Infocom

Infocom was an American software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded on June 22, 1979 by MIT staff and students led by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank, Albert Vezza and Joel Berez. The company produced numerous works of interactive fiction along with one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone.

The company was particularly well known for its witty, ambitious text adventures, which allowed the user to type complex instructions to the game, rather than earlier works that could only use commands of the form 'verb noun' (e.g. "climb wall"). The company was also known for shipping creative props known as 'feelies' (and even 'smellies'), with its games.

Infocom lasted as an independent company until 1986 when it was bought by Activision. Activision finally shut down the Infocom division in 1989, although they released some titles in the 1990s under the Infocom Zork brand.

Games

• The Zork Series:
  • The original Zork Trilogy (Marc Blank & Dave Lebling):
    • Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1980)
    • Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (1981)
    • Zork III: The Dungeon Master (1982)
  • The Enchanter Trilogy:
    • Enchanter (1983, Marc Blank)
    • Sorcerer (1984, Steve Meretzky)
    • Spellbreaker (1985, Dave Lebling)
  • Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor (1987, Brian Moriarty)
  • Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (1988, Steve Meretzky)
  • Zork: The Undiscovered Underground (1997, Michael Berlyn and Marc Blank)
• Deadline (1982, Marc Blank)
• Starcross (1982, Dave Lebling)
• Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare (1983, Michael Berlyn)
• Infidel (1983, Michael Berlyn)
• Planetfall (1983, Steve Meretzky)
• The Witness (1983, Stu Galley)
• Cutthroats (1984, Michael Berlyn & Jerry Wolper)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984, Steve Meretzky & Douglas Adams)
• Seastalker (1984, Stu Galley & Jim Lawrence)
• Suspect (1984, Dave Lebling)
• A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985, Steve Meretzky)
• Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (1985, Brian Moriarty)
• Ballyhoo (1986, Jeff O'Neill)
• Hollywood Hijinx (1986, "Hollywood" Dave Anderson)
• Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986, Steve Meretzky)
• Moonmist (1986, Stu Galley)
• Trinity (1986, Brian Moriarty)
• Border Zone (1987, Marc Blank)
• Bureaucracy (1987, Infocom & Douglas Adams)
• The Lurking Horror (1987, Dave Lebling)
• Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It (1987, Jeff O'Neill)
• Plundered Hearts (1987, Amy Briggs)
• Stationfall (1987, Steve Meretzky)
• Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (1988, Bob Bates)
• Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (1989, Bob Bates)
• James Clavell's Shogun (1989, Dave Lebling)
• Journey (1989, Marc Blank)
• Graphic Adventures
  • Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X! (1992, Steve Meretzky)
  • Return to Zork (1993)
  • Zork: Nemesis (1996)
  • Zork Grand Inquisitor (1997)
• BattleTech Games
  • BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (1988, developed by Westwood Studios)
  • BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge (1991, developed by Westwood Studios)
• Other Games
  • Fooblitzky (1985, Marc Blank, Mike Berlyn, Poh Lim & Paula Maxwell)
  • Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (1988, Scott Schmitz, Ken Updike & Amy Briggs)
  • Mines of Titan (1988, Louis Castle & Brett Sperry)
  • Tombs & Treasure (1989, developed by Nihon Falcom)
  • Circuit's Edge (1989, developed by Westwood Studios)
• Infocomics
  • Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen (1988, Steve Meretzky)
  • Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (1988, Amy Briggs)
  • ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle (1988, Elizabeth Langosy)
  • ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom (1988, Elizabeth Langosy)
• Collections
  • The Zork Trilogy (1986; contained Zork I, Zork II & Zork III)
  • The Enchanter Trilogy (1986; contained Enchanter, Sorcerer & Spellbreaker)
  • The Lost Treasures of Infocom (1991; contained 20 of Infocom's interactive fiction games)
  • The Lost Treasures of Infocom II (1992; contained 11 interactive fiction games)
  • The Zork Anthology (1994; contained Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, Beyond Zork & Zork Zero)
  • The Masterpieces of Infocom (1996; contained 33 Infocom games plus six winners of the SPAG Interactive Fiction Contest not affiliated with Infocom)
  • Zork Special Edition (1997; contained Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, Beyond Zork, Zork Zero, Return to Zork, Zork: Nemesis, and Planetfall)
  • Zork Classics: Interactive Fiction (2000)