The creator of www.douglasadams.com talks about an interesting loop that occurs in history. That is the loop of the popularity of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a text adventure. Created in 1984, this game sold around 350,000 copies. Considering that today it is available online for free; the amount of sales was significantly high. Predictably though, as computer graphics were invented and improved along with technology, such text adventure games were forgotten. However, after a long period of improving graphics that now almost imitate reality, many people are turning back to text adventures, such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Types of narratives, whether in literature or in games, have been classified as a form of culture; so what does this loop in history express about the culture of today’s society?

One of the main pieces of information that this loop provides is the increasing range and variety of the human population that are using and becoming familiar with technology. Just as the internet was originally created for military purposes only, games are also created with a target audience in mind, usually the more active and rebellious younger generation. However, today, more and more of the older generation are also becoming familiar with technology and as well as being played, these games are being re-introduced into society. Various new games based on the basics of text adventures are also being created and a whole new generation of game players is being bred.

Although electronic game playing has many negative aspects to it, the re-introduction of such text based games should be welcomed. Rather than simple point and shoot games, children are learning to play brain games. With the revival of text adventure games, older generations, many of whom simply deem computer games as ‘bad’, are also learning that with the right use, games can be used as a tool for advanced learning.