Zork I: The Great Underground Empire is an interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1980. It was the first game in the popular Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of computer systems, followed by Zork II and Zork III. It is Infocom's first game. Video games are generally categorized into genres. ... Zork, an early work of interactive fiction, running on a modern interpreter Interactive fiction, often abbreviated as IF, is a simulated environment in which players use text commands to control characters. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... The original Amiga 1000 (1985) with various peripherals The Amiga is a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. ... The Amstrad CPC was a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad during the 1980s and early 1990s. ... The 1977 Apple II, complete with integrated keyboard, color graphics, sound, a plastic case and eight expansion slots. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... An Atari 800XL, one of the most popular machines in the series. ... The Atari 520ST Atari 1040STF with SC1224 color monitor The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ... The Commodore 64 is the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. ... The Commodore 128 (C128, CBM 128, C=128) home/personal computer was Commodore Business Machiness (CBM) last commercially released 8-bit machine. ... Commodore Plus/4. ... CP/M was an operating system originally created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. ... Instructions on how to use the directory command. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ... A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Zork I is one of the first interactive fiction games, as well as being one of the first commercially sold. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Marc Blank is an American computer game designer and game programmer. ... Dave Lebling, ca 1985 Dave Lebling (born 1949) was an interactive fiction game designer, or implementor, at Infocom. ... Bruce Daniels is an African American, openly gay stand-up comedian. ... Tim Anderson helped create Zork; one of the first works of interactive fiction (a form of adventure game), was an early descendant of ADVENT (also known as Colossal Cave). ... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar Zorkmid... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar Zorkmid... Zork universe Zork games Zork trilogy Zork I Zork II Zork III Enchanter trilogy Enchanter Sorcerer Spellbreaker Wishbringer Beyond Zork Zork Zero Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis Zork Grand Inquisitor Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Frobozzica Miscellaneous Timeline   Calendar   Magic Double Fanucci Companies Infocom   Activision Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is an... Zork III: The Dungeon Master is an interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1982. ...

Screenshot of Zork Irunning on a modern interpreter.

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Plot

The game takes place in the Zork calendar year 948 GUE (although the passage of time is not notable in gameplay). The player steps into the deliberately vague role of an "adventurer". The game begins near a White House in a small, self-contained area. Although the player is given little instruction, the house provides an obvious point of interest.

When the player enters the house, it yields a number of intriguing objects: an ancient brass lantern, an empty trophy case, an intricately engraved sword, etc. Beneath the rug a trap door leads down into a dark dungeon. But what initially appears to be a dungeon is actually one of several entrances to a vast subterranean land--the Great Underground Empire. The player soon encounters dangerous creatures, including deadly grues, an axe-wielding troll, a giant cyclops and a nimble-fingered thief. Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar Zorkmid... Trolls with an abducted princess (John Bauer, 1915). ... Polyphemus the Cyclops. ...

The ultimate goal of Zork I is to collect the Nineteen Treasures of Zork and install them in the trophy case. The Nineteen Treasures are:

1. Bag of coins
2. Beautiful painting
3. Brass bauble
4. Clockwork canary
5. Crystal skull
6. Crystal trident
7. Egyptian sceptre
8. Gold coffin
9. Huge diamond
10. Ivory torch
11. Jade figurine
12. Jeweled scarab
13. Jewel-encrusted egg
14. Large emerald
15. Platinum bar
16. Pot of gold
17. Sapphire bracelet
18. Silver chalice
19. Trunk of jewels

Finding the treasures requires solving a variety of puzzles such as the navigation of two brutal mazes and some intricate manipulations at Flood Control Dam #3.

Placing the Nineteen Treasures into the trophy case scores the player 350 points and grants the rank of "Master Adventurer." The placement of the Nineteen Treasures causes an ancient map with further instructions to magically appear in the trophy case. These instructions provide access to a stone barrow. The entrance to the barrow is the end of Zork I and the beginning of Zork II. Zork universe Zork games Zork trilogy Zork I Zork II Zork III Enchanter trilogy Enchanter Sorcerer Spellbreaker Wishbringer Beyond Zork Zork Zero Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis Zork Grand Inquisitor Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Frobozzica Miscellaneous Timeline   Calendar   Magic Double Fanucci Companies Infocom   Activision Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is an...

