pauraque | Entries tagged with games: developer: beam software

[Happy Hobbit Day! This is a revision of a review I first posted to my LJ on October 10th, 2011. It has been edited for clarity and additional information.]

Though apparently a huge success in Europe, this game is more obscure in the US, where it was released as Hobbit Software Adventure. (In the 1980s the word "software" was exciting enough to put in a name. Some early games also advertised on the box that they were "100% machine language!")

screenshot showing image of a hobbit door and a text description of same

screenshot showing image of a hobbit door and a text description of same

The manual calls it "one of the most sophisticated adventures ever designed for microcomputers," so let's don our evening attire, pour a glass of wine, and boot it up.

( SOFTWARE! Excited yet? )

You can play the DOS port of The Hobbit/Hobbit Software Adventure in your browser, for an unforgettable evening of text-based sophistication. 🍷

July 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Links

Navigation

Current/Upcoming Events

common_nature

seasonsofdrabbles

Tags

animals [20]
- amphibians [4]
- birds [33]
- cats [2]
- deer [3]
- dogs [2]
- insects [3]
  - lepidoptera [11]
- reptiles [2]
art [7]
- by me [6]
- for me [5]
- recs [10]
book club [37]
books [201]
- author
  - a.d. koboah [1]
  - a.j. locke [1]
  - adam thompson [1]
  - aisha saeed [1]
  - akua lezli hope [1]
  - akwaeke emezi [2]
  - alan l. hart [1]
  - alaya dawn johnson [2]
  - alex iantaffi [1]
  - alex smith [1]
  - alexei panshin [1]
  - alice provensen [1]
  - aliette de bodard [1]
  - aline-mwezi niyonsenga [1]
  - alison bechdel [3]
  - alison lurie [1]
  - allie brosh [1]
  - alyssa wong [1]
  - ama patterson [1]
  - amber blaeser-wardzala [1]
  - amber doe [1]
  - amiri baraka [1]
  - amy tan [1]
  - an owomoyela [1]
  - andrea hairston [1]
  - andrea l. rogers [1]
  - andrea sanderson [1]
  - ann leckie [4]
  - anna sewell [1]
  - anna wu [1]
  - annalee newitz [1]
  - anthony joseph [1]
  - arkady martine [2]
  - atul gawande [2]
  - audre lorde [1]
  - avram davidson [2]
  - baifanrushang [1]
  - becky chambers [1]
  - becky smethurst [1]
  - bell hooks [1]
  - bernard malamud [1]
  - beverly daniel tatum [1]
  - bram stoker [1]
  - brandon hobson [1]
  - c.s. lewis [4]
  - cameron reed [1]
  - carl sagan [1]
  - carmen maria machado [1]
  - carol carr [1]
  - carol cooper [1]
  - carole mcdonnell [1]
  - carson faust [1]
  - charles johnson [1]
  - charles r. saunders [2]
  - charles w. chestnutt [1]
  - chen qian [1]
  - cherene sherrard [2]
  - cherie dimaline [1]
  - chi hui [1]
  - chimedum ohaegbu [1]
  - chinelo onwualu [1]
  - christian cooper [1]
  - christopher moore [1]
  - chu xidao [1]
  - cindy pon [1]
  - conley lyons [1]
  - count e [1]
  - craig laurance gidney [1]
  - crystal connor [1]
  - d.h. trujillo [1]
  - damon knight [1]
  - dana mcknight [1]
  - darcie little badger [3]
  - darryl a. smith [1]
  - david findlay [1]
