A text adventure started 40 years ago has only just been finished Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A text adventure started 40 years ago has only just been finished Ferret was created by a bunch of British programmers in 1982 News by CJ Wheeler News Reporter Published on Oct. 7, 2022 14 comments A piece of interactive fiction that was created for a 16-bit minicomputer in the early 1980s has finally been completed, four decades later. Ferret, a Zork-like text adventure, began development in 1982 for the Data General Nova 2. The game was put together by a group of software engineers from Data General's UK-based Systems Division. Ferret only received a final functional release complete with an endgame in August this year, according to a post on the game's Facebook community. Watch on YouTube James went hands-on with some reet weird controllers at EGX recently. Ferret was brought to our attention by a tweet from blogger Jason Dyer, a.k.a. Renga In Blue. Dyer delves into the history of Ferret in some depth, and provides some interesting snippets of the game's text. Ferret's a chunky adventure, with 1,785 rooms, thousands of objects to interact with, and nearly 400 verbs to try. Among these, Dyer notes, is the unusual 'test' verb, which runs every other verb on your object of choice. Handy, maybe? You can read more about the Ferret project on the Interactive Fiction Wiki here. I haven't given Ferret a go myself, but one player commented to Dyer that it was "big on vivid deaths". "The camera-like object is now pointing directly at you. Now visible on its face is a badge upon which is written: Ferret security systems (laser division) and a dial which is set to Multi-zap mega-death," they said, quoting the game. "Just as you take in these details the laser energizes and burns out both of your eyes. The laser however is not content with just blinding you, and continues burning into your skull, vaporizing your brain." Classic text adventure scenes. Ferret is freely downloadable, but Dyer warns that it triggers anti-virus software due to copying files into protected directories. He's made a bare-bones version with the install elements removed, though, which you can find here. More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here