Description

The game takes place in the Zork calendar year 948 GUE (althoughthe passage of time is not notable in gameplay). The player stepsinto the deliberately vague role of an "adventurer". The gamebegins near a white house in a small, self-contained area. Althoughthe player is given little instruction, the house provides anobvious point of interest.

When the player enters the house, it yields a number ofintriguing objects: an ancient brass lantern, an empty trophy case,an intricately engraved sword, etc. Beneath the rug a trap doorleads down into a dark cellar. But what initially appears to be acellar is actually one of several entrances to a vast subterraneanland—the Great Underground Empire. The player soon encountersdangerous creatures, including deadly grues, an axe-wielding troll,a giant cyclops and a nimble-fingered thief. This man makes mappingthe maze difficult because he removes things you put down in therooms to navigate by. Yet he has an important use.

The ultimate goal of Zork I is to collect the Twenty Treasuresof Zork and install them in the trophy case. Finding the treasuresrequires solving a variety of puzzles such as the navigation of twobrutal mazes and some intricate manipulations at Flood Control Dam#3.

Placing all of the treasures into the trophy case scores theplayer 350 points and grants the rank of "Master Adventurer."