  - david heska wanbli weiden [1]
  - david n. williams [1]
  - david wise [1]
  - dawolu jabari anderson [1]
  - deana zhollis [1]
  - deborah elizabeth whaley [1]
  - dennis r. caro [1]
  - derrick bell [1]
  - diana wynne jones [1]
  - donnel stern [1]
  - douglas kearney [1]
  - dvora olmstead [1]
  - e.c. myers [1]
  - ed yong [2]
  - eden royce [1]
  - edward p. dozier [1]
  - eliot schrefer [1]
  - ellen oh [1]
  - eloise jarvis mcgraw [1]
  - elsie chapman [1]
  - emily xueni jin [1]
  - evelyn araluen [1]
  - evie shockley [1]
  - f.m. busby [1]
  - frances hodgson burnett [1]
  - francesca ekwuyasi [1]
  - george alec effinger [1]
  - george orwell [1]
  - george s. schuyler [1]
  - geraldine brooks [1]
  - gerard f. conway [1]
  - glenn r. wright [1]
  - gordon walters [1]
  - greg sarris [1]
  - gu shi [1]
  - harlan ellison [2]
  - helen oyeyemi [1]
  - helene cooper [1]
  - henry dumas [2]
  - honorée fanonne jeffers [1]
  - horace l. gold [1]
  - huda fahmy [1]
  - ibi aanu zoboi [1]
  - ihsan bracy [1]
  - isaac asimov [1]
  - isaac bashevis singer [1]
  - ishmael reed [1]
  - j. michael reaves [1]
  - j.r.r. tolkien [1]
  - jacob tobia [1]
  - jan morris [1]
  - jasmin mcgaughey [1]
  - jean sullivan [1]
  - jennie june [1]
  - jennifer marie brissett [1]
  - jeremy holt [1]
  - jewelle gomez [2]
  - jhumpa lahiri [1]
  - jill robinson [1]
  - jing tsu [1]
  - jo walton [1]
  - john cooley [1]
  - john green [2]
  - john morrissey [1]
  - john shirley [1]
  - john warner [1]
  - jorge luis borges [1]
  - joseph sheridan le fanu [1]
  - joy copeland [1]
  - julia serano [1]
  - julie kagawa [1]
  - justina ireland [1]
  - k. ceres wright [1]
  - k.a. ren wyld [1]
  - kai leakes [1]
  - kalamu ya salaam [3]
  - kalem murray [1]
  - kate beaton [1]
  - kate hart [1]
  - kate wilhelm [1]
  - katherine anne porter [1]
  - kayano shigeru [1]
  - kazuo ishiguro [3]
  - kelli jo ford [1]
  - keri hulme [1]
  - kevin brockenbrough [1]
  - kiini ibura salaam [4]
  - kit heyam [1]
  - l. marie wood [1]
  - l. penelope [1]
  - l.h. moore [1]
  - lamya h [1]
  - lee knox ostertag [1]
  - leonard isaacs [1]
  - leone ross [1]
  - leslie feinberg [1]
  - lin nielsen [1]
  - linda addison [1]
  - ling chen [1]
  - lisa delpit [1]
  - lisa fuller [1]
  - lisa tuttle [1]
  - liu cixin [3]
  - loki liddle [1]
  - lori m. lee [1]
  - lori titus [1]
  - lue palmer [1]
  - marcie r. rendon [1]
  - marjane satrapi [1]
  - martha wells [1]
  - martin provensen [1]
  - mary herring wright [1]
  - mathilda zeller [1]
  - matt baume [1]
  - maurice broaddus [1]
  - meg-john barker [1]
  - mel gilden [1]
  - melissa de la cruz [1]
  - merryanna salem [1]
  - mildred downey broxon [1]
  - mona susan power [1]
  - morgan talty [1]
  - moses ose utomi [1]
  - n.k. jemisin [1]
  - nalo hopkinson [4]
  - nana kwame adjei-brenyah [1]
  - naomi kanakia [1]
  - nian yu [1]
  - nick bruel [1]
  - nick medina [1]
  - nicole d. sconiers [1]
  - nicole givens kurtz [1]
  - nisi shawl [3]
  - nnedi okorafor [1]
