You're TRAPPED in a '90s Video Game!
Escape with all your bits in-tact.
PRESS START, ADVENTURER!
In middle school, I was a computer geek. Specifically, a Mac addict. In fact, I literally subscribed to a magazine called Mac Addict! So the games I loved most in the second half of the 90s weren’t popular titles like Final Fantasy VII, Golden Eye, or Grand Theft Auto. They were obscure Mac shareware games where you’d play as a paper airplane, a crystal quester, and whatever it is that shoots the Snoods.
👾 What’s your favorite retro video game? Reply to this email and let me know! I’m always looking for a new old game to play.
You are a game tester, the sickest gig on the planet. Can you believe there's a job where you get to play video games... for a living?! There's no way a job replaying the same game over and over again to encounter minor errors and document them in detail for little pay could ever be anything but DA BOMB.
It's after hours at the game studio. You sit on a leather couch in front of a state-of-the-art 500 lb TV. The slick black game controller rumbles in your hands, immersing you in the on-screen action of Radical Rabbit's Environmental Trivia Challenge. All your fellow testers went home – something about a freak lightning whatever – but you wanna go one-on-one with Radical Rabbit, because the rainforest is frickin' phat.
KA-ZAP! A burst of lightning strikes the office! Your TV sparks and glows, transforming into a swirling vortex. This is no ordinary bug. No FAQ can help you now. In a matter of moments, you're sucked into the portal, into a world of video games. The portal closes with a rude buuuuuurp.
Find < 3 Golden Keys > to return home. You have < 3 Lives > or it’s game over.
To determine what game you land in: How violent was the last game you played?
Not violent. Cute and friendly!
A bit violent. Dark and edgy!
Ultra violent. Senator Joe Lieberman would be very upset!
SPORTS FOR NERDS!
A neat thing happened! To help promote Target Run (the official Adventure Snack D&D adventure) I curated a DMs Guild bundle of similar products called the Sports & Leisure Bundle. 7 titles to bring sports, competitions, and festival fun to your table – all for less than $20 until November 30th.
I recruited a number of great indie creators with modules like Bard-Core Brawlers and The Brewski Jubilee. I thought maybe we’d all sell a few extra copies and that’d be that. But then something unexpected happened. The DMs Guild spotlighted the bundle in its newsletter…
…which led to this (!):
Wizards of the Coast officially shouted out something I put together. As in, the actual Wizards who live on The Coast. That was super exciting! The Magic: The Gathering loving middle schooler in me is still freaking out.
Overall, I’ve found the D&D community to be very welcoming of Adventure Snack. If you found AS through DMs Guild, a D&D podcast, or the tweet above, welcome to the party! I’ll pretend we met at a tavern.
FIRST TIME HERE?
Adventure Snack is a game series I email to subscribers. Play Adventure Snack for free and turn your inbox into an adventure!
I’m a narrative designer for video games. I’ve written for Capcom, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and indie studios around the world. Follow me @geoffreygolden on Twitter.
Art assets designed by hdst, phi, Nmn, Chasersgamers, and Puffolotti on OpenGameArt.org.