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Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

Recommended 12+
Text-only fantasy combat with a troll and a thief; the player can be killed and revived. About age guidance

Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

Open the mailbox by the white house and descend into the Great Underground Empire, hunting treasure past a troll, a thief and a hungry grue.

Controls

Type commands at the > prompt and press Enter: LOOK (L), EXAMINE (X) LAMP, NORTH (N), UP (U), TAKE, DROP, INVENTORY (I), WAIT (Z). AGAIN (G) repeats a command. On a phone, tap the prompt to open the keyboard.

About 1.1 MiB · loads after Play

Ready when you are.

Saves

Type SAVE and choose a name to keep your place in this browser; RESTORE brings it back next time. Progress is not saved automatically, so save before closing the page. Clearing site data removes saves, and Safari may clear them after a week without a visit.

How to play Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

Controls

Type commands at the > prompt and press Enter: LOOK (L), EXAMINE (X) LAMP, NORTH (N), UP (U), TAKE, DROP, INVENTORY (I), WAIT (Z). AGAIN (G) repeats a command. On a phone, tap the prompt to open the keyboard.

Tips

  • Carry the lamp: wandering in the dark is fatal.
  • Treasures score points when placed in the trophy case.
  • SCORE shows your progress; DIAGNOSE shows your health.

Zork I: The Great Underground Empire — help & credits

Type commands at the > prompt and press Enter: LOOK (L), EXAMINE (X) LAMP, NORTH (N), UP (U), TAKE, DROP, INVENTORY (I), WAIT (Z). AGAIN (G) repeats a command. On a phone, tap the prompt to open the keyboard.

Type SAVE and choose a name to keep your place in this browser; RESTORE brings it back next time. Progress is not saved automatically, so save before closing the page. Clearing site data removes saves, and Safari may clear them after a week without a visit.

MIT · source © 2025 Microsoft, built from Infocom's ZIL with ZILF · Zork is a trademark of its owner; not affiliated · Parchment MIT

Game license & credits

Game source

The game is made by its original authors. Leaf Arcade provides this browser player. Tab leaves the local game canvas; stopping unloads its audio and runtime.