History VideoGame / Zork

* TheMaze: At least once per game in the text-based games, though only the first game really has straight examples.

* 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? [[spoiler:''Turn yourself into a flamingo!'']] And even THAT was absurdly difficult!

** ''[[VideoGame/{{Enchanter}} Spellbreaker]]'' was so hard the developers actually ''apologized'' and admitted most people would have to use a hint book to finish it.
*** Even most walkthroughs can't adequately explain the bank vault puzzle, and suggest the player just save the game (which resets the puzzle) and keep trying until the partial solution works.

* {{Foreign|Remake}} VideoGameRemake: In March 1991, about 11 years after the original ''Zork I'', Japanese software development company [=SystemSoft=] developed and published its [[http://pc98library.tistory.com/1572 remake for]] [[UsefulNotes/PC98 the PC-9801]]. Unlike the original, this game has some of the most common verb commands ("look", "take", etc.) that can be accessed by pressing a corresponding button (the player still has to type the name of an object, though), and enhanced graphics, especially in the list of objects on which the text is super-imposed.

** These were actually ''very'' common in the earliest, noncommercial versions; you were in danger of falling into one whenever you were in pitch black areas. At least, until one of the programmers questioned why someone would fall into a bottomless pit in the attic of a building. And that's how the grues were created.

** These were actually ''very'' common in the earliest versions of what was then called ''Dungeon''; you were in danger of falling into one whenever you were in pitch black areas. At least, until one of the programmers questioned why someone would fall into a bottomless pit in the attic of a building. And that's how the grues were created.

** ''Dungeon'' (1977-1979, noncommercial)

* {{Feelies}}: As became standard for Infocom games, all the text-based Zork games after the original trilogy came with several feelies. Almost all were essential for completing their respective game.