossal Cave Adventure, by Ross Harris
Colossal Cave Revisited, by Willie Crowther, Don Woods, David Baggett, Jeff Laing, Stephen Granade, Dave Picton
Referenced in:
21 Points, by Anonymous
Acheton, by Jon Thackray, David Seal, and Jonathan Partington
Adventure (Program Power, 1983), by Program Power
Colossal Cave Afterhours, by Digimath
Ferret, by FerretAuthors@jugglingsoot.com
The Only Possible Prom Dress, by Jim Aikin
Tower of Mystery, by Gary McGath
Yon Astounding Castle! of some sort, by Tiberius Thingamus
Zork, by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling

Awards

34th Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2011 edition)

46th Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2019 edition)

10th Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2023 edition)

Editorial Reviews

Baf's Guide


The original. What more can be said? This was the first adventure game; the whole genre is named after it. Without it, Infocom would have been just another maker of business software, Sierra On-line would be primarily known for adaptations of coin-op videogames, and Volker Blasius would have a life. A detailed description of this game's history and significance can be found in Graham Nelson's "The Craft of Adventure".

Ignoring the profound historical significance for a moment, it's a treasure hunt in a cave, like most of the early adventures (including Zork). It has a verb-noun parser, minimal detail, two big annoying mazes, magic words, nonsense puzzles, and occasional death without warning. None of this matters. Download it anyway. You cannot consider yourself a true adventurer until you've played this game.

There are many different versions of this game, some of which include additions by later authors. The original gave a total of 350 points. Later additions usually award a higher final score.

-- Carl Muckenhoupt

SPAG
[...] All in all, one might conclude from this that Adventure is the greatest Adventure game ever written, but this is not quite the case. It's continued popularity stems from a) its hauntingly compelling atmosphere, b) its colourful imagery, c) the fact that for many it was their first adventure game, and d) the fact that many people first played it 70's style. [...] (Graeme Cree)

[...] Overall, this is a great game. I recommend it to everyone who is interested in adventure games. [...] (Alex Freeman)


See the full review

Just Adventure

Every so often an invention or an event comes along which changes our perception of the world forever.
See the full review

Gaming Enthusiast
It’s worth checking out if you feel nostalgic and despite the fact that it’s dated in so many ways, the playability didn’t suffer one bit.
See the full review

50 Years of Text Games, by Aaron A. Reed
Adventure begins without much explanation with a description of a forest, written in second person as if you are the one there seeing it. Rather than choose from a set of numbered options, as with nearly every previous game, the player is invited to type freeform one- or two-word English commands. “I WILL BE YOUR EYES AND HANDS,” the game’s instructions read: “DIRECT ME.” [...] It’s hard to appreciate today what a radical notion this was at the time.
[...]
The game’s text feels convincing because it was drawn from life. Will Crowther and his wife Patricia had been avid cavers [...]
[...]
Like many other computer users of the time, [Crowther] began to idly wonder if you could make something like D&D on the computer. In the fall of 1975, he decided to try.
[...]
[...] before [Crowther] logged out of his BBN account for the last time, he did something typical for hackers used to a culture of freely sharing programs [...] He put the unfinished Adventure in a public folder, where anyone browsing the ARPANET could find it.
One year later. 22-year-old Stanford grad student Don Woods stumbles across Crowther’s program and becomes intrigued.
[...]
While Crowther’s game was a clever hack, Woods made it closer to a working engine: a consistent simulation of a fictional space that could sensibly respond to a player exploring it.
[...]
Adventure was a clever program, but also the right program at the right time. It arrived just as regional clusters of hackers were merging into a single online community, and the tantalizing possibility of home computers was becoming a reality, along with the need for compelling software to run on them. [...] arguably its key innovation was to demonstrate one of the most powerful illusions a computer can create: transporting its user to another reality.
See the full review

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Member Reviews

5 star:
(14)
4 star:
(26)
3 star:
(43)
2 star:
(9)
1 star:
(1)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 8
Write a review


Most Helpful Member Reviews


14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Well, it was first., April 7, 2010
by tggdan3 (Michigan)

Yes, yes, I get it. Adventure was the game that started it all.

And there are SO MANY different versions of it, that it hardly seems possible to review or score it, considering you probably played the sub-optimal version.

I've played the two-word paser version, and the inform update.

The inform update is full of bugs. You can carry any number of things in the wicker cage, allowing you to bypass puzzles that might not let you carry certain items up certain areas by putting them in the cage. The scoring is off too, because if you carry a treasure in the cage to the "base" you get penalized when you TAKE the item out of the cage, then get the points BACK when you drop the item, stopping you from geting proper points.

Anyway, version aside, the game has its plusses and minuses.

The game is a cave crawl puzzle fest, except that everything is totally random and the answers to the puzzles are totally arbitrary. Everything is under-implemented. I had trouble catching a particular bird, and then, i just caught it. I imagine it was turned away by something that was in my inventory then and not now, or vice versa, but regardless, I was able to catch it at one point and not at another point. And your use for the bird is rediculous and there's no reason to believe the bird can be used for its indended purpose.

It keeps going. You have your mazes of passages, rooms with exists not clearly defined, multiple paths going to the same place, and the reverse direction doesn't always take you back where you started. Random enemies show up and attack you, for what appears to be no reason, and never seem to hit you, making their presence appear useless and annoying.

