Infocom Implementor, creator of Planetfall, Hitchhiker's Guide, A Mind Forever Voyaging July 18, 2006
  Steve Meretzky
Interviewed in: Earth

Steve Meretzky is, more than anyone else, the "canonical" adventure game author. While not the first author and not the last, his works, more than most, have retained their status as classic works, and he is often the first of the Infocom Implementors who are pursued to be interviewed or provide a quote. The hope is to bring something new to an interview with him on camera, but either way, he has had literately decades of experience speaking about text adventure games.

From the Boffo Games biography: " Steve was born and raised in Yonkers, NY, where he rooted for the NY Mets and against Richard Nixon. Meretzky moved on to MIT to pursue a career in architecture. MIT's department of Architecture convinced him that he should pursue a career in Construction Management. Several construction firms convinced Meretzky that he should pursue a career as a game tester for Infocom, where he moved onward and upward, producing some of the most successful titles in computer gaming."

From Computer Game Review, 1996: "Steve Meretzky wrote Planetfall (1983), Sorcerer (1984), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (with Douglas Adams in 1985), A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985), Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986), Stationfall (1987), and Zork Zero (1988). While Meretzky enjoys his current job he says "nothing will match the excitement and the fun of Infocom in its heyday.... After working in the construction industry for two years -"...those are definitely not years that I look back on with any joy (laughs)"- Meretzky joined Infocom as a tester in November 1981 and became a full-time writer in June 1983, scripting Planetfall."

1981 Joins Infocom as a Playtester.
1983 Planetfall.
1984 Sorcerer.
1984 Hitchiker's Guide.
1985 A Mind Forever Voyaging.
1986 Leather Goddesses of Phobos.
1987 Stationfall.
1987 Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor.
1988 Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen.
1988 Zork Zero.
1990 Spellcasting 101.
1991 Timequest.
1991 Spellcasting 201.
1992 Spellcasting 301.
1992 Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender.
1992 Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2.
1992 Frederik Pohl's Gateway
1993 Return to Jork.
1993 Eric the Unready.
1994 Co-founds Boffo Games.
1994 Superhero League of Hoboken.
1995 Hodj n' Podj.
1997 The Space Bar.
1999 Sinistar Unleashed.
Footage Screenshots
Files and Collections
acint.txt (13K) Interview with Steve Meretzky by Adventure Collective, May, 2001
xyzzy2001.txt (12K) Interview with Steve Meretzky by Matt Newsome for Xyzzy News #11 (2001)
stevem.jpg (22K) Photo of Steve Meretzky and Douglas Adams, circa 1984
steve.jpg (7.1K) "Classic" Meretzky headshot, from Infocom era.
meretzky_eng.html (18K) Excellent interview with Steve Meretzky, from L'avventura e l'avventura
meretzky_1994_video.zip (93M) Collection of Tiny AVI Clips from a Video interview of Steve Meretzky for Interactive Entertainment, mostly discussing Boffo Games (with some references to Infocom) (September, 1994)
meretzky4.jpg (41K) Photo of Steve Meretzky and family, in monkey suit
meretzky3.jpg (33K) Planetfall ID Card
meretzky2.jpg (54K) Cover of Planetfall, by Steve Meretzky
meretzky1.jpg (40K) Photo of Steve Meretzky, more recent
hhgn4.jpg (72K) Meretzky notes from short plot visit with Douglas Adams
hhgn3.jpg (86K) Meretzky notes from short plot visit with Douglas Adams
hhgn2.jpg (48K) Meretzky notes from short plot visit with Douglas Adams
hhgn1.jpg (57K) Meretzky notes from short plot visit with Douglas Adams
hhgint.txt (21K) Interview with Steve Meretzky about Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, conducted by MJ Simpson