# MITDDC/zork

Source code for a 1977 version of Zork

Repository: https://github.com/MITDDC/zork
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/zork
Homepage: https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/347748
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2022-08-10T15:25:54+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2311, "days_push": 1484, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1053, forks 121 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:23.863699+00:00)

## What it is
An archival repository containing the recovered 1977 source code of Zork, the classic MIT interactive fiction game, written in MDL for the PDP-10. It is preserved by the MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections as part of the Tapes of Tech Square collection.

## Use cases
- study the original source code of Zork
- research early interactive fiction and game history
- explore the MDL programming language
- recover and examine 1970s PDP-10 software artifacts
- cite historical source code in academic work

## When to choose
- you are a researcher or historian studying early computer games
- you want to read the original MDL source of Zork
- you need a citable archival source for Zork's provenance

## When to avoid
- you want to play a modern, runnable version of Zork
- you need a maintained game engine or interpreter
- you expect buildable, production-ready code

## Facets
- artifact type: dataset
- maturity: maintenance
- function: interpreter, programming-language
- domain: gaming-tools, education
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: interactive-fiction, text-adventure, mdl, pdp-10, historical-archive, source-code-archive, history

## Member repositories
- MITDDC/zork (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:23.863699+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:59:19.242635+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/MITDDC/zork (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:23.863699+00:00, sha 4dfc3e0efa7f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.