The Retro Adventurers

31/05/2026

>OPEN MAILBOX THEN GET LEAFLET AND READ IT
Your classic text adventure news update for June 2026 features Jason, Nick, and Tim with game contests you can still play-and-judge in, a Visible Zorker update, news on several development environments, and multiple new games.

On all podcast platforms, YouTube, and at https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/42/ now.

19/05/2026

Classic literature 🤝 text adventure 🤝

13/05/2026

We visit Infocom's surliest protagonist with guest and modern IF legend Andrew Plotkin (Zarf) this time out, playing Michael Berlyn's Infidel as the main course. We also explore another Infocom parody: 1991's The Smirking Horror.
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/41/

06/05/2026

"It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books. The same things *could* be in the 'parlor families' today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not."

Coming soon!

30/04/2026

To put some discipline on our newsgathering, we're proud to announce a new monthly series:
>OPEN MAILBOX
where you
>GET NEWS AND LISTEN TO IT.
For May 2026 we cover new Z-Machine/Infocom interpreters, an amazing Cornerstone prank-that-isn't, and more.
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/40/

13/04/2026

Want to chat? We now have a channel on the Interactive Fiction Discord server, thanks to Garry for spinning that up for us.

Check out the Interactive Fiction community on Discord - hang out with 436 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

01/02/2026

Ron Martinez (Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy, Hidden Agenda, Star Trek: TNG - The Transinium Challenge, Make Your Own Murder Party, etc.) returns for an expanded discussion of everything from the works of Vladimir Nabokov to generative AI in modern storytelling. Special guest Dave V. from This Week in Retro again joins Jason and Nick for this new episode. Available now on all podcast platforms.

https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/37

14/01/2026

We play the oldest and the newest-surviving variants of the original text adventure known simply as Zork. The 1977 edition Zork-285 and the 1990 (!) release of Mini-Zork are the featured games in Episode 36 of The Retro Adventurers.
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/36/

24/12/2025

The 4004 was barely a CPU, this is incredible.

What's the least amount of computer that you can successfully play Zork on? I decided to try it on a 4-bit CPU, the Intel 4004. I had already build a 4004-ba...

23/12/2025

It was a super-fruitful chatisode weekend! This is only the first half.

Finished episode will be with you in just a few days.