  - norris black [1]
  - octavia e. butler [8]
  - ofelia zepeda [1]
  - p. djèlí clark [1]
  - pam noles [1]
  - pamela johnson [1]
  - pamela sargent [1]
  - patricia e. canterbury [1]
  - patrick bringley [1]
  - paul d. miller [1]
  - phoenix boudreau [1]
  - phyllis gotlieb [1]
  - preeti chhibber [1]
  - r.j. joseph [1]
  - rebecca f. kuang [1]
  - rebecca roanhorse [1]
  - renée ahdieh [1]
  - richard van camp [1]
  - rion amilcar scott [1]
  - rivers solomon [1]
  - robert f. young [1]
  - robert fleming [1]
  - robert rohrer [1]
  - robert sheckley [1]
  - robert silverberg [2]
  - robert wisner [1]
  - robin wall kimmerer [2]
  - rosemary sutcliff [1]
  - roshani chokshi [1]
  - royce k. young wolf [1]
  - roz chast [1]
  - sabrina imbler [1]
  - saeed jones [1]
  - sam moskowitz [1]
  - samuel r. delany [7]
  - samuel wagan watson [1]
  - samuel william watson [1]
  - sapphire [1]
  - sarah k. mock [1]
  - sascha stronach [1]
  - sayaka murata [1]
  - shane hawk [1]
  - shannon chakraborty [2]
  - shaun tan [1]
  - shen dacheng [1]
  - shen yingying [1]
  - sheree r. thomas [1]
  - shevta thakrar [1]
  - shirlee taylor haizlip [1]
  - shirley jackson [2]
  - siddhartha mukherjee [1]
  - simon jimenez [2]
  - sofia samatar [1]
  - sona charaipotra [1]
  - stephen graham jones [1]
  - steven barnes [2]
  - susanna clarke [1]
  - suyi davies okungbowa [1]
  - sylvain neuvel [3]
  - tamsyn muir [3]
  - tananarive due [4]
  - tanesha nicole tyler [1]
  - tara campbell [1]
  - ted chiang [1]
  - tenea d. johnson [1]
  - terese mason pierre [1]
  - thaddeus howze [1]
  - theodore c. van alst jr. [1]
  - theodore sturgeon [1]
  - tiffany austin [1]
  - tiffany morris [1]
  - tish jackson [1]
  - tochi onyebuchi [1]
  - tommy orange [1]
  - toni morrison [3]
  - tony medina [1]
  - tova mirvis [1]
  - tracey baptiste [1]
  - trevor noah [1]
  - trynne delaney [1]
  - tyehimba jess [1]
  - uché blackstock [1]
  - ursula k. le guin [23]
  - valjeanne jeffers [1]
  - victor lavalle [1]
  - violet allen [1]
  - virginia woolf [1]
  - w.e.b. du bois [2]
  - walter farley [1]
  - walter mosley [3]
  - wanda coleman [1]
  - wang nuonuo [2]
  - waubgeshig rice [3]
  - whitney french [1]
  - william earls [1]
  - william hudson [1]
  - william tenn [1]
  - witi ihimaera [1]
  - xia jia [1]
  - xin xinyu [1]
  - xiran jay zhao [1]
  - xueting christine ni [1]
  - yilin wang [1]
  - zalika reid-benta [1]
  - zhao haihong [1]
  - zin e. rocklyn [1]
  - zoë schlanger [1]
- editor
  - andré m. carrington [5]
  - cele g. lalli [1]
  - donald a. yates [1]
  - ellen oh [4]
  - elsie chapman [4]
  - jack dann [3]
  - james e. irby [1]
  - kinitra brooks [1]
  - linda addison [1]
  - mykaela saunders [3]
  - regina kanyu wang [5]
  - robin scott wilson [1]
  - shane hawk [1]
  - sheree r. thomas [13]
  - susan wood [1]
  - susana morris [1]
  - terese mason pierre [3]
  - theodore c. van alst jr. [1]
  - yu chen [5]
- genre
  - academic [4]
  - alternate history [11]
  - economics [2]
  - fantasy [50]
