Text RPGs belong to a larger genre of specific games called Interactive Fiction. Literally, the name translates as "interactive literature." A feature of this kind of entertainment is that the knowledge of the game world, character control and the execution of actions is carried out only through reading and writing text (or commands).
Varieties
Text RPGs are one of the varieties of IF games. In such projects, the player is given complete freedom of choice. You can move in any direction (if the world is not limited), find characters and communicate with them, upgrade your hero, improve equipment and so on. Basically, games of this genre are fantastic or fantasy stories. Text RPGs closely intersect with quests, since the main gameplay relies on large volumes of stories and descriptions. If the game has a choice, then this is a mixture of text quest and RPG.
The next variation is browser-based RPGs. Since text pages and static images are not particularly resource intensive, they are great for the browser. The player can go through the plot in a separate tab, as well as cooperate with other users.
Another type of text RPG games relates to mobile devices. For the same reason as in browsers, smartphones will not need at least any powerful processor and graphics accelerator. In addition, text quests are nice to play on the road and outside the house.
Game History
It is easy to guess that the roots of text games come from the very inception of the industry. At a time when the capabilities and technologies did not allow to implement at least some kind of graphics, the developers created full-fledged worlds in the form of text.
The first such game was a project with the laconic name Adveture from Will Crowther. Around 1975, the developer created the first version for the PDP-10 computer. A year later, with the permission of the creator, another programmer, Don Woods, improved the development.
Initially, Adventure was as close to reality in terms of events. Woods decided to diversify the "gameplay" and introduced elements of fantasy. So in the game appeared elves, trolls, magic and other characteristic attributes. Since then, about 10 different enhanced versions of this RPG have been released. Now you can download this text RPG in Russian and touch the real founder of the whole genre.
After some time, other developers set about developing the IF genre. From the classics, one can also distinguish a series of Zork, Curses, Photopia, Galatea.
Colossal cave adventure
The final version of the first text game is called that way. The game has a full text interface. If you decide to get acquainted with it, then get ready for the fact that you will have to read a lot. Most of the content consists of place descriptions to make it easier for the player to navigate. Structurally, the world of Colossal Cave Adventure is a maze, part of which strongly resembles real places (for example, Mammoth Caves in Kentucky). Management is carried out by entering special text commands.
Zork Series
Another classic example. The action of the quest develops in the underground labyrinth. The character’s task is simple - to find and take all the treasures with him. During the study you will meet unique creatures and mysterious objects. Subsequently, the game received sequels and branches. The project is characterized by high-quality and detailed descriptions. Unfortunately, only the English version is currently available. It is noteworthy that the control in the game is advanced: you can enter not only the combination of verb + noun to perform the action, but also dilute the bunch with prepositions, adjectives and so on.
Photopia
Let's talk about this project, since it was recognized as the best at IF Comp 1998. The game focuses on fiction rather than interactive, but it does not get any worse.
The game has several characters for which you can go through the plot, but this does not affect the variability. The game deliberately refuses complex riddles and forks to keep the reader in the center of events. If you are interested in the project, then you can familiarize yourself with it in the translation into Russian from Vyacheslav Dobranov.
SanctuaryRPG
Let's move on to modern projects. In an era of growing popularity of indie development, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to show the public something new. In 2015, Black Shell Games studio decided to do the following: they combined the extremely popular rouge-like genre (“bagel”) with colorful text descriptions. In addition, the creators could not do without banter and humor.
The game takes place in a fantasy world that, as the canons of the genre follow, is at risk from Matron. The classic villain decided to get the legendary sword, which he learned from ancient books. The protagonist is the Chosen One, whose share is the protection of his world from evil. The plot and plot are the most standard for RPGs.
In terms of mechanics and gameplay, everything is also very simple. There are 6 classes: killer, paladin, mage, barbarian, druid and ranger. Each of them has a unique history, description, ability.
