50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon

A project in San Francisco, CA by Aaron A. Reed
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Funding Successful

A definitive book about the first half-century of interactive fiction.
Backers: 5973
Average Pledge Per Backer: $88

Funded: $523,582 of $29,000
Dates: Jun 7th -> Jul 7th (31 days)
Project By: Aaron A. Reed
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$523,582

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Last Updated: July 7 @ 14:04 -0400 GMT

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Latest News

Final 24 hours!!

July 6th - via: kickstarter.com
We're in the home stretch of the campaign. Over 5000 backers have pledged nearly $450,000 to make this project happen: what an amazing turnout! Incredibly, this book is on track to be the one of the top three non-fiction books in crowdfunding history... (Read More)

Crowdfunding Preview: '50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon'

July 2nd - via: geekdad.com
This fascinating book by Aaron A. Reed explores the history of text games from the past 50 years. Over the course of 50 chapters, it looks at one game per chapter, released each year from 1971 through 2020. (Read More)

Final Mystery Item Revealed!

June 28th - via: kickstarter.com
Folks, I’ve run out of ways to express my astonishment. With a little over one week remaining, the 50 Years of Text Games book now has 3,000 backers pledging more than $280,000 to bring this book to life: almost ten times my original goal. It’s... (Read More)

Mystery Item #4 Revealed: would you like a hint?

June 21st - via: kickstarter.com
Happy Tuesday, folks! We’re in the doldrums-y middle of the campaign right now, so updates have slowed down: but to keep things exciting, I’ve got another reveal from the Ultimate Collector’s Edition for you. Last week, I announced that the... (Read More)

Tabletop and Role-Playing Game News: New Releases, Kickstarters

June 21st - via: gizmodo.com
Claw Atlas is an expansion for Beak, Feather, & Bone, and includes 10 new maps and alternate gameplay rules. In [50 Years of Text Games] you’ll find 50 in-depth chapters, covering 50 games: one released in each year from 1971—when a Minnesota teacher wheeled a teletype into his class to debut a game called The Oregon Trail—to 2020 and the latest in A.I. storytellers. (Read More)

New game article (and some updates)

June 16th - via: kickstarter.com
A few quick updates today: more next week! We're at almost 600% funded! 🤯🤯🤯 I released a bonus chapter today on the "50 Years of Text Games" blog: a look at a flawed but fascinating 1980s text game with a script by a sci-fi legend: Thomas M.... (Read More)

Mystery Item #3 Reveal!

June 14th - via: kickstarter.com
Here we are in week two already, and the campaign is continuing its tremendous momentum, surpassing $160K raised and 1600 backers. I couldn’t be more pleased by how many fans are showing up out of the woodwork to support this project. Thank you! A... (Read More)

Map peeks and quick news

June 10th - via: kickstarter.com
Quick update: the campaign continues to have a great first week: we're at $137,000 and counting, over 400% funded. Incredible to see all the support for this project!! I'll be back next week with the first reveal of the Ultimate Collector's Edition... (Read More)

FUNDED!!

June 8th - via: kickstarter.com
What an incredible 24 hours!! Exactly 99 minutes after launch, we blasted through the funding goal of $29,000, and as of this morning are sitting pretty at $98,708, around 340% of our goal. I don’t know what to say other than thank you! It's... (Read More)

The wonderful "50 Years of Text Games" newsletter is becoming a book

June 8th - via: boingboing.net
Reed ended up covering a full 50 years worth of text based gaming, which each newsletter edition — and soon-to-be book chapter — focusing on one text-based video game from each year since the launch of the original Oregon Trail in 1971. (Read More)

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