The history of adventure games and RPGs goes back nearly 50 years, with the 1976 text-based titleColossal Cave Adventurebeing widely considered the first true narrative-driven game. Back then, players only had the text descriptions to guide their imaginations, but soon they’ll be able to experience the adventure like never before courtesy of a 3D remake bylegendary game designer Roberta Williams. Not only that, they’ll be able to play it on more platforms than originally announced.
Now going by the titleColossal Cave - Reimagined by Roberta Williams, the remake was originally announced as a VR-focused title that will be released for Mac, PC, and Meta Quest 2. However, it looks like it won’t be strictly exclusive to VR, because developer Cygnus Entertainment has confirmed that the game will be coming to theNintendo Switchas well.
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In a press release sent to IGN, Cygnus CEO Ken Williams stated the goal with the reimaginedColossal Caveis to “bring back the spirit of traditional adventure games” for both fans of the original and newer generations that missed out on the era of text-based games. This is something that the studio believes will be helped by bringing the game to the Switch, and with thesheer number of Switches that have been sold, the potential player base now stands to be much bigger than before.
The Switch port announcement also came with a trailer full of new gameplay footage. Teasing the wonders and dangers that await inColossal Caveremake, it highlights cavernous ruins, dwarven explorers, a bear shackled by a golden chain, and a dragon resting on a rug-covered rock. Armed with only a lantern, a limited amount of oil, and their wits, players will encounter all sorts of friendly and not-so-friendly characters as they explore the cave, solve complex puzzles, and collect all the treasures hidden within. Cygnus teases that they’ll be able to find “exciting Easter eggs” as well.
Roberta Williams is known for creatingMystery House, the first graphics-based adventure game, as well as theclassicKing’s Questseriesat Sierra On-Line, the prominent adventure game publisher she co-founded with her husband Ken. Williams has citedColossal Cave Adventureas a major inspiration for her career, and with her reimagining, she has stated that it will be faithful to the classic version, right down to the inclusion of the original narration and source code.
As such, players shouldn’t expect to see the newColossal Cavepadded out with new puzzles. Rather, it looks like the graphics and modern controls will be the only major differences from the original text-based version. That will be good news for those who want to experience gaming history in as unadulterated a fashion as possible.
Colossal Cave - Reimagined by Roberta Williamsis expected to launch sometime this fall for Mac, Meta Quest 2, PC, and Switch.