  - historical fiction [23]
  - history [4]
  - horror [25]
  - literary criticism [7]
  - literary/contemporary [18]
  - memoir [30]
  - mystery [3]
  - popular science [12]
  - science fiction [72]
  - sociology [7]
  - speculative fiction [44]
  - writing about writing [6]
- illustrator
  - george schall [1]
  - james brunsman [1]
- theme
  - (post-)apocalypse [20]
  - abuse [10]
  - aliens [31]
  - androids/cyborgs/ai [16]
  - animals [16]
  - arts & media [6]
  - coming of age [20]
  - death [23]
  - disability [11]
  - dragons [7]
  - dystopia [24]
  - family drama [30]
  - gender & feminism [32]
  - generation ship [2]
  - ghosts [15]
  - language [9]
  - magic [38]
  - medicine [7]
  - mental health [9]
  - mermaids [3]
  - mythology & folklore [32]
  - nature & ecology [12]
  - pandemic [4]
  - pirates [4]
  - political intrigue [17]
  - polyamory [6]
  - queer [64]
  - racial justice [13]
  - religion [36]
  - school [8]
  - science [21]
  - slavery [13]
  - space [17]
  - telepathy & psionics [18]
  - time travel [11]
  - vampires [11]
  - war [29]
  - werewolves [3]
- translator
  - anthony kerrigan [1]
  - cara healey [1]
  - carmen yiling yan [1]
  - donald a. yates [1]
  - dudley fitts [1]
  - elizabeth hanlon [1]
  - elizabeth pollet [1]
  - emily xueni jin [1]
  - gigi chang [1]
  - ginny tapley takemori [1]
  - harriet de onís [1]
  - james e. irby [1]
  - joel martinsen [1]
  - judith huang [1]
  - judy yi zhou [1]
  - julian palley [1]
  - ken liu [2]
  - kyoko selden [1]
  - l.a. murillo [1]
  - lili selden [1]
  - mel lee [1]
  - rebecca f. kuang [2]
  - ru-ping chen [2]
  - yilin wang [1]
- type
  - chapter book [1]
  - children's [12]
  - essays [21]
  - middle grade [1]
  - nonfiction [50]
  - novel [99]
  - periodical [1]
  - picture book [2]
  - poetry [4]
  - sequential art [13]
  - short stories [51]
  - young adult [16]
- year
  - 1872 [1]
  - 1877 [1]
  - 1887 [1]
  - 1897 [1]
  - 1905 [1]
  - 1918 [1]
  - 1920 [2]
  - 1929 [1]
  - 1931 [1]
  - 1936 [1]
  - 1937 [1]
  - 1938 [1]
  - 1939 [2]
  - 1943 [1]
  - 1945 [1]
  - 1948 [1]
  - 1949 [1]
  - 1953 [1]
  - 1954 [1]
  - 1955 [1]
  - 1956 [1]
  - 1959 [2]
  - 1962 [3]
  - 1963 [2]
  - 1964 [3]
  - 1966 [4]
  - 1967 [4]
  - 1968 [4]
  - 1969 [3]
  - 1970 [4]
  - 1971 [3]
  - 1972 [2]
  - 1973 [3]
  - 1974 [8]
  - 1975 [3]
  - 1976 [2]
  - 1977 [1]
  - 1978 [1]
  - 1979 [5]
  - 1980 [3]
  - 1982 [2]
  - 1983 [2]
  - 1984 [2]
  - 1985 [2]
  - 1987 [2]
  - 1988 [1]
  - 1989 [2]
  - 1990 [3]
  - 1991 [1]
  - 1992 [3]
  - 1993 [3]
  - 1994 [3]
  - 1995 [2]
  - 1996 [4]
  - 1997 [2]
  - 1998 [4]
  - 1999 [2]
  - 2000 [12]
  - 2001 [2]
  - 2002 [3]
  - 2003 [3]
  - 2004 [7]
  - 2005 [2]
  - 2006 [5]
  - 2007 [2]
  - 2008 [3]
  - 2009 [2]
  - 2010 [3]
  - 2011 [2]
  - 2012 [1]
  - 2013 [4]
  - 2014 [5]
  - 2015 [2]
  - 2016 [8]
  - 2017 [6]
  - 2018 [9]
  - 2019 [14]
  - 2020 [12]
  - 2021 [11]
  - 2022 [18]
  - 2023 [9]
  - 2024 [5]
  - 2025 [10]
  - 2026 [1]
comm
- daily deviant [11]
- hp het taboo [2]
- hp reunion [1]
