Journey (1989 video game)

Journey: The Quest Begins

Developer(s)| Infocom
Publisher(s)| Infocom
Designer(s)| Marc Blank
Artist(s)| Donald Langosy
Engine| Z-machine
Platform(s)| Amiga, Apple II, DOS, Macintosh
Release| 1989
Genre(s)| Interactive fiction
Mode(s)| Single player

Journey: The Quest Begins is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Marc Blank, with illustrations by Donald Langosy, and released by Infocom in 1989.[1] Like the majority of Infocom's works, it was released simultaneously for several popular computer platforms, such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, and PC. Journey is unusual among Infocom games in that it could be played entirely via mouse or joystick, with no typing required. It was the thirty-fifth and last game released by Infocom before parent company Activision closed the Cambridge office, effectively reducing Infocom to a "label" to be applied to later games.

Journey was the only game released under the "Infocom Roleplay Chronicles" genre. It contains illustrations similar to those used in James Clavell's Shōgun and Arthur. This would be the last game that Infocom would both develop and publish.

## Contents

* 1 Plot
* 2 Gameplay
* 3 Feelies
* 4 Critical reception
* 5 References
* 6 External links
* 7 Features
* 8 History
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links

## Plot

The game package acknowledges the strong influence of Tolkien on the plot of Journey. A land reminiscent of Middle-earth has been ravaged by a mysterious, evil power. Crops, water, and the inhabitants themselves suffer from unexplainable illnesses and blights. A group of villagers ventured forth to seek the help of the reclusive wizard Astrix, but they have not been heard from in months. It is feared that few will survive the additional hardships of the coming winter, and so a second group is being dispatched. The four chosen are Bergon (a young carpenter), Praxix (a wizard), Esher (a healer), and Tag (a merchant). They leave their village behind to cross unknown lands with two goals: to discover the fate of the earlier party, and to plead Astrix for assistance. While Bergon is the leader the group, the story is told by Tag and, for the most part, seen through his eyes.[2]

## Gameplay

The game's interface is highly unusual for Infocom. A large window at the top of the screen is divided between a graphic and text describing the current location. The bottom window is subdivided into additional sections: commands that may be performed by the party as a group, such as "Proceed" (continue along the current path), and commands for only one character in the party (the wizard Praxix might be able to "Cast" a spell). The player uses the keyboard, mouse, or joystick to select choices from these menus. This is a stark contrast to the majority of Infocom's other games, in which each command is typed in manually.

At a non-winning end of the game, the player is given the option to read "musings" by the narrator. These typically refer to points in the game where things had gone wrong and give gentle hints on ways to reach a better ending.

## Feelies

Infocom game packages traditionally contained feelies, or "extra" items related in some way to the game that sometimes served as copy protection. The feelies for Journey were:

* a red fabric pouch containing a "crystal"
* a map of the land

## Critical reception

G.M. magazine described Journey's storyline as lovely, and a refreshing departure from the graphical tile-based game RPGs that were common at the time.[3] Computer Gaming World gave the game a glowing review, giving particular praise to the game's command interface, but also saying "Journey is full of delightful puzzles, superb prose, and finely honed legends."[4]

Games magazine called Journey "interactive storytelling at its best." The reviewer said that Journey was "an interesting story full of fascinating byways and hidden paths that you are guaranteed to miss the first time through."[5] Games magazine selected Journey as one of the best computer games of 1989.[6]

Amiga Format rated Journey 82% overall, recommending the game to "anyone who likes games that require thought input". The review singled out the game's "simple and easy to use" keyword selection system and the "very logical and intriguing" puzzles.[7]

Game Players said the game was "more like a novel than a text adventure" with the goal being "to find out how the story ends" rather than solving puzzles. The review said Journey had "some of the best interactive fiction writing ever" consisting mostly of "well-written narration". The review also praised the game's "extremely attractive" and "well-executed illustrations." The game was less time-consuming and mentally taxing than previous Infocom titles like Zork and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, trading an emphasis on story for a short playing time. The reviewer felt that "Journey's trade-off is successful", pointing "towards a possible future of the genre" where interactive fiction evolves "into a story-telling medium rather than a gaming medium."[8]

Dragon magazine named Journey the best Macintosh fantasy role-playing game of 1989.[9]

## References

1. ↑ "Journey: The Quest Begins" (in en-US). https://www.myabandonware.com/game/journey-the-quest-begins-gt.
2. ↑ "Journey: The Quest Begins (1989)". https://www.mobygames.com/game/journey-the-quest-begins.
3. ↑ Shambler (July 1989). "Journey review". G.M. (Croftward).
4. ↑ Adams, Roe R. III (June 1989). "Long Play's Journey Into Light". Computer Gaming World (60): 32–33.
5. ↑ Hochberg, Burt (August–September 1989). "Journey". Games (PSC Games Limited Partnership) 13 (5 Issue 99): 49.
6. ↑ Marley, Scott (December 1989 – January 1990). "The Best Electronic Games of '89: Computer Games". Games (PSC Games Limited Partnership) 14 (1 Issue 101): 46.
7. ↑ Smith, Andy (August 1989). "Journey". Amiga Format (Future Publishing Ltd) (1): 23.
8. ↑ Randall, Neil (November 1989). "PC Players: Journey". Game Players (Signal Research, Inc.) 1 (5): 55–57.
9. ↑ Hartley, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (November 1989). "The Beastie Knows best". Dragon (TSR Ltd.) XIV (6 Issue 151): 36.

## External links

* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.
18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628.

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