Adventureland

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Adventure International

Adventureland is a text-based adventure game that was released on just about every home computer in the 70s and 80s. It's an odd little game that doesn't really seem to have a plot except that you're searching for thirteen lost artifacts in a fantasy world. The game is entirely text (though it was re-released in 1982 with graphics for the player to see objects and scenery) so, having a good imagination can be helpful…and so can drawing a map for yourself so you know where you came from as you journey on. Everything in this game is either done with one word or two words. For example if you wanted to head north, you could either say "GO NORTH" or simply "NORTH." The game claims that it can recognize 120 words, but it can't really. It only takes the first three letters into account…so instead of "CLIMB TREE," you could type "CLI TRE" and the game would interpret it as "CLIMB TREE." Unfortunately, recognizing words in this way also means that the game sometimes misidentifies what you type in. Anyway, like I mentioned at the start, there is not story here to keep you hooked and make you want to advance…it's simply a treasure hunt to find the thirteen artifacts. Adventureland will likely entertain you to a degree if you play it…like when you decide to throw an axe at a sleeping dragon…and there's a reason it was popular enough to port to so many various computer systems, but it's not quite as good as other text-based adventure games like Zork.

Review added: 12/06/2025

Akalabeth: World of Doom

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Richard Garriott

I've never played a lot of the Ultima games. I've known of them, I know people that loved them, but I've never put much time into them at the time that I type this. So, when I played Akalabeth, I had no idea that it was the game that basically laid the groundwork for the Ultima games. Anyway, Akalabeth was developed by Richard Garriott as a hobby and was his attempt to bring pen-and-paper RPG gameplay to an electronic form. I have never played a pen-and-paper RPG (nor do I really want to) so I have no idea how successful he was at achieving that feat, but I do know that I really, really enjoyed playing this game. Essentially, in Akalabeth, you start out by generating a character (and choose if you're going to be a fighter or magi) and purchasing items. From there, you find yourself on a very crude world map with a top-down perspective. The first thing you should do is look for the castle of Lord British on the map. Entering the castle (press X when on the castle) you'll be given a task and a slight bonus to your stats. From there, you want to search the world map for a dungeon to enter. Once in a dungeon, the perspective changes to first-person as you navigate your way through the randomly-generated, 3D labyrinth, picking up treasure and fighting monsters and creatures as you go. There's no animation here, and each time you take a step, the game has to re-draw the area in front of you, so for some, I'm sure that this game is going to be slow-paced and unimpressive. Comparing it to other games of the time, however, Akalabeth feels like it's ahead of its time. The randomly-generated game also gives you a slightly different experience each time, so if exploring the dungeons winds up being a fun time for you (it was for me) then each time you boot up this game, you'll have a new dungeon to explore. For its time, Akalabeth is a pretty solid RPG, and it helped create the foundation for one of the most beloved computer RPGs of the 80s and 90s. It's a pretty basic RPG by today's standards, but it's a very, very solid game for its time.

Review added: 12/14/2025

Apple '21'

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Softape

Apple '21' is one of the better video game versions of Blackjack that I've played. It seems to have most rules and options that you'd see at a typical casino, though I did notice that the "Five-Card Charlie" rule doesn't seem to apply here. I managed to get it early on in the game and I still managed to lose the hand. Pretty much every other option that I could think of for playing Blackjack was present here - granted, I'm not an expert on the game, but if it's missing any other options or rules in the game, then I'm not aware of them. You can also play this game solo, or with up to two other friends, allowing you to have the screen filled with the hands of all three players and the dealer. The game also looks fine graphically. My only real complaint about the graphical presentation is that every single card is black. Diamonds and hearts are black instead of red. It's not a major issue - you can still clearly see what type of card each one is, but it's a small detail that is noticeably missing when you play. As well as Apple '21' is made, it will still get old for most folks pretty quickly, I'd imagine. So, while this is a good variation of the game, I feel odd giving it a higher score than I've given it. Anyway, if you need to play an early video game adaptation of Blackjack, then this is probably your best option.

Review added: 12/07/2025

Apple Bowl

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Apple

Honestly, I was expecting Apple Bowl to be a football game made by Apple. But, Apple Bowl is actually a bowling game…and I was glad that it was when I first made that realization. My happiness was short lived, though. While I like the concept and idea of Apple Bowl, it simply doesn't play well. The concept seems simple…an arrow at the bottom of the screen shows where you'll be throwing your bowling ball…then you throw it and try to knock as many pins down as possible. Then repat that for ten frames. The catch is that there's not very good pin physics in play here…I've thrown balls that should have knocked down one pin, and I took out five. I've thrown balls that looked like they should have been a strike, and I only knock down six pins. It doesn't seem to be consistent. To make matters worse, there are two other lanes, one on each side of your lane. Computer players are bowling on those lanes…which is a neat concept, except only one lane can be active at a time, so you're forced to sit and watch while the computer players throw their ball…which is kind of neat at first…but it gets annoying quickly, especially if you just want to finish your ten frames and be done with it. Apple Bowl isn't the worst bowling game that I've played, and it looks nice for a game released in 1979, but it simply isn't very fun. You're better off renting some stinky shoes and going to a real alley instead.

Review added: 12/06/2025

Apple Casino

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Powersoft, Inc.

Apple Casino may be both the weirdest casino game that I've ever played and the worst casino game I've ever played…and anyone that knows me is aware that being "weird" usually is a good thing in my eyes. So, it's telling that, even being a bit of an oddity, I still can't find very much here that's redeeming in any way. Essentially, in Apple Casino, you've got four "casino" games that you can play. None of them are particularly fun, and aside from one game, I'm fairly certain that these games aren't at casinos. The first game is called Stars. Basically, it's like a game of "hot and cold" if you've ever played that. The computer thinks of a number between 1 and 100. Your goal is to guess what number it is in the fewest number of guesses. You make a guess and then you see how close you are to the number…instead of being told "hot or cold," however, you'll see stars display on the screen. If you're far away, you get one star. If you're very close, you get seven stars. It's about as exciting as sticking your finger in a pencil sharpener….actually, getting your finger repaired in an emergency room is probably more exciting. The next game is Acey-Ducey, which isn't at most casinos, as far as I'm aware. The concept of that game is that two cards are put face-up. You then guess if the next card will be a value that falls between those two cards. It's another yawn-fest of a game that you don't really need an electronic program to play. The programmers dropped a ducey by including that game in this software. Next is Slot Machine. My thoughts on slot machine games is pretty well documented on this website…and this may be one of the worst video game adaptions of a slot machine that I've ever played. Not only is it a bore to play, but it's not even nice to look at. It's like the developers said, "Hey! Most casinos have slot machines…but let's make ours a black hole of fun! That way we can say that our casino is out of this world!" Speaking of black holes, the last game is called Black Hole…and boy, oh boy, what a game it is. Black Hole feels like a roulette table, but with the ability to win if you're close enough. And by close enough, I mean within two. Basically, you guess how many black holes will exist after "the creation of the universe." Then you sit and watch, for a duration that is way too long, while stars fill the screen. When starts stop popping up, then you count how many holes are present, and that's the number that you guessed. It's long, tedious, and about as fun as getting an enema with a bottle of Drain-o. The folks that developed Black Hole, and this entire awful collection of games, for that matter, who determined that they wanted people to pay money to play this, are a bunch of big, ol' hiney holes. They should have renamed Black Hole as Hiney Hole, honestly…'cause the content that comes out of both holes is essentially the same thing. If you like casino-style games, just stay away from this awful mess. Not a single game found here is worth playing.

Review added: 12/07/2025