So, history educators (and humanities educators that are comfortable riffing off of history examples): here we are, August, school year coming soon. A perfect time to improve your game (hah) and check out my new book. Amazon has a decent reading sample:

Read a sample: “Designing Historical Games for Classrooms”

Jeremiah McCall

read.amazon.com

For anyone wondering why the translation of Kamaitachi no Yoru is such a big deal, I'd highly recommend giving my video about Chunsoft's sound novel series a watch. It's a bit long, but it goes into the long history behind why these games were so influential in Japan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BT...

Enormous news. I can attest that the patch of Otogirisou was excellent so I'm looking forward to trying this one.

1564 Studio@1564studio.bsky.social · 2d ago

I'm trembling while writing this: Kamaitachi no yoru—not the PC remake, not the iOS port, but the actual original SFC version—has been translated at last by ButThouMust, who graciously brought us an English patch for Otogirisou in the past. This is HISTORICAL.

Highly recommended for anyone who cares about the history of early Japanese personal computing.

F_T_B@ftb1979.bsky.social · 3d ago

New video is up! It's a massively expanded and revised version of the first video i ever did, talking about the rival clubs of University of Tokyo Microcomputer Club and The Theoretical Science Group and how that informed games like Heiankyo Alien and the AX series. youtu.be/ZlHZoXpp0k0

In which I play the earliest adventure game explicitly based on Sherlock Holmes, giving the history of both who wrote the game and how it got written. It was coded based on an unusual system where you can edit from within the game. bluerenga.blog/2026/08/01/s...

Sherlock Holmes & the Case of the Elementary Rescue (1983)

People are going to buy these things and then after six weeks or so they’re going to put them up on a shelf in their closet and ignore them … we saw that there was a need for something …

bluerenga.blog

Interesting stuff here: GPS has received an ok to rerelease an old game that's considered basically "legal abandonware" (my words) under this new system. However, digging deep into the filing (literally the last sentence, haha), the number of downloads will apparently be capped to 100 total.

ゲーム保存協会 💾 GPS (@gamepres)

【重要なお知らせ】 このたび文部科学省様のアカウントから告知がありました。特定非営利活動法人ゲーム保存協会は「未管理著作物裁定制度」の第二号として裁定を受けました。当制度ではSNSでも話題になっておりましたので、ご存じの方もいらっしゃるかと思います。 復刻対象となるゲームは『重機動戦隊シグナス』（日本ソフトアンドハード社） PC-88版です。現在、ダウンロード形式での配信に向けて準備を進めている...

fixupx.com

Another spin of the wheel at random at All the Adventures, as I play Dr. Bongo's Safari Park, a game by the mysterious UK company Custom Software. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/30/d...

Dr. Bongo’s Safari Park (1983)

Dr. Bongo’s plan is to destroy the World, with only hours before his devastating missiles are launched you locate his position. Your mission is to stop him and be the World’s No. 1 hero…

bluerenga.blog

Dr. Lauren Liebe talking about students learning how to play PLATO games. The early graphics are so abstract by today's standards that they couldn't even tell what they were looking at

in which I play the odd graphical adventure game Adventuremania for TI-99, including comparisons between the author Martin Webb and child movie stars (and how teenaged computer entrepreneurs in general dealt with their parents in the early 80s) bluerenga.blog/2026/07/27/a...

Adventuremania (1983)

As a child I was obsessed with making stuff, it started with cardboard boxes and moved on to wood by the age of 5. By 10 I was constantly visiting rubbish dumps to find broken electrical stuff I co…

bluerenga.blog

the conclusion to Peter Kirsch's 16th game, with both clever preparation puzzles and some of the worst parser abuse I've seen from the author; also, some brief introspection as this is the last of the official 20-game Adventure Game of the Month series bluerenga.blog/2026/07/25/d...

Danger Is My Business: Stinkerus Americanus

I’ve finished the game; this is continued from my previous post. Just to get it out of the way first, we’ve got headhunters again, something I’ve written about before. Since this …

bluerenga.blog

New Atari Archive post! We wrap up March 1981 on the blog with a history of Activision's Tennis, and early tennis video games. Discover that that the game name "Tennis for Two" is a lie! www.atariarchive.org/blog/tennis-...

Tennis – March 1981, Atari Archive

The final March 1981 release, Tennis, is another sports game from the folks at Activision, which drew attention with titles like Boxing, Skiing and...

atariarchive.org

Peter Kirsch is one of the most prolific (and unknown) game authors to write adventures. This is his 16th game for my blog. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/20/d...

Danger Is My Business (1983)

It’s been a while since we’ve played Peter Kirsch, despite this being his 16th game for this blog. (Most recently: The Dalton Gang, Alaskan Adventure, The Curse of the Pharoah) This is …

bluerenga.blog

All the Adventures returns to Australia. I play two games made by a teenager using his friend's adventure system for VIC-20; they come out better than you'd expect by using the "fan fiction shortcut" of supernatural creatures having common lore. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/18/d...

Deathship / Werewolf (1983)

It was remembered as a “joke” computer, with its 22 by 23 character screen and 3.5Kb of RAM. Revisionists forgot that at the time there was nothing else, and that within the confines of…

bluerenga.blog

I finally was able to complete Catacombs, after starting on it 3 years ago. The 1981 version of the game was recently unearthed. It is one of the first commercial British text adventures. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/15/c...

Catacombs: Looking Upon the Angel of Death

(Continued from my previous posts on Catacombs, and in particular my last post which described how the 1981 PET version of the game was recently rescued.) Catacombs was more frustrating to get to t…

bluerenga.blog

Last weekend, one of the most important British text adventures was preserved in its original form (Commodore PET!) for the first time. In this post, I examine the circumstances of its rescue and some other details in the starting sections. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/11/c...

