@invisiclues.org.bsky.social
InvisiClues.org is an archive of Infocom history and artifacts, including InvisiClues, Infocomics, art, videos, news articles, and more.
A collage of screenshots from Infocomics showing pixelated nudity in Lane Mastodon, Gamma Force, and ZorkQuest 1.
Infocom's Infocomics were mostly aimed at young readers, but they often had pixelated (and mostly innocent) female nudity. A selling point for pre-teen and teenage boys?
#Infocom #Infocomics #Retrogames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/infocomics/
Zork Quest II (1989) was the fourth, and final, #Infocomic. It picks up where ZQ1 left off and introduces several new characters. Unfortunately, the story eventually ends on a cliffhanger that would never be resolved.
#Infocom #RetroGames #RetroGaming
www.invisiclues.org/infocomics/z...
In Steve Meretzky's Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986), you can confront the Leather Goddesses in Tame, Suggestive, or Lewd mode, but even Lewd mode was PG-13 at worst. It was Infocom's 5th best-selling game.
#Infocom #RetroGames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/lgop
Many Infocom game testers went on to to become implementers for Infocom -- Steve Meretzky, Amy Briggs, Jeff O'Neill... Hollywood Hijinx (1986) was collaboration between long-time testers "Hollywood" Dave Anderson and Liz Cyr-Jones.
#Infocom #RetroGames #RetroGaming
www.invisiclues.org/hhijinx
True! I should have said it was the only one with pre-determined female protagonist.
11.06.2025 17:22 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Plundered Hearts (1987) had so many firsts (and lasts) -- First (and last) game written by a woman, first (and last) game with a female protagonist, first (and last) game since Zork I with the protagonist's face on the cover.
#Infocom #RetroGames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/plundered-he...
Although Douglas Adams is the only name on the box and the game was his idea, Adams actually had very little to do with Bureaucracy (1987). The story was written mostly by Adams' assistant Michael Bywater with help from several implementers.
#Infocom #RetroGames
www.invisiclues.org/bureaucracy
The Lurking Horror (1987) was, curiously, Infocom's only horror-themed work of interactive fiction. Inspired by horror writers H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, it was Dave Lebling's eighth work of IF.
#Infocom #RetroGames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/lurking-horror
In Episode 10, Jason and first-timer Nick Moffitt sample text adventure horror: Infocom’s The Lurking Horror and Sir-Tech’s Crypt of Medea.
Strange Studies of Strange Stories co-host Chad Fifer shares how Lovecraftian horror went mainstream.
retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/episode-10...
My site has it, but it's not linked to the home page yet since I'm still working on the InvisiClues and supporting materials. It's still accessible if you go to the site with the path /lurking-horror for the (incomplete) game home or /play/lurking-horror to play the game directly.
23.05.2025 03:06 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Happy to help!
21.05.2025 21:01 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Well, she's a very busy "librarian" with a very mean poodle! :) By the way, the very detailed in-game map you mentioned before isn't actually the in-game map -- it's the InvisiClues map. The in-game map is the "Postal Zones of Festeron, Antharia" map.
21.05.2025 20:43 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0I just recently replayed this. I had to laugh at all the different ways Mr. Crisp scolds you -- the police radio, the theatre marquee, the distant fist-waving. Great game.
21.05.2025 20:28 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
In 1984, Infocom newcomer Brian Moriarty reasoned that a glow-in-the-dark stone would make a great feelie to put in the box for a new junior/introductory level adventure, so he wrote Wishbringer (1985) about a magic glowing stone.
#Infocom #RetroGames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/wishbringer
That's great! Reminds me of the Enchanters Guild pin from Spellbreaker that nerdy teenage me wore on a jacket until I eventually lost it.
20.05.2025 15:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
A glow-in-the-dark Wishbringer stone still "glowing strong" after 40 years.
The Wishbringer (1985) stone was one of Infocom's more popular "feelies." The plastic stone glowed blue/purple in the dark after exposure to strong light. I wondered if mine would still glow after 40 years... it sure does!
#Infocom #Retrogames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/public/img/p...
To reach a younger audience, Infocom recruited well-known children's book author Jim Lawrence (of Tom Swift Jr. and Hardy Boys fame) to collaborate with Stu Galley on Seastalker (1984), their first Junior Level interactive fiction.
#Infocom #RetroGames
www.invisiclues.org/seastalker
Cutthroats (1984) was Mike Berlyn's third and final work of interactive fiction for Infocom. Notably, it was the first Infocom game to feature multiple possible storylines (randomly chosen from two possibilities) to enhance replayability.
#Infocom #Retrogames
www.invisiclues.org/cutthroats
In 1984 and 1987, Infocom released "sampler" disks that included short excerpts from 4 Infocom games to attract new players to the world of interactive fiction. The 1984 Sampler also had a cute IF tutorial written by Marc Blank.
#Infocom #RetroGames #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/play/sampler84
What can be said about Infocom's wildly-popular The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984) that hasn't already been said? It was their second-best-selling title (behind only Zork I) and their last big hit. Don't Panic!
#Infocom #HHGTTG #RetroGames #RetroGaming
www.invisiclues.org/hhgttg
The Witness (1983) was #Infocom co-founder Stu Galley's first work of interactive fiction. It's a little smaller and easier than Infocom's first mystery, Deadline, but grittier and more atmospheric. It's just been added to the lineup at InvisiClues.org. #RetroGames
www.invisiclues.org/witness
In the late 80's, Infocom's Amy Briggs was given a bunch of demo images and asked to write an interactive comic book about them. The result was the Infocomic "Gamma Force in the Pit of a Thousand Screams." Now you can play it in your browser at InvisiClues.org.
www.invisiclues.org/infocomics/g...
The covers were great; the writing... not so great, at least during the years Russ Sipe was editor.
20.03.2025 20:18 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A 1980s-era Infocom ad showing a pixelated monster with the banner 'Would you shell out $1000 to match wits with this?'
Infocom's print ads often poked fun at the poor graphics of early-80's home computers and the twitchy gameplay of graphics games. This ad is one of my favorites. It ran in various computer magazines from November 1983 to May 1984.
20.03.2025 18:07 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
With this week's update, invisiclues.org now archives more than 300 historical magazine and newspaper articles about Infocom's games, designers, and history.
#Infocom #RetroGaming
www.invisiclues.org/library
I haven't played Karateka in forty years, but I still vividly remember the "bad ending" -- when you approach the the princess in a fighting stance. Still makes me laugh!
13.03.2025 16:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Computer Game magazines in the 1980s could be pretty bad and UK's "Micro Adventurer" was probably one of the cringiest. Here's a two-page "review" of Infocom's Starcross from Oct 1984 penned by a reviewer who never got past the first room.
#Infocom #Retrogaming
www.invisiclues.org/library/ma-r...
ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle was one of four Infocomics released by Infocom in 1988-1989. They never got much attention in their day, but now you can play ZorkQuest or Lane Mastodon in your browser at InvisiClues.org.
#Infocom #Infocomics #RetroGaming
www.invisiclues.org/infocomics/z...
An Infocom magazine ad with the banner, "We stick our graphics where the sun don't shine" and a large picture of a human brain.
Infocom's early print ads were as clever as their games! This two-page ad appeared in computer and hobbyist magazines from May to September 1983.
#Infocom #RetroGaming
As a teenager in the 80's, Enchanter was the first one I finished without needing hints and it's always had a special place in my heart. I go back and replay it now and then. Other faves: Starcross (so atmospheric!), Zork I, Deadline. Classics!
04.03.2025 15:02 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
