Zork I: The Great Underground Empire - TypeScript Edition

A faithful TypeScript source port of the classic 1980 interactive fiction game by Infocom.

"You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here."

Installation

npm install -g zork-ts

Play

zork

That's it! You're now ready to explore the Great Underground Empire.

About the Game

Zork I is a text adventure game where you explore an underground empire, solve puzzles, collect treasures, and try to survive encounters with various creatures. The game responds to natural language commands like:

• go north or just n
• open mailbox
• take lamp
• examine sword
• attack troll with sword
• save / restore

Tips for New Players

1. Explore thoroughly - Look at everything, read everything
2. Map your surroundings - The underground can be confusing
3. Save often - Death lurks around many corners
4. Be specific - If a command doesn't work, try rephrasing it
5. Light is precious - Keep track of your light sources

Commands

| Command | Description | | ------- | ----------- | | look (or l) | Describe your surroundings | | inventory (or i) | List what you're carrying | | take <item> | Pick up an item | | drop <item> | Put down an item | | examine <item> | Look closely at something | | open/close <item> | Open or close containers/doors | | save | Save your game | | restore | Load a saved game | | quit | Exit the game | | score | Check your score |

Requirements

• Node.js 25.0.3 or higher

About This Implementation

This TypeScript version achieves 100% logic parity with the original Z-Machine implementation:

• All puzzles are solvable exactly as in the original
• All NPCs (troll, thief, cyclops) behave authentically
• All 350 points are achievable
• Save/restore functionality works seamlessly

The implementation has been verified through exhaustive testing against the original game.

Running from Source

If you prefer to run from source:

git clone https://github.com/zork-ts/zork-ts.git
cd zork-ts
npm install
npm run dev

Credits

• Original Game: Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels, Tim Anderson (Infocom, 1980)
• TypeScript Port: @jsredmond

Learn More

• Wikipedia - Zork I
• The Interactive Fiction Database
• IFWiki

License

MIT

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.