With video games’ popularity exploding, it certainly feels like the golden age of gaming has arrived. And with the ubiquity of the internet, indie developers can reach wide audiences. The quality of games is at its highest point in history, and with billions of dollars being spent on video games each year, the industry undoubtedly has a bright future. So, what was the industry like in its infancy? Let’s take a look at some classic games that don’t deserve to be forgotten.

Trinity – A Nuclear Text-Adventure

It may be difficult to imagine today, but some of the best-selling “video” games in the 1980s had no graphics at all. These “text-adventures” were played by typing commands into a parser and then reading the results. Sounds boring, but these kind of games stimulated players’ imaginations and tested their logic. Trinity, written by Brian Moriarty, is widely regarded as one the best of these text adventures. The game begins in London in Kensington Gardens, but the setting quickly turns to a Alice-in-Wonderland-like dreamscape ruled by a gnomon’s shadow and populated by surreal characters and happenings. The plot revolves around nuclear testing and nuclear war – topical topics during the mid-1980s, when Trinity was published.

Trinity’s Impact

Though it would be criminal to reveal the solutions to the game’s puzzles, Trinity did involve using a lot of logic and in some cases, a little bit of intuition. One puzzle involves figuring out how to get across magical grass that repels all efforts to walk on it, and another forces the player to figure out how to survive in outer space long enough to complete a specific task. But what many took away from the game was its overt disarmament message; Trinity did not try to hide the devastating effects of a nuclear war. Perhaps that message is what has helped the game maintain a following today. In any case, Trinity features sharp writing, imaginative puzzles, and unforgettable locations.