@@'''West of House'''\\
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.\\
There is a small mailbox here.@@

@@>''open mailbox''\\
Opening the small mailbox reveals a leaflet.@@

@@>''get leaflet''\\
Taken.@@

@@>''read leaflet''@@\\

Zork was one of the earliest works of InteractiveFiction, written in 1977-79 by Tim Anderson, Marc Blanc, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. In 1980, the game was split into three parts for home computers, where it became an immediate success, launching game publisher {{Infocom}}, and was followed by no less than twelve sequels.

Most of the series takes place in [[BeneathTheEarth The Great Underground Empire]].

@@At the bottom of the leaflet is a list of games in the series.@@

@@>''read list''@@\\
The Zork series consists of:
* '''The Original Trilogy'''
** Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1980)
** Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (1981)
** Zork III: The Dungeon Master (1982)
* '''The Enchanter Trilogy'''
** Enchanter (1983)
** Sorcerer (1984)
** Spellbreaker (1985)
* Wishbringer (1985)
* Beyond Zork (1987) (adds RPGElements)
* Zork Zero (1988)
* '''The Zork Quest "Interactive Comics"'''
** Zork Quest I: Assault on Egreth Castle (1988)
** Zork Quest II: The Crystal of Doom (1989)
* '''Graphical Games'''
** Return to Zork (Activision, 1993)
** Zork: Nemesis (Activision, 1996)
** ZorkGrandInquisitor (Activision, 1997)
** Zork: The Undiscovered Underground (Activision, 1997)
** [[http://legendsofzork.com/ Legends of Zork, an MMORPG]] (2009)

Four [[{{Novelization}} novel]]s set in the world of Zork also exist: ''The Zork Chronicles'' by George Alec Effinger, ''Enchanter'' and ''The Lost City of Zork'' by Robin W. Bailey, and ''Wishbringer'' by Craig Shaw Gardner. As well as four ChooseYourOwnAdventure-style books, ''The Forces of Krill, The Malifestro Quest, The Cavern of Doom,'' and ''Conquest at Quendor.''

@@A bag of tropes is nearby.@@
@@>''examine tropes''@@
@@Which tropes do you mean, the red ones or the blue ones?@@
@@>''x all''@@
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!!The Zork series provides examples of:
* {{AFGNCAAP}} (TropeNamer)
* AcmeProducts (The many, many subsidiaries of [=FrobozzCo=] International)
* BackFromTheDead and DeathIsCheap (You; most of the games have a mechanism for bringing the player character back to life, and in ''Sorcerer'' dying actually simplifies a certain puzzle)
* ControlRoomPuzzle (Subverted in ''Zork: Grand Inquisitor.'' The puzzle was [[spoiler: impossible to solve unless you used a certain spell]] in addition to pushing buttons.)
* DarkerAndEdgier (''Zork Nemesis'', which abandons almost all pretenses of comedy and light satire in favor of Gothic horror)
** (The ''Enchanter Trilogy'', too, where you're thwarting the plans of some flavor of EvilOverlord instead of just searching for treasure in a cave and getting rid of a senile wizard along the way.)
* DropInNemesis ("Oh, no! A lurking grue slithered into the room and devoured you!")
* {{Feelies}} (Like all {{Infocom}} games, all the text-based Zork games came with several feelies. Almost all were essential for completing their respective game.)
* GlobalCurrency (Zorkmids)
* GuideDangIt (Some of the puzzles were ''ridiculous!'' For example, in ''Zork Zero'' a wizard casts a hunger spell on you which will eventually kill you unless you eat something, but the only food in the game is a granola bar (which is bird food). The solution? ''Turn yourself into a flamingo!'' And even THAT was absurdly difficult!)
* HaveANiceDeath (suicide in text games is a wholesome and entertaining pastime.)
* HostageForMacGuffin (''Wishbringer'')
* InventoryManagementPuzzle
* KleptomaniacHero
* LighterAndSofter (''Wishbringer'', sort of; it's aimed at kids and beginners)
* MemeticMutation (Grues are a fad among {{Uncyclopedia}})
* MethuselahSyndrome (Many characters, justified or otherwise: [[AWizardDidIt Dalboz and Yannick]], [[SealedGoodInACan Lucy Flathead]], Zylon the Aged, and Antharia Jack.)
* MythologyGag (In various games, you can see the exploits of the player character in a previous game [[spoiler:and either travel there or bring the character to you]])
* NoFairCheating: Most of the interactive Zork books had a selection that asked for an item that doesn't exist and called you out for cheating if you went for it.
* NonLinearSequel
* NoNameGiven (Not only is the AFGNCAAP player nameless, there's also a "lean and hungry gentleman" in the first game who has no name, and needs none.)
** The hint guide identifies the "lean and hungry gentleman" as "The Thief". Still fits the trope, though.
* NonstandardGameOver (If you mess up in the endgames of the ''Enchanter Trilogy'', you can get a negative score and the title "Menace to Society" for unleashing a horror upon the world)
* NothingIsScarier ("It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.")
* PresidentEvil (Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive)
* SchizoTech (Zork technology is roughly [=WWII=] level, augmented by magic)
* SetPiecePuzzle
* StockPuzzle (Nearly all of them, at one point or another.)
* TheMagicGoesAway (Sets off the plot of ''Spellbreaker'' and ''Beyond Zork'', the former [[BagOfSpilling starting with your spellbook]].)
* TheManyDeathsofYou (Zork probably ''pioneered'' this trope in computer games.)
* TheMaze (At least once per game in the text-based games, though only the first game really has straight examples.)
* ToHellAndBack (Zork I, Zork Grand Inquisitor)
* XanatosSucker (You, in ''Spellbreaker'')
* YouCantGetYeFlask (the UrExample)
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