Jason Dyer
@jdyer.bsky.social
Game designer making mathematics and science interactive. I also do the All the Adventures project where I play and write about every adventure game ever made in chronological order.
http://bluerenga.blog
http://bluerenga.blog
Pinned
Jason Dyer
@jdyer.bsky.social
· May 14
All The Adventures Up to 1982 in Review
It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do one of these; my 1981 in review was posted December 20, 2021. The chart with plot types like Rescue, Escape, etc. just isn’t that helpful…
bluerenga.blog
All the Adventures aims to give the history about and play every adventure game ever made in chronological order. The 1982 sequence has just concluded, and I've written a post looking back and collecting some notable games.
#history #adventuregame
bluerenga.blog/2025/05/14/a...
#history #adventuregame
bluerenga.blog/2025/05/14/a...
I announced a few days ago the long-lost Adventure 751 from CompuServe finally being playable. Here's my first post on my series on the game, where I give a deep dive into the history as well:
bluerenga.blog/2026/01/01/a...
bluerenga.blog/2026/01/01/a...
Adventure 751 (1980)
COME WITH ME TO COLOSSAL CAVE. WHERE MAGIC ABOUNDS AND TREASURES ARE FOUND. BID YOUR FINGERS FOLLOW YOUR COMMANDS AND I WILL BE YOUR EYES AND HANDS. YET BEWARE THE FIERY DRAGON, FOR HE KNOWS NOT WH…
bluerenga.blog
January 1, 2026 at 5:52 PM
I announced a few days ago the long-lost Adventure 751 from CompuServe finally being playable. Here's my first post on my series on the game, where I give a deep dive into the history as well:
bluerenga.blog/2026/01/01/a...
bluerenga.blog/2026/01/01/a...
My All the Adventures recap for 2025, which included far more surprises than I imagined possible, on top of some recovered "lost games":
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/31/a...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/31/a...
All the Adventures, All of 2025
Congrats, you survived 2025! (Mostly. As of this writing, still a little time left.) I’ve already done a review roughly mid-year because I “finished” 1982; you can read about that…
bluerenga.blog
December 31, 2025 at 3:37 PM
My All the Adventures recap for 2025, which included far more surprises than I imagined possible, on top of some recovered "lost games":
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/31/a...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/31/a...
Since 2012, Arthur O'Dwyer has had an updating web page called The Search for LONG0751 about a lost version of Adventure that was playable on Compuserve. It has long been one of the top early "missing" games.
It is now found and playable:
quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12...
It is now found and playable:
quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12...
LONG0751 has been found!
Back in 2021 I announced the rediscovery of a text
adventure named Castlequest (Mike Holtzman and Mark Kershenblatt, 1980).
This month another “lost game” has been found: David Long’s 751-point Advent...
quuxplusone.github.io
December 30, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Since 2012, Arthur O'Dwyer has had an updating web page called The Search for LONG0751 about a lost version of Adventure that was playable on Compuserve. It has long been one of the top early "missing" games.
It is now found and playable:
quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12...
It is now found and playable:
quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12...
this is extremely good!
A final post for the year! Did Atari nearly give up their shot at the big time?
thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/d...
Let's explore one of the most dramatic scenes in video game history, nearly 50 years on.
thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/d...
Let's explore one of the most dramatic scenes in video game history, nearly 50 years on.
Did Atari Delay the VCS?
A dramatic story of subterfuge and corporate espionage – if you believe it.
thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
this is extremely good!
Rhythm Doctor is one of the best releases of 2025 (or at least hit 1.0 in 2025… it’s messy)
Weirdly, when I hit the “wobbling window” in the VIC-20 game I just wrote about (Secret Mission) it made me think of the wild effects that happen in Rhythm Doctor
Weirdly, when I hit the “wobbling window” in the VIC-20 game I just wrote about (Secret Mission) it made me think of the wild effects that happen in Rhythm Doctor
I'm not going to make a habit of writing in-depth about the games I work on among teams of other people...but I did have at least one piece I wanted to write about Rhythm Doctor.
Here's my piece about "abstract" and "literal" elements of the game.
blueberrylemonade.pika.page/posts/abstra...
Here's my piece about "abstract" and "literal" elements of the game.
blueberrylemonade.pika.page/posts/abstra...