It is possible to score all 350 points in 231 moves. ^[1]

Feelies

Infocom did not begin their tradition of including feelies, or extra items related to a game, until the 1982 release Deadline. Later re-releases of the game, however, were packaged with: Infocom used the term feelies to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Deadline is an interactive fiction computer game published by Infocom in 1982. ...

• The booklet The Great Underground Empire: A History, by "Froboz Mumbar"
• A map roughly corresponding to a portion of the game's area

Notes

The original cover of Zork I, distributed by Personal Software

The opening text of Zork I is among the most famous descriptions in computer games: Image File history File links Pszork1. ... Image File history File links Pszork1. ... VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. ...

West of House

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.

There is a small mailbox here.

This is quite simplistic when compared to Infocom's later games, many of which started with screenfuls of introductory text.

Several of the game's situations and descriptions have become iconic within the field of interactive fiction, such as the brass lantern and the "Elvish sword of great antiquity".

Zork I also introduced the famous grue, a "sinister, lurking presence" who kills adventurers who go exploring in the dark. Grues appeared (or, at least, were mentioned) in many subsequent Infocom adventures, right up to the 1997 graphic adventure Zork Grand Inquisitor, published by Activision. Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar Zorkmid... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero   Planetfall Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar... Activision, Inc. ...

The name of Aragain Falls was created by spelling the word Niagara backwards. For other uses, see Niagara Falls (disambiguation). ...

"Fweep" is the sound that the vampire bat makes. In Sorcerer, "Fweep" is also the name of a spell, which, coincidentally, changes the caster into a bat. According to the Sorcerer InvisiClues hint book, the bat is repeating the last word he ever heard as a human - if the bat was previously a human, of course. Zork universe Zork games Zork trilogy Zork I Zork II Zork III Enchanter trilogy Enchanter Sorcerer Spellbreaker Wishbringer Beyond Zork Zork Zero Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis Zork Grand Inquisitor Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Frobozzica Miscellaneous Timeline   Calendar   Magic Double Fanucci Companies Infocom   Activision This article is about the computer game. ... InvisiClues were clue and hint booklets that were a marketing adjunct that became available to help people get through some of challenging puzzles of Infocom text adventure computer games. ...

Releases

The original version of Zork I was published by Personal Software and simply called Zork. It was distributed in clear plastic bags containing only the game disk and a 36-page booklet. Infocom's first "self-published" version of Zork I was in the so-called "Folio" format which included a single piece of paper describing how to run the game. The feelies noted above were only introduced when Zork I was re-released in the "Grey box" format. VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. ...

Although the back of the Zork I "Grey box" depicted a zorkmid coin included with the other feelies, production difficulties led to the coins' omission from the packages. Zorkmid coins were not included as feelies until the release of the Zork Trilogy boxed set. Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I   Zork II   Zork III Beyond Zork   Zork Zero   Planetfall Enchanter trilogy Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer   Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis   Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters   Kings   Creatures Timeline   Magic   Calendar...

Zork I was one of five Infocom games that was released in Solid Gold format with in-game hints.

There is also an abridged version, called Mini-Zork I, dated November 24, 1987. Mini-Zork was released free of charge as a promotion. November 24 is the 328th day (329th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A German version was developed, but never released. An unfinished version of this story file, dated January 13, 1988, has made its way into public circulation. It contains so many spelling and grammar errors that it is very likely no native speaker worked on it. January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A Japanese version was released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996. This Japanese version includes graphics, sound effects, music, and auto-mapping. Of course, it was only released in Japan. The Sega Saturn ) is a 32-bit video game console, first released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America and July 8, 1995 in Europe. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Quotes

• [upon entering a dark place, initially the attic or basement] "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
• [when entering the command "plugh"] "A hollow voice says, "fool"."

Adventure (also known as ADVENT or Colossal Cave) (Crowther & Woods, 1976) was the first computer adventure game. ...

Taglines

Your greatest challenge lies ahead...and downwards.

Treasure, monsters, danger and discovery!

Notes

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (116th in leap years). ... The ZIP file format is a popular data compression and archival format. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (116th in leap years). ...

External links

• Zork I: The Great Underground Empire at iFiction lets visitors play using a web browser.
• Zork: The Great Underground Empire at MobyGames
• Zork I Technical Info and Screenshot
• Zork I information and overview
• Scans of the Zork I package, documentation and feelies
• Infocom-if.org's entry for Zork I
• All three Zork games downloadable for PC and Mac
• The Infocom Bugs List entry for Zork I
• Zork 1 Walkthroughs