A return to HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I find it remarkable that over 20 years have past since I last played a text-based computer game, HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was 1984 and my computer was an Atari 800 with 48K of RAM and an external 810 5 1/4-inch floppy drive. That 810 drive stood about 4 inches tall and had a spring on the door release mechanism that would propel the disk from the case with an audible "twang-wooosh" if depressed correctly.

While researching the almost sub-culture that interactive fiction still enjoys I discovered that one can now play HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy online. BBC has an online flash version here and I found a Java based version of the original game on the Douglas Adam's site.

The gameplay is exactly as I remember it; right down to my character being struck in the head again and again by a stray brick as a result of the bulldozer demolishing my house. Frustrating.

Shawn Alexander said, "Time heals all wounds, unless you pick at them." I believe that after 20 years I am picking at something I should have left well enough alone. We'll see.