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A review by helpfulsnowman
ZZT by Anna Anthropy
4.0
This book gives a pretty interesting look into the world of very early homebrew games. From what I read here, it sounds like the ZZT game creation options were some of the first home tools many, many gamers experimented with. And what's really fascinating, a lot of these creators also used the tools in their searches for personal identity.
It's kind of an amazing example of restriction breeding creativity. ZZT was, in a lot of ways, a very limited world. You only had a small number of possible icons to put on screen, the color palette was limited, and the sound? You get bip boop, and you'll be thankful you got that much!
I'm kind of a dummy. I just completed an hour of code event, and even that tested my brain. So there were portions of this book that went a bit over my head, and I felt a little lost. I don't think this is the writer's fault. She was pretty clear, and even when I was lost, the sections were short enough that I could latch on to something new after only a short wander.
That said, one of the things I want to talk about in reviewing Boss Fight Books is whether the book is best read BEFORE or AFTER playing the game. In this case, I think it'd be to great advantage to play a little ZZT first. Or, at the very least, check out a couple videos on YouTube and get a sense of what you're looking at.
Oh, and the author and I had a short introduction before I read this book. She put up a great little guide to Twine, the software that allows for players to create their own games in a Choose Your Own Adventure format. It's pretty cool, and it's free, and it's easy to learn. I highly recommend it. http://www.auntiepixelante.com/twine/
It's kind of an amazing example of restriction breeding creativity. ZZT was, in a lot of ways, a very limited world. You only had a small number of possible icons to put on screen, the color palette was limited, and the sound? You get bip boop, and you'll be thankful you got that much!
I'm kind of a dummy. I just completed an hour of code event, and even that tested my brain. So there were portions of this book that went a bit over my head, and I felt a little lost. I don't think this is the writer's fault. She was pretty clear, and even when I was lost, the sections were short enough that I could latch on to something new after only a short wander.
That said, one of the things I want to talk about in reviewing Boss Fight Books is whether the book is best read BEFORE or AFTER playing the game. In this case, I think it'd be to great advantage to play a little ZZT first. Or, at the very least, check out a couple videos on YouTube and get a sense of what you're looking at.
Oh, and the author and I had a short introduction before I read this book. She put up a great little guide to Twine, the software that allows for players to create their own games in a Choose Your Own Adventure format. It's pretty cool, and it's free, and it's easy to learn. I highly recommend it. http://www.auntiepixelante.com/twine/