- rarepair shorts [1]
- snowflake challenge [8]
- sunshine challenge/revival [32]
- three for the memories [2]
exchange letters [8]
fandom [54]
- always coming home [4]
- black beauty [3]
- community [1]
- disney [20]
  - 101 dalmatians [2]
  - aladdin [2]
  - ducktales [9]
  - the little mermaid [10]
- earthsea [4]
- fellowship [2]
- hainish cycle [12]
- harry potter [146]
- harvey birdman [2]
- heaven's vault [2]
- homestar runner [6]
- imperial radch [5]
- kdramas [3]
  - the guest [2]
  - white christmas [1]
- kipo [7]
- middle earth [2]
- monkey island [8]
- our flag means death [2]
- quantum leap [10]
- rocky horror [5]
- she-ra [21]
- star trek [113]
  - aos [3]
  - discovery [42]
  - ds9 [7]
  - picard [20]
  - tng [42]
  - tos [14]
  - voyager [15]
- star wars [14]
- venture bros [16]
- warcraft [20]
- x-files [14]
fest
- 3 sentence ficathon [1]
- amperslash exchange [1]
- black is beautiful [2]
- bring back the porn [6]
- chocolate box [4]
- fandom stocking [1]
- fandom trees [2]
- femdom exchange [3]
- femslash exchange [7]
- femslash kink [2]
- femsub exchange [1]
- flash exchanges [6]
- holly poly [1]
- hp beholder [15]
- hp crossgenfest [1]
- hp halloween [13]
- hp kinkfest [9]
- hp silencio [3]
- hp transfest [2]
- hphet minifest [3]
- id pro quo [2]
- insert title here [1]
- kink bingo [8]
- kink lucky dip [1]
- kinky kristmas [6]
- mirror universe [1]
- multifandom drabble [3]
- rare women [8]
- salt & pepper [5]
- sapphic spring [2]
- sapphic stocking [1]
- season of kink [1]
- seasons of drabbles [6]
- severus fest [3]
- space swap [5]
- star trek holidays [2]
- trick or treat [1]
- turing fest [4]
- wizard love [2]
- yuletide [4]
fic
- by me [122]
- for me [45]
- recs [36]
food [5]
games [134]
- developer
  - a.i. design [1]
  - absolute magic [1]
  - ad artis oy [1]
  - ada rook [1]
  - adelpha studio [1]
  - amanita design [1]
  - anna anthropy [2]
  - ares dragonis [1]
  - arnowitz studios [1]
  - aruma studios [1]
  - astral software [1]
  - attention to detail [1]
  - beam software [1]
  - benjamin schulte [1]
  - beyond the bark [1]
  - bill williams [1]
  - blizzard entertainment [1]
  - broderbund software [2]
  - bydandan [1]
  - c.m. ralph [1]
  - cadabra games [1]
  - chief rebel [1]
  - color gray games [2]
  - computing specialties [1]
  - crl group [1]
  - cube legal [1]
  - cyberdreams [1]
  - daedelic entertainment [1]
  - dan baker [1]
  - daniel benmergui [1]
  - deadlycrow games [1]
  - dma design [1]
  - double fine [3]
  - dreamforge [1]
  - eclipse software [1]
  - focus hill games [1]
  - friend shaped games [1]
  - frolic studio [1]
  - funcom [1]
  - fáyer [1]
  - ghost creative studios [1]
  - giant squid [1]
  - gray design associates [1]
  - grizzly games [1]
  - gugames [1]
  - hammered crow [1]
  - hermanos magia [1]
  - hongoneon [1]
  - horis international [1]
  - hummingwarp [1]
  - icy mountain studio [1]
  - imaginarylab [1]
  - inkle [1]
  - isometricorp games [1]
  - jamwitch [1]
  - jump over the age [2]
  - kenneth morse [1]
  - kevin bales [1]
  - lance [1]
  - love conquers all [1]
  - lucas pope [2]
  - lucasarts/lucasfilm [13]
  - lucito loquito [1]
  - maddy makes games [1]
  - made from strings [1]
  - mahdi bahrami [1]
  - marevo collective [1]
  - matthew alexander [1]
  - maxis [1]
  - mediatonic [1]
  - michael abbott [1]
  - microlink [1]
  - microsoft [1]
  - mike bellika [1]
  - mike saenz [1]
  - mino_dev [1]
  - mobius digital [2]
  - montraluz [1]
  - montsoft [1]
  - moraffware [2]
  - nels anderson [1]
  - obsidian entertainment [1]
  - p.z. karen co. [1]
  - paramo games [1]
  - patapez interactive [1]
  - polychroma games [1]
  - pomelo games [1]
  - poncle [1]
  - powerhoof [3]
  - pál balog [1]
  - re-logic [1]
  - redwood games [1]
  - rundisc [1]
  - sharedata [1]
  - sierra/on-line systems [6]
  - steven don [1]
  - stone/digital extremes [1]
  - sukeban games [1]
  - sunhead games [1]
  - synapse software [1]
  - telltale games [1]
  - terrible toybox [1]
  - terry cavanagh [2]
  - the brotherhood [1]
  - the dreamers guild [1]
  - the edge [1]
  - the game kitchen [1]
  - the learning company [2]
  - the software toolworks [2]
  - third world [1]
  - thomas colthurst [1]
  - tiago rech [2]
  - tokoronyori [1]
  - uppercut games [2]
  - videlectrix [4]
  - videocult [1]
  - wagotabi limited [1]
  - westwood studios [1]
  - wishfully studios [1]
  - za/um [1]
- genre
  - action/arcade [6]
  - adult [1]
  - adventure [45]
  - artillery [1]
  - bullet hell [1]
  - city builder [2]
  - deduction [3]
  - edutainment [13]
  - exploration [11]
  - mmorpg [2]
  - platformer [15]
  - puzzle [26]
  - racing [1]
  - roguelike [4]
  - rpg [9]
  - shooter [6]
  - simulation [3]
  - strategy [3]
  - survival crafting [2]
  - survival horror [1]
  - tower defense [1]
  - virtual tabletop [2]
  - visual novel [5]
- year
  - 1980 [2]
  - 1981 [1]
  - 1982 [1]
  - 1983 [4]
  - 1984 [7]
  - 1985 [3]
  - 1986 [2]
  - 1987 [3]
  - 1988 [3]
  - 1989 [6]
  - 1990 [10]
  - 1991 [6]
  - 1992 [4]
  - 1993 [5]
  - 1994 [1]
  - 1995 [5]
  - 1997 [1]
  - 1998 [2]
  - 1999 [2]
  - 2005 [1]
  - 2008 [3]
  - 2009 [3]
  - 2010 [2]
  - 2011 [1]
  - 2012 [3]
  - 2013 [1]
  - 2014 [3]
  - 2015 [2]
  - 2016 [4]
  - 2017 [5]
  - 2018 [5]
  - 2019 [5]
  - 2020 [8]
  - 2021 [7]
  - 2022 [10]
  - 2023 [10]
  - 2024 [8]
  - 2025 [7]
  - 2026 [1]
gaming [9]
kink [7]
language [4]
memes [33]
- ao3 [3]
- december talking [20]
- fandom a-z [6]
- femslash february [6]
- first lines [2]
- five questions [2]
- letter [1]
- love [2]
- something every day [23]
- titles [1]
movies [12]
music [33]
personal
- dreams [8]
- family [1]
- health [11]
- mental health [7]
- mishaps [5]
- neurodivergence [1]
- parenting [1]
- random [6]
- remembrance [8]
- travel [12]
- work [1]
photos [39]
- fall colors [3]
- flowers [14]
- scenery [26]
- snow [12]
- urban [11]
plays [4]
podfic [7]
poetry [4]
queerness [15]
- gender [15]
reading [4]
social media exodus [3]
three weeks for dreamwidth [1]
videos [4]
weather [11]
writing [44]
year in review [18]
youtube [19]