The Story of Magnetic Scrolls and The “End” of the Text Adventure | Kim Justice

Many thanks to Wireframe Magazine for sponsoring this video! https://wfmag.cc/kimjustice

Magnetic Scrolls were the UK-based text adventure makers who were able to match Infocom, thanks to the success of games like The Pawn and Guild of Thieves…but even they couldn’t beat time. This is their fascinating story.

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FURTHER READING:

The Magnetic Scrolls Memorial: http://msmemorial.if-legends.org
The Classic Adventurer: http://www.classicadventurer.co.uk
The Digital Antiquarian: http://www.filfre.net
The Internet Archive Magazine Rack: https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack

0:00 Intro
1:46 Ad: Wireframe Magazine
2:46 Text Adventures in the UK: The Hobbit, Level 9, The Quill
9:15 The Origin of Magnetic Scrolls, The Pawn
20:23 The Success of The Pawn + The Guild of Thieves
28:07 Anita Sinclair, Press Darling + Jinxter
42:15 The Decline of Interactive Fiction: Corruption + Fish!
51:52 Wonderland: Magnetic Scrolls’ Defiant but Doomed Push
1:04:23 Epilogue: Preserving Magnetic Scrolls + Where Are They Now?

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