There are certain games like Zork, which are best suited for those players who love to investigate and solve mysteries. And in these text-based games, you will have to give precise commands to your character if you want to proceed in the story and reach a good ending. These kinds of games require a lot of patience on the part of the player as you can progress to the next stage only if you are able to give the right commands. You can try out the following options which will give you a basic idea of what these kinds of games are all about.
1. Slouching Towards Bedlam:
The first one we can recommend for you is Slouching Towards Bedlam. When you initially start playing this one you will understand that you are playing as a doctor in the Bedlam Asylum. The story out here follows you discovering the existence of a deadly mental virus called ‘Logos’ with which you have been infected with by one of the patients. You also discover that this virus can easily be spread to others by simply speaking to them.
Knowing this your character now attempts to try and stop the spread of this lethal virus which can soon turn pandemic if it is not controlled. You will even learn how this virus had come into existence as you play and its consequences to the infected. This pick has multiple endings based on the decisions you make in your attempt to curtail the virus from spreading and infecting the whole world.
2. Galatea:
The next option on our collection of games similar to Zork is Galatea. Unlike the text-based games, this one will have you interacting with a single character in dialogue form. As soon as you start playing this one you will realize that Galatea is a statue which suddenly comes to life and talks to your character. And since you are in an art museum you can interact with the statue on the topic of art or even the artist who carved her.
This pick allows you to steer the conversation in any way you like by asking her about her thoughts on various subjects that arise in your conversation. The things she tells will surely make you feel interested in speaking to her more and carrying out your dialogue to greater lengths. There are several different kinds of endings that you find in this pick as well, since you can choose to terminate your discussions quickly or continue dialoguing with her until she has nothing left to say but ‘Goodbye’.
3. 9:05:
The third one we have for you is 9:05 which was designed by Adam Cadre. In this text-based adventure, you will be playing the role of Brian Hadley a modern-day executive who oversleeps on a day of an apparently urgent business presentation. This game will not require much of interaction between other characters (expect for the initial telephone conversation).
But most of the gameplay will require you to interact with various objects of the environment, which is mainly in Brian’s apartment along with most of his possessions. This pick is probably one of the shortest and easiest titles on our list so far, so we would recommend all first-timers to start off with this game to get an initial feel of what text-based games are like.
4. The Meteor, The Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet:
This one titled, The Meteor, The Stone and Long Glass of Sherbet is another great fantasy themed which we can add to our list of Zork alternatives for you to try out. The plot in this one is pretty interesting from start to finish and the creator of this pick has done a great job with the description of the entire setting out here. There are many instances in the game where you will be provided with subtle hints to help you proceed.
The role you play in this one is of an ambassador who is on a mission to find the origins of magic and stop it from getting into the wrong hands by destroying it. The designer, Graham Nelson has made this even more Zorkian in nature by making the environment an underground setting.
5. The Acorn Court:
The main idea in The Acorn Court is for you to escape this location by using the different objects that are seen in the environment. At the beginning you will be given a brief description of what things are available for you to interact with in the old tennis court location.
You have to take note of all the items in this location and figure out a way to escape. The maker of this pick only focused on the puzzle element out here, as you will notice that there is no background story or description of the character or how he landed up in this location in the first place. So all you need to do out here is to focus on how to solve your dilemma of escaping this place using whatever objects that have been described to you at the start.
6. Spider and Web:
Our last title on this list of games similar to Zork is Spider and Web, which was designed for all you mystery-solving addicts. In the start of this you are immediately put in a vulnerable position where you find yourself strapped to chair with metal bands around your hands, feet and head.
You have no choice but to speak directly to your interrogator who is apparently convinced that you have commented some major crime. Since your capturer refuses to believe that you are innocent, you have to carefully try to understand what he may want from you through the course of your conversation. But you need to be pretty careful out here as any wrong move may have fatal consequences.
Conclusion:
These are six of the best games like Zork which you can freely play online. If you are a beginner to this particular genre, then you will definitely find it hard to figure out at first. But once you get the hang of the basic commands, you will enjoy yourself a lot more.