Calypso

If, like us, you're old enough to have fond memories of text adventures from the likes of Magnetic Scrolls and Infocom, you may well fancy creating your own.

We decided to look at how easy it would be to develop one using modern tools. Incredibly easy, as it happens, thanks to the Inform compiler and the superb Inform Designer's Manual. There is also a more recent version of the Inform system which is geared more towards non-programmers.

So, we set about creating a simple text adventure for the fun of it. And here's the result - Calypso, a small adventure where you find yourself at the top of a lighthouse with no idea how you got there!

You can download the Calypso Z-Machine file here, and to play it you will also need an interpreter such as Frotz, which is available on a variety of platforms including iOS and Android.

But don't stop there, the real fun is creating your own!