Zork: The Great Underground Empire

DOSGames.com Review:  Rating: 5
Zork: The Great Underground Empire is a seminal interactive fiction game, and the first in a series of influential text adventure games from Infocom. I don't often add interactive fiction games to the archive (see IF Archive for more of those) but I'll make exceptions for exceptional games! Originally released for the TRS-80 in 1980, the DOS port keeps the story and gameplay of the original game. (Most people probably remember playing it on DOS anyways!) This version is actually "Mini-Zork", described as a "Reader's Digest" version of the full game intended as a demo. It's described in the included readme thusly: "This program is a sample of the first Zork text adventure, published around 1981. The full game is available in the Lost Treasures of Infocom collection, volume 1, as well as in the Zork Anthology." Truly a classic of the genre!