Eaten By A Grue: Infocom, Text Adventures, and Interactive Fiction

Latest Episodes:

Adventureland Dec 25, 2024

Show notes

How long does it take to load a saved game of Adventureland on the TRS-80? A little over a year, apparently. Kay and Carrington are back and ready to tackle tricky text adventures once again. It's a Christmas disaster! I mean, a Christmas miracle! Maybe a bit of both.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Fish!

Fifi's Big Adventure Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

Kay has created a 50,000 word choose your own adventure novel for NaNoGenMo, and Carrington has nothing in his home to sit on. One of the hosts has their life much more together than the other, but who's to say which one. Okay, it's Kay.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Adventureland

Violet Sep 10, 2023

Show notes

Procrastination is the name of the game when Kay and Carrington play Violet. Okay, technically Violet is the name of the game when Kay and Carrington play Violet, but you know what I mean. Note to self: write a better summary for this podcast episode. I'm sure I'll get around to it before we record.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Fifi's Big Adventure

Counterfeit Monkey Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

The Grue Gang tackles one of modern IF's most intricate and interesting games, in which letters can be added or deleted from words at any time and anything can be rearranged. Grue can become gruel, games can become gams, and podcasters can become really cool dudes (okay, that one is hypothetical).

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Violet

Creatures Such As We and Memories of Infocom Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

It's time to dim the lights and break out the legally binding waivers, as Kay and Carrington get busy with an interactive fiction dating sim. They'll also get down to some music inspired by Infocom games. Remember when they used to just play Zork? This podcast just keeps getting weirder.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Counterfeit Monkey

Dorm: Adventure at the 8-Bit Assembly Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

The Grue Crew discuss Carrington's own new text adventure game which he foisted upon an unsuspecting Kay. This is a deep dive into the creation of both the game and Feelies. Can the podcast, and more the point Carrington's ego, survive such a review? As the game itself says, what's the worst that can happen? Only one way to find out.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Creatures Such As We

Hadean Lands, Bee redux, and Leviathan Dec 10, 2022

Show notes

What do you get when you mix difficult puzzles with intricate storytelling? A pair of defeated gamers, that's what. Kay and Carrington throw in the towel and admit they were bested by Andrew Plotkin's Hadean Lands. Then they replay Emily Short's recently remastered Bee, and tackle Jason Shiga's twisted tale of tentacles and truth. Bonus: Kay may or may not have sent Carrington some malware.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Dorm: Adventure at the 8-Bit Assembly

Everybody Dies and Bee Jun 04, 2022

Show notes

The guys from Grue tackle another pair of modern Interactive Fiction games, or at least try to. First up is Everybody Dies, by Jim Munroe, in which ... well, everybody dies. Until they don't. And maybe there are ghosts. Next is Bee, by Emily Short, about going to a spelling bee. Except the only version of the game available doesn't include the spelling bee. Infocom games were never this complicated.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Hadean Lands, by Andrew Plotkin

Their Angelical Understanding, and 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds May 25, 2022

Show notes

Kay and Carrington get a double dose of IF when they play and discuss Twine games for the first time. First up is Their Angelical Understanding, by Porpentine, which comes with both music and warnings. Next is 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds, by Abigail Corfman, a game about french fries and undeath.

Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Everybody Dies, by Jim Munroe

The Secret of Monkey Island May 17, 2022

Show notes

It's time for pointin' and clicking' and piratin', oh my, as Kay and Carrington play one of LucasFilm's famously funny forays into adventure gaming. Will they become terrors of the high seas, or be stuffed into Davy Jones' locker? All we know for sure is, there will be grog. Hosts: Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston

Theme tune: "It Is Pitch Dark" by MC Frontalot

Find links, notes, and more episodes of Eaten By A Grue at MonsterFeet.com

Next episode: Their Angelical Understanding, by Porpentine

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Eaten By A Grue: Infocom, Text Adventures, and Interactive Fiction

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected