Top all-time · #2252
The CRPG Addict
Personal blog · crpgaddict.blogspot.comgameshistory
The CRPG Addict is a personal blog at crpgaddict.blogspot.com about games and history. Since 2015, 33 different Hacker News readers have linked it 66 times, most often “The CRPG Addict”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-11-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (27) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link The CRPG Addict for its chronological playthroughs of computer RPGs, with reviews described as detailed and humorous. Commenters also cite its posts for game history.
- Recommended for · 11 comments
- Called a detailed, quality resource with great humor in the reviews; praised as a methodical, thorough playthrough of CRPGs, and 'cannot recommend enough'.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 27 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
A blog in which a dedicated addict plays through all PC computer role-playing games (CRPGs), in chronological order.
Most-linked posts?
- The CRPG Addict4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2018-02-05
- 1970s mainframe RPGs we can no longer play3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-06-30
- /3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-12-19
- /p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-12-21
- /2013/11/game-124-avatar-1979.html2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-12-17
What Hacker News says?
Sounds like Operation Overkill ][. Here is a writeup about it that includes the little 3x3 tile map for movement: http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2015/04/game-187-operation-ov...
Comment linking /2015/04/game-187-operation-overkill-1990.html
on “A look at my BBS Software from '93”Submitted 1970s mainframe RPGs we can no longer play as a story · 279 points
HN discussionYour comment reminds me of this interesting article: https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2010/06/game-economies.html?... In many rpgs as you progress through the game the need for expenditure diminishes to zero. Different case if it is mmo or designed around grinding though.
Comment linking /2010/06/game-economies.html?m=1
on “The money I saved as a child would buy one picogram of gold today”Submitted John Carmack's First Game as a story · 203 points
HN discussionCannot recommend this blog enough , where the author is playing methodically computer RPGs in chronological order (he has started in 2010 and I think its going thorugh 1992 still...) , with detailed descriptions and reviews: http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/index-of-games-played-by-ye... It has been scratching my nostalgic itch fairly well.
Comment linking /p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html
on “How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG”Submitted The CRPG Addict as a story · 149 points
HN discussionFor a historic perspective, see the CRPG Addicts posts: - Hack (1984) http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2015/04/game-186-hack-1984.ht... - NetHack 2.3e (1987) http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2011/01/game-38-nethack-1987.... - NetHack 3.0 (1989) http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2012/06/game-71-nethack-30.ht...
Comment linking /2012/06/game-71-nethack-30.html
on “The NetHack dev team is happy to announce the release of NetHack 3.6.1”Submitted Reasons I'm Still Blogging About CRPGs After 10 Years (2019) as a story · 54 points
HN discussionI feel like a lot of this comes from an "Ultima fan" perspective where Ultima VIII "ruined it" because it was too different. Conversely, I played it first, and enjoyed it; it did many things no game I'd played before had tried, although was not short of many flaws (which tbf the post-release patch resolves quite a few of). Playing other Ultimas later, they were in many ways good but also felt a bit trite in their mo…
Comment linking /2020/08/ultima-vii-black-gate-summary-and-rating.html
on “Ultima VIII – How to destroy a gaming franchise in one easy step”Submitted Revisiting: Empire II: Interstellar Sharks (1983) as a story · 9 points
HN discussionI have no answer to this question, but various people are revisiting old CRPGs in a more or less exhaustive manner. My favourite one is crpgaddict who plays a list of CRPGs in chronological order, with at least 6 hours spent on each one. He's been at it for a decade now, and his list still isn't finished... http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/
Comment linking /
on “CRPG Book Released”Submitted NetHack [3.1]: Blessed and Cursed as a story · 4 points
HN discussionhttp://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/ The author of this blog is in the process of playing every CRPG created since 1975. They discuss strengths & weaknesses, its place in the history of RPGs, etc.
Comment linking /
on “CRPG Book Released”Submitted The CRPG Addict: Darklands: Summary and Rating (2019) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThis is lovely. First, I could only imagine playing ASCII like games (such as old Roguelikes, especially ones with outside worlds, such as OMEGA[0], with this as animating the fields, waters, etc - would be interesting. However, I was really drawn to how this might be used on GIS pointclouds, topographical maps (for animating flows down topographic GIS data?) [0] http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2011/05/game-55-omega-…
Comment linking /2011/05/game-55-omega-1988.html
on “What I've learned about flow fields so far”Submitted The Red Crystal: Won (With Summary and Rating) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionIf you are interested in old computer role-playing games, you should check out the CRPG addict's blog [1]. He has played (usually to completion) every CRPG thru 1986 and every one that runs on DOS thru 1990. The reviews have great humor. And he covers everything. [1] http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com
Comment linking /
on “The History of Computer RPGs”Submitted Everything We Know About 1970s Mainframe RPGs We Can No Longer Play as a story · 3 points
HN discussionPLATO is notable for being the origin of the of the computer role playing game. The history of early CRPGs is murky, because PLATO was intended for educational use and games programmers had to work in secret to avoid the administrators deleting their work, but it's possible that the first ever CRPG was the Reginald Rutherford's 1975 game "The Dungeon" (a.k.a. "pedit5" after its inconspicuous lesson name). The Dungeo…
Comment linking /2021/06/brief-everything-we-know-about-1970s.html
on “Donald Bitzer has died”Submitted M199h: New Findings Both Solve and Deepen Mysteries as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI know Star Control II relatively well, even though I have not played it yet, thanks to the CRPG Addict: http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-321-star-control... I can highly recommend this blog for detailed, quality writing on computer RPGs from all ages. It is one of those internet works of love that keep on giving. I'm happy to see this open source version come up!
Comment linking /2019/03/game-321-star-control-ii-ur-quan.html
on “The Ur-Quan Masters”Submitted Reasons I'm Still Blogging About CRPGs After 10 Years (2019) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe CRPG Addict blog has done a great job reviewing the PLATO games from a seasoned player's perspective, and he touches on some of the inspiration for Wizardry. Oubliette: https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2013/10/game-12-oubliette-19... Avatar: https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2013/11/game-124-avatar-1979...
Comment linking /2013/11/game-124-avatar-1979.html
on “Wizardry Co-Creator Andrew Greenberg Has Passed Away”Submitted Darklands (1992) (2019) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionA note about Master of Doom: There is a small part about the departure of ID Software guys from Softdisk that is inaccurate and has been corrected by John Remoro himself when he spoke to the blogger who writes the famous CRPG Addict series (btw, completely out of topic but this blog is EXCELLENT if you want a COMPLETE view of pretty much every RPG out there since the 70s). The correction (as the blogger wrote) was a…
Comment linking /2020/09/game-378-goodcodes-cavern-1982-and.html
on “Great books on classic video games”Submitted Game 425: Tower of Doom (2021) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionhttp://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2014/03/game-140-tunnels-of-d...
Comment linking /2014/03/game-140-tunnels-of-doom-1982.html?m=1
on “Commander X16 8 bit computer now has its own website”Submitted Depictions of Native Americans in Video Games as a story · 2 points
HN discussionAbsolute favorite: Ragnarok / Valhalla by Norsehelm Productions, released 1992-1995. https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2020/02/game-354-ragnarok-19...
Comment linking /2020/02/game-354-ragnarok-1992.html
on “Remembering the best shareware-era DOS games that time forgot (2019)”Submitted The CRPG Addict: The Master Game List as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
