Jason Dyer

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/17/mystery-house-the-french-version-1980/

· 6mo ago

This is, by my reckoning, the first "official" translation of an adventure game, possibly of any computer game.

The French version of Mystery House, original by Roberta Williams, translation by Tom Nalevanko.

I give a full history of how the translation happened.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #history #french #apple #appleII

https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12/29/long0751/

· 9mo ago

Since 2012, Arthur O'Dwyer has had an updating web page called The Search for LONG0751 about a lost version of Adventure that was playable on Compuserve. It has long been one of the top early "missing" games.

It is now found and playable:

#retrogaming #retrocomputing #adventuergame #videogames #textadventure #history

quuxplusone.github.io

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/22/the-missing-people-1982/

· 6mo ago

The Missing People (1982) was technically "published", but it only sold one copy. It was rescued quite recently by the author from an old disk. I give the history behind the author (who I was able to interview) and play through the game.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction

The Missing People (1982)

Alex Kreis, the author of Domes of Kilgari, recently dropped notice that back in 1982 he had written a sequel, and rescued it off an old disk. (You can find it on Github here.) I was able to talk t…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/20/the-lazurite-factor-the-repaired-version/

· 6mo ago

Four years ago I wrote about a TRS-80 game from a (probably) Scottish author that had character-text errors that made it unplayable. The game is now repaired for the first time, and I play it through and discuss its context as a "learning" game.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #trs80 #tandy #gwbasic #msdos

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/04/05/phantom-ship-1982/

· 6mo ago

Next on All the Adventures, I embark on a story that starts during WW2 and the founding of a publishing company

passing through accounting textbooks and innovations in erotic scholarship

and landing at the first all-text adventure game written in Japanese.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #history #japan #japanese

The Phantom Ship / Yuureisen (1982)

1940 was a curious year to be starting a publishing company, but especially one in Tokyo. This was in the midst of WW2, and the same year Italy, Germany, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact. Censo…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/16/intercept-excessive-difficulty/

· 6mo ago

the grand conclusion of Intercept, which ended up being massively difficult in ways most games are not

perhaps the hardest TRS-80 game I've ever played

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/04/02/skull-cave-the-mystery-of-the-mazes/

· 6mo ago

in which I give a history of the famous D&D module Tomb of Horrors, and explain why it connects to adventure games more strongly than other modules

and return to a Sol-20 game with an open mystery about its mazes, even though we have a complete walkthrough

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #history

Skull Cave: The Mystery of the Mazes

This one was from a while ago, and while I’m not replaying (I beat the game, just not with a full score) I did check a walkthrough that was posted last year (after I had finished) because I w…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/02/28/death-star-the-view-from-outer-space-is-breathless/

· 7mo ago

the messy conclusion to the Darryll D. Reynolds game Death Star, new ways for parsers to be terrible, and the consequences of a game reliant on six VIC-20 tape loads, including the destruction of planet Earth

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #commodore #australia

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/04/01/epic-hero-2-dungeon-of-derojhen-final-judgement/

· 6mo ago

the grand conclusion of Dungeon of Derojhen

where a familiar foe returns

and I observe why Epic Hero 2's Experimentalism design philosophy didn't grate me as much as it has with other fantasy games

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #tandy #trs80 #ttrpg #dnd #dungeonsanddragons

Epic Hero #2, Dungeon of Derojhen: Final Judgement

I’ve defeated the game; my previous posts are needed to understand this one. First of all: it was a short hop to defeating the vampire master (and both John Myers and Rob guessed the answer m…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/09/misadventure-6-1982/

· 7mo ago

All the Adventures reaches Misadventure 6 for TRS-80, and you think the "TOTALLY NEW CONCEPT" might be sarcastic but it appears to be the first text adventure superhero game

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #superhero

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/27/epic-hero-2-dungeon-of-derojhen-1982/

· 6mo ago

A new quest begins at All the Adventures: Epic Hero 2. In unearth more history of Marc Leduc and get stuck on performing an elaborate ritual (perhaps you, the reader, can help out?)

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #trs80 #tandy #nottingham

Epic Hero #2, Dungeon of Derojhen (1982)

This continues my series on Marc Leduc starting with Epic Hero 1. At least, unlike the previous game, this game is traditionally hero-like. Before going into the gameplay: I’ve managed to une…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/25/seikos-adventure-1983/

· 6mo ago

In which I give the history of the founding of Enix, the (in)famous contest which they used to solicit their first round of games, and the utterly bizarre Seiko's Adventure, which comes close to being the most surreal game I've ever played for the blog.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #japan #japanese #pc88

Seiko’s Adventure (1983)

Also known as Seiko no Adventure or 星子のアドベンチャー; I decided to use the English title given in the game itself. Yasuhiro Fukushima was the child of entrepreneurs (his father: movie theaters and pachin…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/04/14/the-phantom-ship-yuureisen-cursed-defiler/

· 5mo ago

my exploration of The Phantom Ship / Yuureisen continues, as I realize the "quantum state" of the LOOK command, hear the cries of the damned, and vanish into the depths of the ocean

also, more history including potential connections with a police framing plot

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #japan #japanese

The Phantom Ship / Yuureisen: Cursed Defiler

Last time, I mentioned three books published at the incorporation of Shinkigensha. One of them was an NEC PC “yearbook”, essentially an encyclopedia of software. Looking at the inside f…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/24/the-missing-people-violence-is-the-answer-to-this-one/

· 6mo ago

the conclusion to The Missing People, the recently rescued game that had only published one copy

including theorizing about subjective reactions in game design

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #trs80 #tandy

The Missing People: Violence Is the Answer to This One

I’ve finished the game; this continues from my previous post. (As predicted, it didn’t take that long, but I wanted to talk theory a little more so you get a whole new post for the endi…

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/04/11/the-phantom-ship-yuureisen-mounds-of-verbs/

· 6mo ago

in my second post on The Phantom Ship (Yuureisen), the first text-only adventure game in Japanese, I give a little more history including early ads, explore the map, and explore the verbs used and how each language gets a chance to reset their standards

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #japan #japanese

The Phantom Ship / Yuureisen: Mounds of Verbs

I haven’t made as much progress as I’d like — it’s still The Phantom Ship except in the sense of being a ship where searching reveals nothing — but I’ll give a r…

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #trs80 #textadventure #interactivefiction

· 7mo ago

I've been sick the last few days; apologies, my next post will be delayed a bit. Hopefully it will be worth the wait!

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/02/misadventure-5-1982/

· 7mo ago

Bob Krotts wrote a series of "naughty" games for TRS-80; I had trouble getting number 5 to work, but I have now unveiled the mystery, which involves many deathtraps and a strange application of pants.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #trs80 #interactivefiction #textadventure

https://bluerenga.blog/2026/03/30/epic-hero-2-dungeon-of-derojhen-experiments-in-death/

· 6mo ago

Epic Hero 2 (Dungeons of the improbably spelled Derojhen) continues, as I theorize about Signalism vs. Experimentalism in game design and drag a vampire in to visit the king.

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction