Jason Dyer

Game designer making mathematics and science interactive.

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npub1wlftdcmjjsfc5hs9as65e7kdpzmsl8fdq92nnmqkggpfe0pa3uhqpy9y0j

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jdyer@mastodon-gamedev-place.mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqs8054kudefgyu2tcz7cd2vltxs3dc0n5ksz4feastyyq5uhs7c7tspp4mhxue69uhhjctzw5hx6egpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mq6l2lcz

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yabu.me

nos.lol

relay.damus.io

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npub1wlftdcmjjsfc5hs9as65e7kdpzmsl8fdq92nnmqkggpfe0pa3uhqpy9y0j

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Last Notes

2026-07-28 02:21:17 UTC

in which I play the odd graphical adventure game Adventuremania for TI-99, including comparisons between the author Martin Webb and child movie stars (and how teenaged computer entrepreneurs in general dealt with their parents in the early 80s)
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/07/27/adventuremania-1983/
#retrogaming #history #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #commodore #texasinstruments #ti99
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/995/212/307/428/895/original/afa42ed9465d1187.jpg

2026-06-19 01:37:50 UTC

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@nprofile…tkx6 at least mastodon lets you edit!

2026-06-16 19:27:00 UTC

Last time I introduced Thissala, an adventure game from 1979 that was lost since last year and seems to be one of the largest ever made. Today's post I start exploring in earnest for the first time, finding where it overlaps both Adventure and Zork.
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/06/16/thissala-dense-in-timothy-and-flora/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #zork
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/761/427/867/689/285/original/1049d5e83ee84f92.jpg

2026-05-21 16:48:34 UTC

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@nprofile…tkx6 the amount of conscious thought on the issue no doubt varied (the two abandoned trs-80 games I played both got too big, and the folks doing unexpanded vic-20 really had to do major tricks, like that aussie game split into many parts)

2026-05-21 13:28:34 UTC

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@nprofile…tkx6 it's understandable to want to do something different!
everyone was under harsh technical conditions, on top of how in a pure design sense hard-but-fair is trickier than easy-but-fair
even Scott Adams who could handle the technical part went overboard

2026-05-20 19:04:18 UTC

All the Adventures reaches the 3rd game of the Canadian who moved to England, Marc Leduc. We're looking for alien life that's been detected on Venus.
The previous game was good, but is the natural desire of authors to make later games difficult going to be a problem?
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/05/20/epic-hero-3-venus-must-live-1982/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #canada #england #history
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/608/457/069/582/287/original/d47967b7ea1949d4.jpg

2026-02-25 19:45:25 UTC

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@nprofile…tkx6 was trying to figure out why I didn't get a red underline
but even the dictionaries aren't sure whether to call it correct
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miniscule

2026-02-25 19:26:06 UTC

All the Adventures returns to Australia, and Darryll Reynolds, well known for Secret of Bastow Manor. This is the first game of his I have access to, a conversion from TRS-80 to VIC-20, and it does a bizarre trick to deal with the miniscule memory size.
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/02/25/death-star-1983/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #c64 #commodore #australia #history
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/132/907/554/580/777/original/9df312c2dded66f7.jpg

2026-01-25 18:23:05 UTC

The study of PRISM continues, as I go back over some history of Masquerade (which the game was heavily inspired by) and try to get at the central question of: how do you specify the exact location of three different buried treasures with 1982 technology?
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/01/25/prism-how-to-hide-something-so-almost-nobody-finds-it/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #puzzle #apple #appleII
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/957/128/034/362/971/original/37801cca606bc21f.png

2025-10-21 03:27:03 UTC

My series on the Sir-Tech Apple II game Crypt of Medea continues, as I wade through numerous deathtraps and blood.
Also, a comparison between the Wizardry manual and the Crypt of Medea manual.
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/10/20/crypt-of-medea-seas-of-blood/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #apple #apple2
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/410/024/204/105/688/original/c7e875f253176736.png

