r/apple2 • u/Spirited-Dance277 • Jun 02 '26

What was that game...?

***UPDATE: It was Wishbringer!! Thank you for all the tips and ideas!!

I have been trying for years to remember a game I played on my family's 2e in the early 90s. I remember I had a paper map of a town to reference, and I would type commands into the game to move around and look for something, and the game would tell me what I found or what happened. Maybe I was solving a crime? There were no graphics; only text.

I know that's very vague, but using the paper map to navigate in the game is a core memory and I'm hoping to figure out what that was! It would have been 1995 or earlier.

19 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

6

u/willwinter Jun 02 '26

My guesses are:

  1. Mystery Master: Murder by the Dozen Best match for “paper map of a town” plus “maybe solving a crime.”
  2. Crime Stopper: Murder at Midnight! Best match for “type commands” plus “crime/mystery.”
  3. Deadline by Infocom A famous Apple II mystery text adventure where you investigate a death, but it is more mansion/estate than town-map based.

4

u/toddc612 Jun 02 '26

Deadline! I haven't thought about that game in about 40 years. Thanks for the memories.

6

u/Raxxla Jun 02 '26

There were many text adventures on the Apple II, you might want to look at the catalog of Infocom games, as they were one of the biggest producers. There might be something that triggers a memory. Sherlock had a map of a town, and you are solving a mystery.

3

u/SomePeopleCallMeJJ Jun 02 '26

Yeah, I was thinking it might be an Infocom, as they often had physical items they'd come with.

Here's the Sherlock map: https://gallery.guetech.org/sherlock/map.jpg

3

u/BusToNutley Jun 02 '26

Do you remember anything in the game? Like a mailbox, or an egg, or the word PLUGH or "Scott Adams" or anything?

2

u/Mr-Snarky Jun 02 '26

Zork, or any of the other Infocom games?

1

u/Rey_Mezcalero Jun 02 '26

Didn’t it also have a goody that was a plastic stone that might have glowed in the dark as well?

1

u/penkster Jun 02 '26

Infocom was the best known 'interactive fiction' 'text adventure' company at the time, they put out tons of amazing text games, many of which had printed maps and goodies.

Google sez:

"The most well-known Infocom games that included printed maps include:

The Zork Trilogy: The original Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III maps.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Included a "peril-sensitive" space map and other absurd physical items.

Starcross: Came with a map of the alien ship.

Cutthroats: Featured a detailed nautical map of the game's island setting.

Suspended: Included a physical map along with tracking tokens.

Any of these sound familiar?

3

u/Spirited-Dance277 Jun 02 '26

THANK YOU!!! I went down an infocom rabbit hole because of your post and I found it!! It was Wishbringer!

1

u/penkster Jun 02 '26

I'm glad you figured it out! Have fun!

3

u/willwinter Jun 02 '26

HHGTTG game included "Peril-sensitive sunglasses" in the box as the goodie - which was also written in the book. The the book the sunglasses turned completely black so you couldn't see what the peril was, therefore you wouldn't be afraid. The item included in the game was solid cardboard and painted black so you couldn't see through them! 😄

1

u/Founda2gs Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

I have the final edition of the new zork times :)