Mini-Zork

The Good
The scale of this game makes it much more enjoyable, as a single-sitting game. By the time I finished playing this game, I was able to remember all of the “puzzle” solutions without consulting hints or a walkthrough (except for the stupid rainbow-bridge trigger), so it wasn’t overly challenging or frustrating, and it didn’t soak up an unreasonable amount of my time. The original version, on the other hand, is exhausting to wade through in its entirety.

Aside from the differences between the other Zork I versions and this one, as a treasure-hunt and inventory/action puzzle game, Zork is still one of the best, despite never having been endowed with immersive graphics and sound. The assumed classification of “interactive fiction” doesn’t really apply because this stripped-down version has no story elements at all. It’s not even much of a “text adventure” game because there’s no scripting. All the player (via the player-character) has to do is find 15 objects, in any order, and put them in the case. Whether or not treasure hunting is your idea of an adventure is entirely up to you.

The Bad
Honestly, there weren’t many flaws in this game, or gameplay elements that I hated.

The lantern batteries dying toward the end (without any available replacements) was a little annoying, but the game would’ve been too easy otherwise. As it is, the thief almost never appeared or stole anything, so playing this version was a walk in the park, especially compared to playing the even-more-vintage Colossal Cave Adventure.

The Bottom Line
If I were to view Mini-Zork I as a streamlined version that might appeal to people who have never played the Zork games, or any other games like Zork, then it’s actually a really good game. If this scaled-back version was my first exposure, I would definitely want to play the full-scale version at the first available opportunity. (However, whether or not I would want to pay what Infocom was charging for Zork I is another debate entirely.)