The Lost Treasures of Infocom

The Lost Treasures of Infocom is a collection of 20 computer games from interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, released in 1991. It was available in MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh, Amiga, and Apple II versions, as well as a cross-platform CD-ROM version. Infocom was closed in 1989 by its then-parent company Activision. Still holding the copyright to nearly all the past Infocom titles, Activision bundled 20 of the most popular into this package. The games included are:

• Zork I
• Zork II
• Zork III
• Beyond Zork
• Zork Zero
• Enchanter
• Sorcerer
• Spellbreaker
• Deadline
• The Witness
• Suspect
• The Lurking Horror
• Ballyhoo
• Infidel
• Moonmist
• Starcross
• Suspended
• Planetfall
• Stationfall
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The package contains all the instructions (bound in one volume) and maps for each game as well as all the InvisiClues, printed normally instead of using "invisible" ink. The package also features a launch menu which lets the user select which one of the 20 games they wish to play.

An additional bonus was the updated version of Hitchhiker's Guide. The game was repackaged using a later version of the Z-machine than the original, and now featured a built-in hint system.

Some significant omissions from the package were the "feelies" for which Infocom had become known. The package merely contained photocopies or pictures of these items, such as the sunglasses from Hitchhiker's Guide and the Stellar Patrol ID card from Planetfall. Including these items would have significantly increased the production costs and package weight of the release, however, so the decision is understandable if lamentable.

Many fans complained about the quality of the enclosed documents. Not only did the feelies lose much of their "realism", but many of the original items were reduced in size and scanned at such low resolution that they were nearly unreadable. The InvisiClues text provided in the collection's hint book appeared to have been hastily transcribed, containing numerous typographical errors. In addition, some items were accidentally omitted. At least one game (Ballyhoo) was rendered unwinnable without prior knowledge due to these oversights. Regardless of this lapse in quality control, The Lost Treasures of Infocom sold well.