adventure
Play a text-based adventure game
SYNOPSIS
adventure [ -s ]
PARAMETERS
-s
Show the scores for all completed games.
DESCRIPTION
The adventure command invokes the legendary Colossal Cave Adventure, one of the earliest and most influential text adventure games. Players navigate a vast, imagined cave system, solve puzzles, collect treasures, and avoid dangers by typing simple, two-word commands (e.g., go north, take lamp, examine rock). The game is renowned for pioneering many conventions of the interactive fiction genre, including inventory management, environmental interaction, and narrative progression through player choice. Originally written by Will Crowther and later expanded by Don Woods, it runs purely in the terminal, presenting descriptions of locations and events as text. Its enduring appeal lies in its imaginative world, challenging puzzles, and the nostalgic experience of a foundational piece of computer gaming history. It's a prime example of early interactive storytelling, offering hours of exploration and mental engagement without graphical interfaces.
CAVEATS
This is a text-based game; it requires imaginative engagement and is not graphically intensive.
The command is typically not installed by default on most Linux distributions; it usually comes as part of the bsdgames or games package, which needs to be installed separately.
The game's parser for commands can be very specific, leading to frustrating moments if the exact verb-noun combination isn't used.
Saving game progress directly within the command line interface is generally not supported in the classic version; gameplay relies on single sessions or external terminal recording tools.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay primarily involves typing two-word commands (e.g., go north, take key, light lamp) to interact with the environment, explore locations, solve puzzles, and collect treasures. The game provides textual descriptions of your surroundings and the results of your actions.
INSTALLATION
On most Debian/Ubuntu-based systems, you can install it using:
sudo apt install bsdgames
On Fedora/RHEL-based systems:
sudo dnf install bsd-games
HISTORY
Colossal Cave Adventure was originally created by Will Crowther in 1975-1976 on a PDP-10, inspired by his caving hobby. It was later significantly expanded by Don Woods in 1977, adding more puzzles, magic, and fantasy elements, which solidified its status as a seminal work. The game quickly spread via ARPANET, becoming a benchmark for early interactive fiction and inspiring an entire genre, including the highly successful Zork series and other adventure games. Its open source code led to numerous ports and variants across different computing platforms, ensuring its legacy as one of the most influential computer games ever developed.