# historicalsource/zork1

Zork I (Microcomputer Version) by Infocom

Repository: https://github.com/historicalsource/zork1
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/zork1
Language: ZIL
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: infocom, interactive-fiction, zork, marc-blank, dave-lebling, bruce-daniels, tim-anderson, zil, z-machine
Last push: 2025-11-20T16:27:38+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 56/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 53, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2699, "days_push": 286, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2947, forks 359 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:31.830487+00:00)

## What it is
A historical archive of the complete ZIL (Zork Implementation Language) source code for Infocom's 1980 interactive fiction game Zork I. It is preserved for education, research, and historical study of how Infocom games were developed on their TOPS20 mainframe system.

## Use cases
- study how classic interactive fiction games were written in ZIL
- compile Zork I from source using the ZILF compiler
- research Infocom's development practices and the Z-machine
- explore discarded and production files from a 1980 game project
- learn the history of text adventure game development
- preserve and analyze vintage game source code

## When to choose
- you are a researcher or student studying interactive fiction history
- you want to read authentic ZIL source code from Infocom
- you want to rebuild Zork I with the community ZILF compiler
- you are curating or preserving retro gaming artifacts

## When to avoid
- you want a playable modern game rather than source code
- you need a working official Infocom ZILCH compiler (none exists)
- you want to build a new interactive fiction game from scratch
- you expect a turnkey build pipeline for the original binaries

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: interpreter, programming-language, game, documentation
- domain: gaming-tools, education, programming-languages
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: interactive-fiction, z-machine, zil, infocom, source-code-archive, retro-computing, game-preservation, history

## Member repositories
- historicalsource/zork1 (main) score 56

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:31.830487+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 2026-08-30T07:32:46.694944+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/historicalsource/zork1 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:31.830487+00:00, sha 89bb3b6cd4d6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.