Abstraction in Rhythm Doctor - Blueberry Lemonade
Video games aren’t real. That, uh, goes without saying. But what I mean is that video games tend to go to less lengths to seem real than films and TV shows tend to. Despite the fact that a lot of game...
blueberrylemonade.pika.page
December 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Rhythm Doctor is one of the best releases of 2025 (or at least hit 1.0 in 2025… it’s messy)
Weirdly, when I hit the “wobbling window” in the VIC-20 game I just wrote about (Secret Mission) it made me think of the wild effects that happen in Rhythm Doctor
Weirdly, when I hit the “wobbling window” in the VIC-20 game I just wrote about (Secret Mission) it made me think of the wild effects that happen in Rhythm Doctor
Last time at All the Adventures I gave the story of Sumlock, reaching through the history of calculators, up to where they were publishing VIC-20 games. I have now finished the game and I explain the details, including one puzzle I can only describe as "ludicrous".
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/27/s...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/27/s...
Secret Mission: Misdirection
Your mission is to find and deactivate the central computer which controls a secret research establishment. But beware — it can defend itself! (Continued from my previous post.) From last tim…
bluerenga.blog
December 28, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Last time at All the Adventures I gave the story of Sumlock, reaching through the history of calculators, up to where they were publishing VIC-20 games. I have now finished the game and I explain the details, including one puzzle I can only describe as "ludicrous".
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/27/s...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/27/s...
Reposted by Jason Dyer
SpaceVenture officially left Early Access two days ago and has now emerged in its final form. And, yes, they fixed the save/load system! store.steampowered.c...
#SpaceQuest #SpaceVenture #adventuregames
#SpaceQuest #SpaceVenture #adventuregames
SpaceVenture on Steam
A sci-fi comedy adventure game
store.steampowered.com
December 25, 2025 at 11:30 AM
SpaceVenture officially left Early Access two days ago and has now emerged in its final form. And, yes, they fixed the save/load system! store.steampowered.c...
#SpaceQuest #SpaceVenture #adventuregames
#SpaceQuest #SpaceVenture #adventuregames
Reposted by Jason Dyer
I ported #Zork to @circuitpython.org and the @adafruit.com #FruitJam. Details here: learn.adafruit.com/zork-and-the...
Fruit Jam, Zork and the Z Machine
In the 80s before ChatGPT, gamers had another way to have conversations with their computers: Zork and Z Machine games.
learn.adafruit.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I ported #Zork to @circuitpython.org and the @adafruit.com #FruitJam. Details here: learn.adafruit.com/zork-and-the...
Today's story starts all the way in the 17th c. and winds its way up to the rowdy days of British VIC-20 computing, and ended up being an epic enough tale I've had to split into two parts. (Next part likely Friday!)
Includes a history of the first digital calculator!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/23/s...
Includes a history of the first digital calculator!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/23/s...
Secret Mission (1983)
To be clear from the start, I am writing today about an extremely obscure VIC-20 game from 1983, but to do justice to the story, I need to start just a little farther back– While the German J…
bluerenga.blog
December 23, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Today's story starts all the way in the 17th c. and winds its way up to the rowdy days of British VIC-20 computing, and ended up being an epic enough tale I've had to split into two parts. (Next part likely Friday!)
Includes a history of the first digital calculator!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/23/s...
Includes a history of the first digital calculator!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/23/s...
My next post is pretty complicated (both history and game) so expect a delay. But! I have a general question that comes from it I figured I could pass on:
if you have the sequence (or set of letters) RNK, why is the next letter (or missing letter) I?
I thought chess but I don't know why "I", then.
if you have the sequence (or set of letters) RNK, why is the next letter (or missing letter) I?
I thought chess but I don't know why "I", then.
December 21, 2025 at 2:41 AM
My next post is pretty complicated (both history and game) so expect a delay. But! I have a general question that comes from it I figured I could pass on:
if you have the sequence (or set of letters) RNK, why is the next letter (or missing letter) I?
I thought chess but I don't know why "I", then.
if you have the sequence (or set of letters) RNK, why is the next letter (or missing letter) I?
I thought chess but I don't know why "I", then.
If anyone happens to know their old calculators well, there is a picture that ought to help narrow down when this was manufactured.
here is a more extensive write-up on this curious little capsule vending machine I got:
おもしろい 点取占い (Interesting Score Fortune Telling)
pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2025/12/inte...
