Last year’s science fiction odyssey, Interstellar, was well received by film critics and members of the scientific community. It even won an Oscar last month for its special effects. With the film now out on digital HD, its distributor, Paramount, has launched a free text adventure that’s actually quite charming.
The Interstellar Text Adventure actually serves as a prequel to the events of the motion picture, in which a team of astronauts, travel far from a dying Earth in hopes of finding a habitable planet that humanity can migrate to.
The player takes on the role of an unnamed scientist who is part of an initial scouting mission, in which a dozen scientists were launched onto various planets in hopes that at least one of them would find the planet they land on to be livable. The aftermath of their efforts is depicted in Interstellar.
As one of these scientists, your job is to explore the planet, aided by your robot sidekick, PLEX. Being an old school text adventure, your imagination should be firing on all cylinders.
Don’t underestimate this game. Although it’s mainly a promotional tool for the movie, the Interstellar Text Adventure is exceptionally well written and surprisingly difficult. In my case, I died alone and afraid after getting lost in a canyon maze. Be sure to type “Help here” regularly to bring up a list of available commands.
Fans of either the movie, text based adventure games, or both, will find plenty to like from this little gem, which you can play for free here.