Zork

The world or planet that the Great Underground Empire was on, and the location of many of the games by Infocom.

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Games taking place on Zork

The MIT game that started it all:

• Zork a.k.a. Dungeon (Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, Dave Lebling; 1977~9).

The Zork Trilogy, published by Infocom:

• Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels; 1980; Z-code).
• Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels; 1981; Z-code).
• Zork III: The Dungeon Master (Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels; 1982; Z-code).

The Enchanter Trilogy, published by Infocom:

• Enchanter (Marc Blank and Dave Lebling; 1983; Z-code).
• Sorcerer (Steve Meretzky; 1984; Z-code).
• Spellbreaker (Dave Lebling; 1985; Z-code).

Other Infocom games set on Zork:

• Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (Brian Moriarty; 1985; Z-code).
• Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor (Brian Moriarty; 1987; Z-code).
• Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (Steve Meretzky; 1988; Z-code).
• Zork Quest 1: The Assault on Egreth Castle (Elizabeth Langosy); 1988).
• Zork Quest 2: The Crystal of Doom (Elizabeth Langosy); 1988).

Activision games set on Zork:

• Return to Zork (1993).
• The Philosopher's Stone (Nino Ruffini; unfinished text prequel to Zork Nemesis).
• Zork: Nemesis (1996).
• Zork: The Undiscovered Underground (co-designers: Michael Berlyn and Marc Blank, implementor: Gerry Kevin Wilson; 1997; Z-code)
• Zork Grand Inquisitor (1997).
• Legends of Zork (2009)

Publications set on Zork:

• Zork #1: The Forces of Krill (Steve Meretzky; 1983).
• Zork #2: Malifestro Quest (Steve Meretzky; 1983).
• Zork #3: The Cavern of Doom (Steve Meretzky; 1983).
• Zork #4: Conquest of Quendor (Steve Meretzky; 1984).
• Wishbringer (novel) (Craig Shaw Gardner; 1988).
• Enchanter (novel) (Robin W. Bailey; 1989).
• The Zork Chronicles (George Alec Effinger; 1990).
• The Lost City of Zork (Robin W. Bailey; 1991)

Non-canon games set on Zork:

• Balances (Graham Nelson; 1994; Z-code).
• Beyond Zork Sample Transcript (Allen Garvin).
• Dawn of the Demon (Paul Drallos; 2005; Z-code).
• Deja Vu (Graham Nelson; 1993; Z-code).
• Encyclopedia Frobozzica (author: Nino Ruffini, porter: John Kean as "Digby McWiggle"; Z-code). Not a game.
• Enlightenment (Taro Ogawa; 1998; Z-code).
• Frobozz Magic Support (Nate Cull; 1996; TADS 2).
• Frobozz Magic Video Poker (Zach Mately; 2003).
• Informatory (William J. Shlaer; 1998; Z-code).
• Life on Gue Street (Chris Charla as Anonymous; c.2000; Z-code).
• Mini-Zork (Anonymous; 1998; Z-code and Commodore).
• Perilous Magic (David Fillmore; 1999; Z-code).
• Return to Zork: Another Story (Stefano Canali; 2000; Z-code).
• Spiritwrak (D.S. Yu; 1996; z-code).
• The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet (Graham Nelson as "Angela M. Horns"; 1996; Z-code)
• Zork: A Troll's Eye View (Dylan O'Donnell; 1998; Z-code).
• zork, buried chaos (bloodbath; 2009; Z-code).

See also:

• Zorkian genre games at Baf's Guide.

Links

• Zork at Wikipedia.
• Zorkian genre at Baf's Guide.
• The History of Zork - article about Zork for Gamasutra by Matt Barton, June 2007.
  • See also: History of Zork Now Available on Gamasutra: Read Full Interviews Here! - Interviews with Dave Lebling, Marc Blank, Steve Meretzky, Howard Sherman, David Cornelson, and Nick Montfort. Interviewed by Matt Barton, June 2007.
• A collection of Zork maps, by Andrew Plotkin.
• A Note on the Word "Zork" - Nick Montfort tries to find out where the word "Zork" comes from. January 2010.