In a recent episode of Big Bang Theory, everyone's favorite theoretical physicist Dr. Sheldon Cooper attempted to have a game night with some friends. As is usual for the scientist, game night has a different connotation. Instead of playing contemporary hit games like Halo, Black Ops, or the like, Sheldon attempted to convince his friends to revisit text-based classics, like Zork.

Sheldon's game night got me to thinking about the text-based games of old. Back when video game consoles were expensive and hard to come by and computers didn't have the processing power they have today, gamers played text-based adventure games. The games recognized rudimentary sentence structures, giving the illusion that players were commanding the game through their commands. In truth, today's Scribblenauts recognizes a wider variety of vocabulary than the classic games of old, but the illusion was there. On top of that, the basic programming behind the games gave programmers a lot of leeway to have fun with responses to commands it didn't understand, which added some flavor to the classic titles.

Believe it or not, a lot of gamer culture is still rooted in those classic games. Despite not having a visual element to draw upon, some of those titles left an indelible impression upon players. I can't count the number of times while playing World of Warcraft I've seen players reference, "You may be eaten by a grue." This is a reference to the Zork series, which threatens players, "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue." Zork even spun off beyond the world of computer games, offering several "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that carried a specific twist: at some point in the book, an option would be given that was completely unrelated to game play, and if the player chose that option they would be penalized for cheating. This too has worked its way into contemporary gaming culture, with players sucked into other dimensions or penalized similarly for playing dishonestly.

Even better than contemporary references is that many of these titles are still around in some shape or form, incorporated into larger games or made available through emulators of old consoles. They may not be as flashy and brilliant as tossing in the latest RPG or first-person shooter, but they still offer some fun gameplay and a sense of video games' nostalgic roots. Here are a few of the classic text-based games still available to play:

Zork: One of the most ingenuitive games of its time, Zork recognized more sophisticated sentence structures than other text-based games of its time. The game is actually widely available, having seen the series released to the Amazon Kindle last year. It is also made available as a game within a game in Call of Duty: Black Ops by typing "Zork" into a torture chamber computer console. If you don't have those options available to you, you can play the classics on line at Infogames (who originally developed the series) or Moby Games. You can also find a spin-off from the series with the contemporary Legends of Zork, available at Legends of Zork.com

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The text-based game adaptation of Douglas Adams' novels is just as unique an experience as reading the source material. The game is wacky and actually demands multiple plays because of a time-travel element that requires players do things early in the game to set proper conditions for events that occur later in their travel. You'll even encounter a part of the game where the computer argues with your choice of actions, initially refusing players the ability to do what they need to do (be persistent and you'll eventually convince the computer you're right). You can also find this one online at Moby Games as well as a Java version of the software at the official Douglas Adams website.

Fish!: This offering differs from the previous two in a couple of ways. First, it's not from Infocom Games and secondly it does include some basic graphics to help players visualize the setting they are in. While I really enjoy the game's bizarre concept, frequently I found the images more of a hindrance than help. Nowhere near as notable as the other titles on the list, it's still good for passing some time. Check it out online at Moby Games.

Choice of the Dragon: Finally, proof that the text-based genre is not dead comes this Javascript game that allows players to take the role of a dragon in a medieval tale. While the game is more of a choose your own adventure than a game that offers text freedom, it's still nice to see people playing in a medium different than the common Flash games we see so often. Check out Choice of the Dragon at Choice of Games.com.