This project examines the history and legacy of the 1976 computer game ADVENTURE (Will Crowther and Don Woods). I foreground the under-recognized roles of women in ADVENTURE’s development and lasting influence; I interrogate the technological shifts that facilitated the game’s evolution from a text-based computer game played without a monitor to its contemporary iteration in VR; and I demonstrate how the game’s inclusive design and its availability on the ARPANET (the precursor to the internet) facilitated its rapid distribution and proliferation, but also more readily allowed ADVENTURE to reach domestic spaces beyond the workplace—and thus new players and audiences. I trace this legacy through the game’s influence on the pioneering work of Roberta Williams in developing the eponymous adventure game genre, the ongoing popularity of text adventures for visually-impaired players using screen readers, and growing contemporary industry efforts to make video games more accessible for players with disabilities.
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