#retroarcade #gacha #gachapon #gashapon #fortunetelling #japan #showa
おもしろい 点取占い (Interesting Score Fortune Telling)
pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2025/12/inte...
#retroarcade #gacha #gachapon #gashapon #fortunetelling #japan #showa
December 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM
If anyone happens to know their old calculators well, there is a picture that ought to help narrow down when this was manufactured.
How deep can you go on one word?
This goes much, much farther than you'd expect.
This goes much, much farther than you'd expect.
Who coined "Metroidvania"? It wasn't @jparish.bsky.social, and he'll be the first to tell you. Besides, there are far more interesting questions, like: How did it spread? Evolve? And what's it got to do with rickrolling?
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
The History Of The Word "Metroidvania" And How It Spread
YouTube video by Critical Kate (of A Critical Hit!)
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:54 AM
How deep can you go on one word?
This goes much, much farther than you'd expect.
This goes much, much farther than you'd expect.
Reposted by Jason Dyer
🗿 A fabulous cross-over story of Manic Miner vs Plod mixed in with a text adventure! 😯
🎮 #VideoGames ⌨️ #TextAdventures #InteractiveFiction 🗺️
🎮 #VideoGames ⌨️ #TextAdventures #InteractiveFiction 🗺️
Today on All the Adventures, interconnected histories including: Jet Set Willy, excessive parties, police violence, business scandals, and an extremely difficult text adventure by a 14-year old written in BASIC.
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
Old Father Time (1983)
While concerts at Stonehenge on the summer solstice had been around since the 1890s, attracting crowds in the thousands, it wasn’t until the 1960s that “rowdy behavior” had starte…
bluerenga.blog
December 17, 2025 at 10:15 AM
🗿 A fabulous cross-over story of Manic Miner vs Plod mixed in with a text adventure! 😯
🎮 #VideoGames ⌨️ #TextAdventures #InteractiveFiction 🗺️
🎮 #VideoGames ⌨️ #TextAdventures #InteractiveFiction 🗺️
Today on All the Adventures, interconnected histories including: Jet Set Willy, excessive parties, police violence, business scandals, and an extremely difficult text adventure by a 14-year old written in BASIC.
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
Old Father Time (1983)
While concerts at Stonehenge on the summer solstice had been around since the 1890s, attracting crowds in the thousands, it wasn’t until the 1960s that “rowdy behavior” had starte…
bluerenga.blog
December 17, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Today on All the Adventures, interconnected histories including: Jet Set Willy, excessive parties, police violence, business scandals, and an extremely difficult text adventure by a 14-year old written in BASIC.
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...
If you were one of the people that saw this original post, but not the follow-ups: I've now finished the game and have it written up in four parts. You can read all four parts in order at the link below.
bluerenga.blog/tag/valley-o...
bluerenga.blog/tag/valley-o...
December 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
If you were one of the people that saw this original post, but not the follow-ups: I've now finished the game and have it written up in four parts. You can read all four parts in order at the link below.
bluerenga.blog/tag/valley-o...
bluerenga.blog/tag/valley-o...
my conclusion to Dian Girard's journey through Egypt, the 1983 adventure Valley of the Kings, including an unexpected conclusion
how the "tourist" aspect are the strongest
and how it clings a little too much to the Crowther/Woods adventure scheme
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/14/v...
how the "tourist" aspect are the strongest
and how it clings a little too much to the Crowther/Woods adventure scheme
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/14/v...
Valley of the Kings: Dazzling of Face Like the Aten When It Shines
I’ve finished the game, and my previous posts are needed for context. This is a great echoing chamber. The ceiling is so far above that your flashlight can’t reach it. A broad flight of…
bluerenga.blog
December 15, 2025 at 12:44 AM
my conclusion to Dian Girard's journey through Egypt, the 1983 adventure Valley of the Kings, including an unexpected conclusion
how the "tourist" aspect are the strongest
and how it clings a little too much to the Crowther/Woods adventure scheme
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/14/v...
how the "tourist" aspect are the strongest
and how it clings a little too much to the Crowther/Woods adventure scheme
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/14/v...
the lost game by the science fiction author Dian Crayne/Girard continues, as we mollify a camel and take a literal trip to Hell
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/13/v...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/13/v...