Much like Zork, you are dropped in the middle of nowehere with no clue as to what's going on. Had I never played Zork, i never would have assumed you need to put the treasures in the house. But since I played zork, I tried it. Yep, it works. And it's relevant.

I can only imagine the nightmare of beating this game with a limited parser, considering how frustrated I've become with even newer versions (which allowed you to bypass inventory limits with a wicker cage!).

Okay, okay. Adventure gave us PLUGH and XYZZY. But Infocom gave us BLORB and FROTZ. Adventure gave us Sierra Online (as the creators made games because they coldn't find more games like adventure), but I guess this is one of those games where "you just had to be there". As it is, I am finding myself having little patience with limited inventory, drop items in the maze and map it, and perform any random action you can think of to see if THAT works. Yes it was the first IF game EVER, and for that, it deserves to be played and deserves to be respected. The site wouldn't be here without adventure.

But you need to be a die-hard IF fan AND IF history buff if you're going to get a lot out of this game today. The same can probably be said for the Zork series.

I gave this game 3 stars. Compared to current standards, it really is terrible. But back when it was written, it was the best there was (the only there was). It gave us so many IF conventions we take for granted today (such as the dark room, and using compass directions to move!, inventory and LOOK commands), and people really need to play it if they want to see IF roots- just be ready to take a while, and have hints on hand!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
The original, and one of the best depending on your likes, September 4, 2017
by MathBrush
Related reviews: more than 10 hours

Adventure was the very first text adventure of all time. It inspired the genre and its name.

The point of the game is to gather a variety of treasures and bring them back to a small building. The game is pretty accurately based on the Mammoth Caves, which explains the mazes and the fact that exits and entrances sometimes don't match up exactly (i.e. going west and then east may not leave you where you started).

For me, the most enjoyable way to play this game was to keep it at a slow pace, going back to it time and again while playing other games. I kept a numbered list of every room with all of its exits to other rooms. This made the game much easier. After several weeks, I got to a point where I couldn't get any further for several days. I finally looked up a walkthrough for the last three or four puzzles.

Once you get all the treasures, there is an endgame that is surprisingly good; it seems more like a modern deconstruction of the game than the very first game of all.

I played the 350 point version, and I found the game incredibly enjoyable. I admit that I used the wicker cage bug (as mentioned in another review), where you can carry everything in the wicker cage. To get full points, you must remove the items from the cage outside of the building before placing them in there.

Every Interactive Fiction player should play this game because so many other games reference it heavily.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Interactive Fiction Origins, August 19, 2023

Introduction:

"Adventure" is a timeless text-based interactive fiction game that stands as a cornerstone in the genre. Developed by William Crowther and Donald Woods, the game's legacy is as enduring as the immersive experience it offers. As an enthusiast of interactive fiction, I couldn't resist the allure of visiting this iconic title. In this review, I will delve into the game's foundational features, narrative and gameplay mechanics.

Story and Narrative:

One of the most remarkable aspects of "Adventure" is its foundational narrative. The game's story transports players into a captivating world of exploration, mystery, and puzzles. As a daring adventurer, players navigate intricate cave systems and uncover hidden treasures, all while piecing together a tale that gradually unfolds through the environment and sparse but evocative descriptions. Despite its simplicity, the narrative's sense of discovery and the player's personal involvement remain its enduring strengths.

Gameplay Mechanics:

"Adventure" excels in its innovative gameplay mechanics that laid the groundwork for future interactive fiction titles. The game presents players with a series of text commands, allowing them to interact with the environment and solve puzzles. The ingenious use of concise descriptions and responsive commands creates a sense of agency, immersing players in the illusion of exploration and interaction. Though rudimentary by today's standards, these mechanics are a testament to the ingenuity of its creators.

Pros:

+Foundational narrative and gameplay +Ingenious use of text-based commands
+Immersive world-building
+Historical significance and influence on the genre

Cons:
-None

Rating: 8/10

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See All 8 Member Reviews

Adventure on IFDB

Recommended Lists

Adventure appears in the following Recommended Lists:

My List Of Most Fun Games Ever by Rotonoto
(in purely alphabetical order)

My favourite old IF games by zhaofeng
Old IF games.

Recommended Games based on Design, Content, or Themes by daelsepara
This is a list of games I would recommend based on their uniqueness and quality of the design and content.

See all lists mentioning this game

Polls

The following polls include votes for Adventure:

Games That Changed Your Mind by Ghalev
Before you played X, you never thought you'd like horror games. Before you played Y, you never thought you could take a game with a dragon in it seriously. Before you played Z, you thought linear games would just frustrate you. Tell me...

Games that inspired you to MAKE a game. by MyTheory
Whether it was the witty dialogue, the charming atmosphere, or the cleverness of the puzzle - you played "this" game and it inspired you to write your own. Selfishly, I'm looking for my own inspiration, but I am also very, very curious...

Games where the player must draw their own map by Paxton
Ideally these are games whose puzzles/challenges involve the map in some way (hidden connections, layout analysis, &c.) and aren't just games which could be mapped. I'm especially interested in games which use the action of drawing the...

See all polls with votes for this game




This is version 35 of this page, edited by JTN on 18 March 2024 at 11:22pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page