Adventure Probe

Adventure Probe Magazine

Adventure Probe Magazine (AP) was an A5-sized publication that ran from 1986 until 2007, making it probably the longest running paper-based Adventure / IF fanzine, at least in the UK. At its height, circulation was 250+ which eventually declined to about 10% of that figure. It was published monthly and never missed a single issue.

AP was the "sister" publication to "Adventure Contact" a similar fanzine but devoted to game authors and programming mechanics, while AP was for the players.

AP went through several changes of Editor although the format of the magazine remained similar thoughout its lifetime. The content was always supplied by the readers so did vary from issue to issue.

Content

Generally speaking, there was nothing unusual about the content of the magazine, it had what you would expect. All the content was provided by the readers except the editorial and the some of the advertisements. Game reviews(sometimes more than one per game), clues, hints and tips, from the cryptic to straight spoilers, from getting you through the first stages to complete walkthroughs. Various articles on the adventure / IF topics, stories, jokes, poetry, quizzes, book reviews, comic strips, spoof classified ads / personal column and not to forget the letters page. Before eMail, the letters pages were the community forum pages and were a lively mix of debate, opinion and strangeness.