Valley of the Kings: Live Forever
(Continued from my previous posts.) Things didn’t quite go down as expected. When I was mapping the ancient caves, I had apparently accidentally looped to a room I had already reached and tho…
bluerenga.blog
December 14, 2025 at 1:48 AM
the lost game by the science fiction author Dian Crayne/Girard continues, as we mollify a camel and take a literal trip to Hell
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/13/v...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/13/v...
Reposted by Jason Dyer
And now, Writing Game Histories (2026) with cover art (courtesy of @murthynikhil.bsky.social’s Syphilisation)
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...
December 13, 2025 at 9:19 AM
And now, Writing Game Histories (2026) with cover art (courtesy of @murthynikhil.bsky.social’s Syphilisation)
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...
the second part of my series on the "lost" game Valley of the Kings, where we find the secret Temple of the Sun
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/12/v...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/12/v...
Valley of the Kings: Lion of the Sun, Hear My Prayer
(Continued from my previous post.) Some background points to get through before diving into the game itself– First, I’m putting the author name as Dian Girard. I am doing this because o…
bluerenga.blog
December 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
the second part of my series on the "lost" game Valley of the Kings, where we find the secret Temple of the Sun
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/12/v...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/12/v...
Dian Gerard was a science fiction author (from the same circles as Harlan Ellison and A. E. van Vogt) who wrote six text adventures. Five had been found; this one until quite recently was considered lost.
Includes download link!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/11/v...
Includes download link!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/11/v...
Valley of the Kings (1983)
Norrell Data Systems published three games by the end of 1982, and I’ve now played all of them: a port of Adventure with 375 points, and two games by Dian Gerard, The Hermit’s Secret an…
bluerenga.blog
December 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Dian Gerard was a science fiction author (from the same circles as Harlan Ellison and A. E. van Vogt) who wrote six text adventures. Five had been found; this one until quite recently was considered lost.
Includes download link!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/11/v...
Includes download link!
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/11/v...
Lovely blog about British software houses.
A deeper dive into the world of Bookware. An article about some of the assorted UK book publishers who followed Mosaic into the software business.
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2025/12/peng...
#Commodore #ZXSpectrum #BBC #MSX #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2025/12/peng...
#Commodore #ZXSpectrum #BBC #MSX #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
Penguin, Puffin, Collins, Heinemann, Hodder & Stoughton, Century, Arrow, Hutchinson, and Hill MacGibbon
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Lovely blog about British software houses.
the grand finale of Pillage Village, involving a tiger with an elephant, unsafe towing practices, and an encounter with the ultra-rich
also some of the worst parser abuse I have ever seen
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/10/p...
also some of the worst parser abuse I have ever seen
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/10/p...
Pillage Village: Finished!
(Continued from my previous posts.) I’ve finished the game; a lot of what I had to deal with in the end was parser struggles. Let’s take the antique shop first. I had approached it, was…
bluerenga.blog
December 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
the grand finale of Pillage Village, involving a tiger with an elephant, unsafe towing practices, and an encounter with the ultra-rich
also some of the worst parser abuse I have ever seen
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/10/p...
also some of the worst parser abuse I have ever seen
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/10/p...
This is my most anticipated history book of the year.
My new book, THE MOST AWFUL RESPONSIBILITY goes on sale TODAY! It is a NEW argument about TRUMAN AND THE ATOMIC BOMB, from Hiroshima through the Korean War, from HarperCollins. alexwellerstein.com/writing/book...
The Most Awful Responsibility – Alex Wellerstein
alexwellerstein.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
This is my most anticipated history book of the year.
Pillage Village, the game co-written by a future Origin employee, continues its journey into dystopia as the thief-player performs credit card fraud and cuts off power for the entire area just to steal one item.
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/08/p...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/08/p...
Pillage Village: Do Not Touch Power
(Continued from my previous posts.) I swear I’m not trying to break my blog posts up into convenient chunks this way but … I missed another section of the map. Look, the streets are ver…
bluerenga.blog
December 9, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Pillage Village, the game co-written by a future Origin employee, continues its journey into dystopia as the thief-player performs credit card fraud and cuts off power for the entire area just to steal one item.
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/08/p...
bluerenga.blog/2025/12/08/p...
Reposted by Jason Dyer
We got Zork going on at Chicago Gamespace!
December 6, 2025 at 6:11 PM
We got Zork going on at Chicago Gamespace!