The following list of
text-based game
A text game or text-based game is an electronic game that uses a text-based user interface, that is, the user interface employs a set of encodable characters,
such as ASCII, instead of bitmap or vector graphics.
All text-based games have been ...
s is not to be considered an authoritative, comprehensive listing of all such games; rather, it is intended to represent a wide range of game styles and genres presented using the text mode display and their evolution across a long period.
On mainframe computers
Years listed are those in which
early mainframe games
Mainframe computers are computers used primarily by businesses and academic institutions for large-scale processes. Before personal computers, first termed microcomputers, became widely available to the general public in the 1970s, the computi ...
and others are believed to have originally appeared. Often these games were continually modified and played as a succession of versions for years after their initial posting. (For purposes of this list,
minicomputer
A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ...
s are considered mainframes, in contrast to microcomputers, which are not.)
On personal computers
Commercial text adventure games
These are commercial
interactive fiction
''
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
games played offline.
Miscellaneous games
Online games
Play-by-email games
These are
play-by-email
A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game, PBEM game, or a turn-based game) is a game played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go (game), Go were among the first PBM games. ''Diplomacy (board game), D ...
games played online.
BBS door games
These are
BBS door
In a bulletin board system (BBS), a door is an interface between the BBS software and an external application. The term is also used to refer to the external application, a computer program that runs outside of the main bulletin board program. Som ...
games played online.
MUDs
See also
*
List of graphic adventure games
See also
* Graphic adventure game
* Visual novel
* Adventure game
* Interactive fiction
References
{{Video game lists by genre
Video game lists by genre, Graphic adventure games
Adventure games ...
References
{{Reflist
Text-based
In computing, text-based user interfaces (TUI) (alternately terminal user interfaces, to reflect a dependence upon the properties of computer terminals and not just text), is a retronym describing a type of user interface (UI) common as an ear ...
MUDs