If you’re unfamiliar with the text adventure genre, the player is essentially given a description of the scenario that they’re in, which then requires an appropriate command to be typed in response. As you might expect, fancy visuals and audio have no power here, with the player’s imagination and ability to read being the key parts of the experience.
The Hobbitby Beam Software was the first of four titles to be released on microcomputers of the time, with each game covering part of the LOTR saga. Microcomputers such as the Commodore 64 are where it all began for digital Middle-earth, with the release of The Hobbit Sofware Adventure in 1982. While trying to explain text adventures and microcomputers to a modern-day gamer might be a bit like showing a spaniel a card trick, it’s important to look at the humble beginnings of franchise-based video games.
