This was one very interesting game to say the least. In comparison I am unsure which of the two games I like more. For Civs, my joy stemmed from the fact it was fun to see where one of my favorite games had come from. What concepts that were in both, and have they been reshaped to enhance the playing experience. As for Zork, this game is a beast of its’ own. I mean this in the most positive way possible, because never had I played a game like this.

Lets take an adventure through a virtual world, that has no images, and is controlled through text. Well, right off the bat this reminds me of one of my favorite book series as a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure. 10 million ways to get to the end, with an end result that reflects the decisions chosen to get there. Another way to look at Zork 1, is as a puzzle game. Stages in the game, like the maze, reflect the game as a whole. Blindly wandering, because one has a hard trouble placing their physical location in a defined space that has no simple way in defining how to get to the end/exit.

Moreover, the readings paired up perfectly with this game, setting the floor for great discussion. As it is alone hard at times to draw the distinctions between what is narrative vs a game (representation  vs simulation), it was hard to label this game. Using the arguments from the readings, and class discussion it can be safely conclude this is a game, but that embraces qualities of a narrative to help better the structure of the simulation. It helps to provide further interest, and reason for the game.