Now about the unique "chips" of this text RPG. The creators used ASCII graphics in their project, which allowed to add some kind of image of locations and even character customization. Of course, faces and emotions from brackets and dashes cannot convey the real image, but the studio tried to squeeze out all the juices from ASCII. At some points, the drawings look very cute.
As you can understand, all actions are carried out using text. For example, during a battle you see your and enemy indicators on the screen, and at the bottom a list of abilities and their impact. To select an action, enter the appropriate letter or number. The battles take place step by step. Do not forget that this is a rouge-like game, because of which, even after the most ridiculous death, all progress is thrown off, and the passage has to be started anew.
Here a new merit of the game appears - this is the generation of the world. Even in the text RPG there is a similar system that allows you to go through it many times.
In free travel, you see a small window with an ASCII image of the location, and below the command for action. When talking with characters the same situation.
The world of SantuaryRPG is completely open, which allows you to travel in any direction and get acquainted with any NPCs. You will be accompanied by an atmospheric soundtrack of 8-bit compositions all the way. This game is a great example of an indie project that does not follow the proven footsteps of its predecessors, but offers something new in terms of presentation, implementation and combination of genres.
Mobile games
In 2015-2016, there was a real leap in the IF genre among mobile developments. Studios realized that such games require a minimum of technical component, which allows them to reach a large audience. In addition, the hybrid between the game and the book will appeal to many users.
"Rest beyond the border"
The first example of a text RPG on Android is Rest Beyond. The game tells about the guy Peter, who went to the hunting lodge, where there is no connection with the instructor. There is only a forest around, and the hero does not have equipment and survival skills. Instead of communicating with the instructor, the guy stumbles on a wave with the player and asks for help. At this point, you are already entering the business. Through teams, the player controls Peter, gives him tasks and reads the result. Quite an interesting approach to implementing textual RPG. You can explore locations, collect objects, solve puzzles. Unfortunately, "Rest Beyond the Boundary" cannot be called a full-fledged RPG, since there is no pumping. But there is a high level of variability of answers!
Survival Planet
The next game is Survival Planet, which can also be installed on devices with Android OS. Unlike the previous example, there is visualization in the form of pictures, but the plot and actions are served through the text.
You play as an astronaut-explorer whose ship crashed on one of the uncharted planets. Accordingly, it combines adventure, survival and RPG. It is necessary to develop a camp, obtain resources and weapons, fight local animals in turn-based battles. In general, Survival Planet is perfect for science fiction lovers.
Browser games
Also, development of this genre and browser games were not spared. It may seem to PC gamers that games on sites look scary and irrelevant compared to AAA projects on computers and consoles. However, this does not negate the fact that browser-based textual RPGs are indeed popular among users. Their main "trick" is the emphasis on the cooperative component. Consider a couple of worthy examples.
Black continent
This game tells the story of an expedition in Africa. The player can choose his profession and assemble a team. The responsibility for the life of the allies rests on your shoulders. Before the expedition, you collect a detachment of people of different professions, as well as choose the most necessary items for the campaign. As the story narrates, the game will give a choice of action, on which the further development of the plot will depend.
Carnage
Carnage is an example of text RPG on a PC for a browser. The project is almost the most popular in its genre. Thousands of workers at the computer spend time on this site.
The game is a mixture of historical and fantasy RPGs. There are no races except humans, but they can be endowed with magical abilities and buffs.
Absolutely all actions are carried out by text commands. The only visualization elements are hero images and equipment icons in inventory slots. In the center there is a larger text chat window, where the main action takes place.
Text RPG in Google
The creators of Google hid the Easter egg in their browser in the form of a text game. To get to it, do the following:
- Open your browser in incognito mode.
- Go to the Google.com search engine website.
- Click on the "Settings" button and select "Language" from the menu.
- Set English and save the changes.
- At Google, type in the text adventure query.
- On the search results page, press F12.
- Go to the Console tab and enjoy!
We examined examples of the best text RPGs for different time periods. There is an old classic, and modern games, and mobile options for everybody.