If you grew up in the 80’s you probably remember playing popular text adventure games such as Zork on your computer. I was in this category and enjoyed staying up into the wee hours of the morning solving puzzles and making maps to try to finish each game that Infocom could crank out. Only thing is I never finished every game they made…but it is on my to do list.
Now, a free application called Frotz allows you to play many popular text adventure games on your iPhone or iPod Touch!
After you download and install Frotz, it comes loaded with several free text adventure games that you probably have never heard of. So…. how do you get the really cool games like Planetfall on your iPhone? Simple - use a file transfer program to upload .z5 or files from your computer to your iPhone or iPod touch. The first one I have tried with success is called FileMagnet. This will only work on a Mac though and you need to download an uploader to use on your desktop or laptop Mac. You can download the FileMagnet uploader here. FileMagnet can be purchased for $4.99.
If you are using a PC with Windows XP or Vista, you can use an app called DataCase. I haven’t bought this one yet, but the great thing about this is it doesn’t require a seperate application - when you activate the DataCase application, a drive will show up on your Mac or PC. From there, you can drag and drop files to and from your iPhone or iPod Touch. UPDATE: Ok, I just bought DataCase and it looks pretty cool.
Only thing is for some reason Frotz doesn’t seem to find the .z5 files automatically like it does with FileMagnet. Anyone out there know how to get it to work?
Also, you might be wondering where you can find text adventure game files. You can get the files if you purchase the games… and a good place to do this is on eBay:
You can also do a little Googling around and maybe you’ll stumble across something.
Some games you might want to play include: Planetfall, Zork, Stationfall, Enchanter, Infidel, Suspended, Deadline, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and many more. Here’s a fairly complete list of all Infocom games. Be careful, your sword is turning blue.
Stuff.tv reviews Enigmo, a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Currently, this is the #9 best seller in the iTunes App Store. Enigmo is a puzzle game that uses the multi touch technology of the iPhone. This means you can play the game more discreetly - compared to games where you might be waving your iPhone or iPod touch around due to games using the accelerometer. In this game, you direct water around into little buckets, soak them up with a sponge, etc. Well, that probably doesn’t make sense, so just watch the video for a better idea. Enigmo is available for $9.99.
Chris Pirillo reviews Crash Bandicoot Nitro Cart 3D for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This game costs $9.99 and was developed by Vivendi Games Mobile. You can adjust the accelerometer sensitivity in case you are over steering. This app can be played in multiple languages - English, French, Italian or German. Right away this looks a bit like a clone of Nintendo’s Mario Kart. The game still needs to be optimized a bit, but is still worth ten bucks. Read his full review here.
Ok, now this is awesome. One of the current top selling iPhone applications in the App Store is Texas Hold’em for the iPhone and iPod Touch. One of the really great features of this game is the multiplayer mode that let’s you play with other people over the Internet via Wi-Fi. Jon4lakers gives you this excellent video review so you can take a look at this game in detail.
Features include Wi-Fi multiplayer mode for up to nine players; in game hints, stats, tips; stunning graphics and more. It’s available for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store.
Juz1093 reviews Super Monkey Ball, a game available for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch running iPhone 2.0. Overall, this is a good game, but the camera angles can screw you up at times. You hold your iPhone or iPod Touch at a slight angle to be in the neutral position. To move, tilt iPhone forward. The graphics are good, but they need to spend more time improving the look of the monkey in the ball. This may be tough to play if you are riding on a bumpy bus or train.
If you grew up in the 80’s you probably remember playing popular text adventure games such as Zork on your computer. I was in this category and enjoyed staying up into the wee hours of the morning solving puzzles and making maps to try to finish each game that Infocom could crank out. Only thing is I never finished every game they made…but it is on my to do list.
