The Retro Adventurers

03/09/2026

One of the more subtle "nothing's changed in 42 years" aspects of A Mind Forever Voyaging: now, as then, you still need to give that "in Celsius" disclaimer to an American player:

“Here are tomorrow’s high temperatures, in Celsius, for the major metros: [...]"

30/08/2026

So much text adventure news! So much reverb! The >OPEN MAILBOX team gets you caught up on the latest contests, preservation efforts, international reviews, and much more in our September installment.

On all podcast platforms and YouTube now, or direct from https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/48 .

26/08/2026

Finally escaping from the summer of 2025! Pack your phrasebook and get ready to defend democracy as Ben and Jason take on a pair of quirky early 1980s adventures. For an appetizer, we order Infocom legend Brian Moriarty’s early effort, the Nicolas Cage-coded Adventure In the Fifth Dimension.

The feature game is Invincible Island by Pete Cooke… that’s Cooke with an e, sadly, although Ben and Jason do find time for a little Derek & Clive discourse which steers clear of the need to flag this episode for adult content.

https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/47/

31/07/2026

Some very tight deadlines for a very old genre in this month's edition of >OPEN MAILBOX, where you GET TEXT ADVENTURE NEWS AND LISTEN TO IT.

Contest developments (don't delay, some deadlines are very very very soon!), Visible Zorker updates which aren't as stark as they seem, lost games and a lost development environment unearthed, and really quite a bit more in store.

Available on all podcast platforms, YouTube, and direct from our site.

24/07/2026

23/07/2026

"I don't want to suggest this is a more obviously American game than some others, but I will say you do solve one problem by shooting a tree."

Jason and special guest player Dudley from the Yesterzine YouTube channel take on two curiosities from the early 1980s.
First up is a Spectrum-exclusive adventure with few champions but a lot of rooms: Steve Silver Adventure #1 by Colin Webb and Jim Bennett.

The main course is Sirius Software's Gruds In Space by Chuck Sommerville and Joseph Dudar. It's one of many Sirius titles featuring the gremlin alien Gruds, a graphic/text puzzler with many similarities to the later Tracer Sanction as covered on Episode 4 of The Retro Adventurers.

retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/45