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This May Be The Coolest Way To Play Zork

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Or is it the dorkiest? However you want to label it, the ability to play Infocom text adventures like Zork and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with a typewriter is without a doubt neat.

This is Automatypewriter, a "new way to experience interactive fiction," according to its creator Jonathan M. Guberman. Built with custom software designed by Guberman's collaborator Jim Munroe, Automatypewriter turns an old Smith Corona electric typewriter into a game terminal, outputting text by typing automatically and interpreting text typed by players.

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Guberman explains how the whole thing works in the Automatypewriter project page.

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If you're in the Toronto area, you may be able to get your hands on the thing at the Site 3 coLaboratory, which has open house nights every Thursday.

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A new way to interact with fiction [Up Not North via Make]