Synapse Software

A company that developed text-adventure games for a brief time in the mid-80s, Synapse Software is probably best known for creating novellas that set the stage for its games and collaborating with poet Robert Pinsky on his game Mindwheel.

Electronic Novels™

All four of these games were distributed by Brøderbund Software.

• Mindwheel (author: Robert Pinsky, programmers: Steve Hales and William Mataga; 1984; BTZ).
• Essex (author: Bill Darrah, programmers: Bill Darrah and William Mataga; 1985; BTZ).
• Brimstone: The Dream of Gawain (author: James Paul, programmers: David Bunch, William Mataga, and Bill Darrah; 1985; BTZ).
• Breakers (author: Rod Smith, programmers: Joe Vierra and William Mataga; 1986; BTZ).

Other text games that probably were never released:

• Ronin. This one was at least partially made, and was one of the upcoming titles named in Mindwheel's documentation.
• House of Changes.
• Deadly Summer.

Links

• Synapse Software listing at Adventureland/IF Legends.
• Synapse Software listing at MobyGames.
• Synapse listing at Idiology.
• Synapse Software at Wikipedia.
• Antic Vol. 3, No. 7 / November 1984 / Page 28 - Nat Friedland reviews his sneak peaks of Synapse's new Electronic Novels.