{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:40:30Z","timestamp":1777646430892,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,21]],"date-time":"2013-02-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1361404800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The original Adventure by Crowther and Woods (1977) has an important place in computer game history. It is not only considered the first adventure game but also the ancestor of interactive fiction, point-and-click games, action adventures, and even massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Adventure often defined in terms of categories that did not exist at the time of its making. The concept of video games as the cultural institution we know today was alien to its authors. This article reframes Adventure in its historical context. If it is not yet an adventure game, what is it? The proposed methodology is inspired by the work of early cinema historians and consists of identifying the cultural practices within which an early piece was developed. Adventure is analyzed as a program, a hack, fantasy role-playing, a cave survey, and a game. This approach delivers a new perspective on Adventure, freed to some degree of teleological preconceptions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412012473364","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,23]],"date-time":"2013-02-23T07:42:00Z","timestamp":1361605320000},"page":"119-135","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["<i>Adventure<\/i>\n                    Before Adventure Games"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Jonathan","family":"Lessard","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Design and Computation Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1555412012473364","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801855788"},{"key":"bibr2-1555412012473364","first-page":"45","volume-title":"First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game","author":"Aarseth E.","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr3-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Interactive fiction: The computer storygame \"Adventure\"","author":"Buckles M. A.","year":"1985"},{"key":"bibr4-1555412012473364","unstructured":"Cordella F. (2001). Interactive fiction? I prefer Adventure. L\u2019avventura \u00e8 l\u2019avventura. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.avventuretestuali.com\/interviste\/woods-eng\/"},{"key":"bibr5-1555412012473364","unstructured":"Cosell B. (2010). Re: Early video games at BBN. Private email received on February 16, 2010."},{"key":"bibr6-1555412012473364","unstructured":"Crowther William. 1994. Interview with William Crowther. Interview by Katie Hafner. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.archive.org\/details\/WillCrowtherInterview"},{"key":"bibr7-1555412012473364","first-page":"210","volume-title":"Extending experiences\u2014Structure, analysis and design of computer game player experience","author":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Vara C.","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr8-1555412012473364","volume-title":"The tribulations of adventure games: Integrating story into simulation through performance","author":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Vara C.","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr9-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Cin\u00e9ma et attraction","author":"Gaudreault A.","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr10-1555412012473364","unstructured":"\u201cHacker Humor\u201d. The Jargon File 4.4.7. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http:\/\/www.retrologic.com\/jargon\/H\/hacker-humor.html"},{"key":"bibr11-1555412012473364","unstructured":"Jerz D. G. (2007). Somewhere nearby is colossal cave: Examining Will Crowther's original adventure in code and in Kentucky. Digital Humanities Quarterly, 1. Retrieved from http:\/\/digitalhumanities.org\/dhq\/vol\/001\/2\/000009.html1%20sur"},{"key":"bibr12-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Half-real: Video games between real rules and fictional worlds","author":"Juul J.","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr13-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution","author":"Levy S.","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr14-1555412012473364","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6936.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr15-1555412012473364","volume-title":"The Mirkwood tales","author":"Roberts E. S.","year":"1977"},{"key":"bibr16-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Rules of play: Game design fundamentals","author":"Salen K.","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr17-1555412012473364","author":"Williams R.","year":"1981","journal-title":"The On-Line Letter"},{"key":"bibr18-1555412012473364","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.5040\/9798216032106.ch-015","volume-title":"The video game explosion: A history from PONG to playStation and beyond","author":"Wolf M. J.","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr19-1555412012473364","unstructured":"Woods D. 2001. Interactive fiction? I prefer adventure. Interview by Francesco Cordella. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.avventuretestuali.com\/interviste\/woods-eng\/"},{"key":"bibr20-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Zork aka Dungeon","author":"Anderson T.","year":"1979"},{"key":"bibr21-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Adventure","author":"Atari","year":"1979"},{"key":"bibr22-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Adventure","author":"Crowther W.","year":"1976"},{"key":"bibr23-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Adventure","author":"Crowther W.","year":"1977"},{"key":"bibr24-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers","author":"Sierra","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr25-1555412012473364","volume-title":"Multi-User Dungeon","author":"Trubshaw Roy","year":"1978"}],"container-title":["Games and Culture"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412012473364","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1555412012473364","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412012473364","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T06:35:14Z","timestamp":1777444514000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1555412012473364"}},"subtitle":["A New Look at Crowther and Woods\u2019s Seminal Program"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,21]]},"references-count":25,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1555412012473364"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1555412012473364","relation":{},"ISSN":["1555-4120","1555-4139"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1555-4120","type":"print"},{"value":"1555-4139","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,21]]}}}