2025-10-18 01:12:37 UTC

next on All the Adventures, a small VIC-20 adventure and the surprisingly messy drama of early-80s UK software publishing
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/10/17/the-golden-apples-of-zeus-1983/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #commodore
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/392/508/149/588/080/original/6f8eabc79f31285c.jpg

2025-10-07 16:06:54 UTC

in which I embark on Infocom's wildly ambitious Suspended, where you are in partial cryofreeze and can only communicate with the world using six robots, each with their own abilities and methods of communicating
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/10/07/suspended-1983/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #infocom #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/333/739/323/874/186/original/ec6f90f536a15b21.jpg

2025-05-28 04:05:31 UTC

the conclusion to Nosferatu, the VIC-20 game crammed into 8K of space
wherein the sharp stick and mallet get used for unconventional purposes
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/05/27/nosferatu-trees-are-reserved-for-coffins/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #commodore
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/583/477/686/624/495/original/407e83c38208b875.jpeg

2025-05-27 03:53:29 UTC

in which I embark on the VIC-20 game Nosferatu
which, unusually, has us not here to kill the vampire, but steal an artifact and escape
also, I give the story of Terminal Software and how fibbing to a reporter led to their most famous game
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/05/26/nosferatu-1982-1983/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #commodore
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/577/767/669/570/143/original/4b4f1727b90f8127.jpeg

2025-05-13 23:59:41 UTC

All the Adventures reaches the finale of Countdown to Doom, with one of the most clever puzzles in the game. Plus, I analyze why this game violates so many game design rules yet plays fair anyway.
With this I'm done with 1982 in my chronology and can move on to 1983.
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/05/13/countdown-to-doom-skyward/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #bbcmicro
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/503/238/661/946/980/original/48c1492562917e2d.jpg

2025-05-09 00:23:02 UTC

my grand finale post to The Hobbit
where I prod at the various systems and why -- despite so many flaws -- the game was an enormous bestseller
including an investigation of the mysterious VIC-20 game that made it to market first
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/05/08/the-hobbit-hero-of-heroes/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #zxspectrum #msx #tolkien
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/475/019/125/694/452/original/485ec4c592186f89.jpg

2025-03-17 03:56:32 UTC

in my 1337th post on Renga in Blue, I give the finale of Dan Kitchen's early game Crystal Caverns
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/03/16/crystal-caverns-estate-landlord/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #appleII #apple
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/175/755/098/844/864/original/48cb9d35e20985be.jpg

2025-02-10 21:13:35 UTC

For today's game I embark on Kim-Venture, a highly unusual adventure game on the KIM-1, a system with a "calculator display" that could only display six characters at a time and had a ludicrously small memory capacity.
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/02/10/kim-venture-1979/
#retrogaming #adventuregames #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #history
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/981/653/323/487/320/original/c046f965d6259a0f.jpg

2025-01-31 02:56:08 UTC

next on All the Adventures, a ludicrously tiny version of The Hobbit made for VIC-20 by a "schoolboy" in the UK, including a special bonus ending and catching an eagle in a cage (??)
https://bluerenga.blog/2025/01/30/arkenstone-1982/
#tolkien #videogames #retrogaming #textadventure #interactivefiction #vic20 #commodore
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/920/713/765/588/082/original/280a7cdbba0370e8.jpeg

2024-11-26 18:13:48 UTC

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@nprofile…hujc you had "or thereabouts"
I have it on '83 (probably due to a copyright date somewhere)
if you're sure about '82 I can play it though!

2024-11-26 17:59:55 UTC

Strangely enough, the end of 1982 in All the Adventures is within sight! Here is my final list of games, including Apple II, North Star, and the Victor Lambda computer out of France.
https://bluerenga.blog/2024/11/26/1982-the-final-stretch/
#retrogaming #adventuregame #textadvneture #videogames #interactivefiction #appleII #bbcmicro #commodore #commodore64
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/550/555/664/442/097/original/423540b6a85ccb3a.jpeg