ZZT (1991, DOS) looks like it was drawn by an enthusiastic ASCII artist with too much time and not enough colors. And yet, it’s brilliant. Part action game, part puzzle adventure, part game creation tool, ZZT is the reason some people grew up to become game developers instead of astronauts. Built by a teenage Tim Sweeney (yes, the Unreal Engine guy), it’s as much about playing as it is about creating your own worlds. The built-in editor is dangerously addictive, and the community levels? Wild. It’s like MS Paint had a baby with an arcade machine - and it never stops being fun.
I use to create my own games using the built in level editor and scripting language ( ZZT-OOP ) back in the 90's. Still a solid game engine after all of these years - just needs an updated guide on the scripting language.
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