Catacombs: The Rescued (Previously Presumed Lost) 1981 Version

(Continued from my previous posts on Catacombs, which you probably should read before this one if you want the full background.) Last weekend, I received a message from Marcel Ingram Lansing that o…

bluerenga.blog

Surprise bonus post on Thissala! While testing one last thing I found a new piece of content which has the potential to break the game open. bluerenga.blog/2026/07/08/t...

Thissala: Your Friend and Aide for Evermore

Back already! (Continued from my previous posts on Thissala.) Well. Rob pointed out I still missed a chunk of content, but I still would have made it an addendum or a comment on my last post, excep…

bluerenga.blog

My grand conclusion to my series on Thissala, the game lost since 1979: bluerenga.blog/2026/07/06/t...

Thissala: Last Stop on the Suicide Express

This is my last post on Thissala for now, although given the authors never finished it, and there seems to be content I haven’t been able to access, I can’t promise it is the last word.…

bluerenga.blog

Thissala (the game from 1979 only rescued last year) continues, as I reach the fringes of the map and analyze a piece of the game's prose (comparing to original Adventure and Beyond Zork). bluerenga.blog/2026/07/04/t...

Thissala: END DIGGINS

(Continued from my previous posts.) I’ve finally finished filling in the map of the desert, and found absolutely no items whatsoever. It’s all just rooms and more rooms. If there are an…

bluerenga.blog

Plenty of contest results, a new Inform library (or is it?) and news so late-breaking we have to interrupt our news to bring other news! retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/44/

a fascinating game archeology piece in which someone maps and attempts to understand Thissala, a recently unearthed adventure game from 1979.

Jason Dyer@jdyer.bsky.social · last mo.

My exploration of Thissala (the game started in 1979 but only unearthed last year) continues, as I find a desert authored by someone obsessed with geology and scenic simulations. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/28/t...

My exploration of Thissala (the game started in 1979 but only unearthed last year) continues, as I find a desert authored by someone obsessed with geology and scenic simulations. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/28/t...

Thissala: Under Construction

(Continued from my previous posts.) One thing to keep in mind with mainframe adventure games is they were often experienced by players of that period in a state of “under construction”.…

bluerenga.blog

The mysterious (and previously-lost) Thissala (1979) continues, as I die and explore the afterlife of Riverworld. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/21/t...

Thissala: The Shores of Riverworld

(Continued from my previous posts.) Last time I left off on getting immediately killed by a pirate when entering a niche at the train station. Predictably, you can also get killed by waiting for th…

bluerenga.blog

Thissala (the gigantic adventure game lost and only found last year) continues, as I reckon with parser headaches and bugs, and also find a comedian who is trapped and making bad jokes for eternity. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/19/t...

Thissala: Wait Till It Gets a Little Warmer

(Continued from my previous posts.) While I have explored the cave some and will share my results, I have not gotten that much farther; I’m intentionally saving part of the game for a later p…

bluerenga.blog

This uses the newly-uploaded case files from Norman Caruso and clears up the ambiguity from past reporting.

Gaming Alexandria@gamingalexandria.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New article up on the site! @playhistory.bsky.social breaks down the oddly exciting legal drama where Donkey Kong clobbered King Kong. This the true story! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2026/06/h...

Last time I introduced Thissala, an adventure game from 1979 that was lost since last year and seems to be one of the largest ever made. Today's post I start exploring in earnest for the first time, finding where it overlaps both Adventure and Zork. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/16/t...

Thissala: Dense in Timothy and Flora Unlike Any Other

(Continued from my last post.) As is tradition with one of these gigantic cave-delving based games — and there is cave-delving, even though it wasn’t clear at first — let’s …

bluerenga.blog

Thissala (potentially) is one of the largest adventure games ever made, started in 1979. It was not only lost but unknown to even exist until last year when it was unearthed off an old Data General drive. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/14/t...

Thissala (1979)

Public attention, as well as the attention of groups such as this, has been focused on the design and application of large, expensive “super computers.” Our national preoccupation with …

bluerenga.blog

My finale of The Coveted Mirror, including discussion of how being oriented towards non-violence and for children led to some particular innovations. Also, the unexpected connection with the modern EA Sports empire. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/12/t...

The Coveted Mirror: A Rosy Future for All of Us

I’ve finished the game, and my previous posts are needed for context. To continue directly with the most immediately clear solve: the way the barrel works is as a teleporter. It’s not a…

bluerenga.blog

The Coveted Mirror continues, as I finally locate the long-sought-after witch, who needs the shadow of a child. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/10/t...

The Coveted Mirror: The Laughter from the Tower

(Continued from my previous posts about the game.) Progress, but not quite as much as I’d like. Still, I think I’m one or two posts away from the end. The most immediate thing I solved …

bluerenga.blog

The Coveted Mirror for Apple II continues, where I win at inexplicable jousting and fishing, have a conversation with a dog and a horse, and contemplate faking a designer label. bluerenga.blog/2026/06/06/t...

The Coveted Mirror: Paint the Leaves Grey & the Sky-Clouds Red

(Continued from my previous posts.) Before getting into the puzzle solving, let’s tour the last part of the map, where “there’s less hustle & bustle”. This is just past …

bluerenga.blog

The Coveted Mirror continues, where I explore the extensive map, and explain why it feels like a proto-version of later Sierra games (despite not being Sierra-affiliated) bluerenga.blog/2026/06/03/t...

The Coveted Mirror: Vile Upstart

(Continued from my previous post.) I’ve got most of the map laid out, and things are open enough that I’m not really “stuck” but I wanted to report in anyway. To clear one t…

bluerenga.blog