Colossal Cave Adventure
Don Woods, Will Crowther 1976
- Aka:
- Colossal Cave, ADVENT, Adventure
- Language:
- English
- Authors:
- Don Woods, Will Crowther
- Systems:
- FORTRAN
- Platforms:
- Mainframe
- Genres:
- Underground
- Related:
- Colossal Caves [1: Colossal Cave Adventure, 2: Microsoft Adventure, 3: Pyramid 2000, 4: Adventure, 5: Advent, 6: Adventure, 7: Classic Adventure, 8: Original Adventure, The, 9: Adventure 1, 10: Colossal Adventure, 11: Adventure, 12: Adventure, 13: Colossal Cave Adventure, 14: Colossal Cave Adventure, 15: Serf's Tale, The, 16: Colossal Cave, 17: Adventure, 18: Aventura Original, La, 19: Colossal Cave Adventure, 20: Colossal Cave Adventure, 21: Adventure: A Modern Classic, 22: Colossal Cave, The, 23: Colossal Cave, 24: Treasure Adventure]
- Entered by:
- Alastair, dave, Gunness, Strident
- Added:
- 20-05-2010
- Edited:
- 21-11-2022
Synopsis
Plot
Somewhere nearby is Colossal Cave where others have found fortunes in treasure and gold, though it is rumoured that some who enter are never seen again. It is also said that magic works in the cave.Despite the risks you have decided to explore the caves and take whatever treasure you may find.
Notes
Not quite the original text adventure (see the Wander system) never-the-less for most computer users of the 1970s this was the first adventure game they ever encountered, and thus this game has had a huge influence on the genre.Will Crowther's original, from 1976, was based on the actual layout of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
In 1977, Don Woods helped Crowther with expanding the game and adding various fantasy elements. It's this latter version which is normally referred to as "the original adventure".
The number of CCA variants is fairly large (key), both for mainframe and home computer systems.
The earliest, currently known "home computer" port of the game is the August 1978 Heathkit H8 version by Gordon Letwin; who later produced Microsoft's version of the adventure.
As of November 2022, a VR version is in the works.
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[+] Users currently playing this game
This game was referenced in a recent episode of the BBC programme "Richard Osman's House of Games" (series 4, episode 14).
I played WOOD0350 for the first time many years after having explored lots of worse, more modern adventures, and I was awed at its ingenuity, complexity, and atmosphere, which took me totally by surprise. Despite its venerable age, there are many lessons here for aspiring adventure designers. It's no wonder it became a cultural phenomenon.