Why it matters: Sierra Online co-founders Ken and Roberta Williams have announced their first new game in more than 20 years. Colossal Cave 3D Adventure will be a 3D version of the original Colossal Cave Adventure, a text-based game from 1976 that inspired an entirely new genre of fantasy and adventure titles.
Colossal Cave Adventure was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame as part of the 2019 class alongside other classics like Super Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat and Microsoft Solitaire, and was instrumental in helping to launch the commercial computer game industry.
Like the original, the new game will task players with exploring an elaborate cave system in search of treasure. Along the way, players will encounter all sorts of characters including a giant snake, a dragon, trolls and perhaps even a bear or two. The difference this time around is that the adventure will play out in an immersive 3D world.
Metal Jesus, a former Sierra employee, recently interviewed Ken and Roberta Williams ahead of the game’s announcement.
The idea for the game came about as a result of boredom while in quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“While locked down by the pandemic I wrote a book about the old Sierra days. Its success surprised me and brought back many memories of our days making games. This led me to investigating how modern games are made and I just started coding using the Unity game engine for fun,” Ken Williams told IGN.
“I was looking for something interesting to code when Roberta suggested Colossal Cave. Roberta started to work adapting it to 3D, and I assembled a team,” he added.
Colossal Cave 3D Adventure is being developed by Cygnus Entertainment, the couple’s self-funded studio, for Windows and Mac. It’ll also support the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset, with additional platforms still in consideration. Look for it to launch later this year.