Colossal Cave Reviews

Colossal Cave presents such a challenging review for me to write. And I'm not just talking about the gameplay difficulty, which is substantial. It's trying to a

Like its own mysterious underground complex, Colossal Cave is obscure and unfriendly, trickily hiding some scarce but valuable treasure. If it wasn’t for the fascinating source material, it would be jaw-droppingly bad. However, the source material is fascinating, and this remake is one way to engage with it. If, for that reason, you are willing to overlook both the outdated design elements you would expect and the bad design decisions and sloppy implementation you wouldn’t, there could be something here to enjoy. We certainly wouldn’t judge anyone who discovered an egg-sized emerald of fun in Colossal Cave, but neither can we seriously recommend it.

The rekindling of a really old game like this requires a major overhaul of its mechanics which needs to be executed carefully so as not to alienate too much from the source material. Colossal Cave sticks to outdated mechanics and even fails to capture what made the original game so compelling.

Colossal Cave is a fascinating game, and this modern remake brings the wonder of a text adventure to life in full 3D. It’s streamlined with a few updates, while still keeping the spirit of the original. The game has more than a few issues, but is well worth playing for a magical adventure.

It’s a very level game—enjoyable at first, but not very exciting after you’ve spent several hours with it. When you combine this with its emphasis on replayability over length and a paucity of mechanical revision, you get a lacking game with a highly contradictory price tag. These drawbacks are hefty, and they cause 2023’s Colossal Cave to be a difficult recommendation for those who aren’t already enamored with its text adventure roots.

Ever wondered what adventure games were like in the ‘70s?

Anyone who was ever raised on text-based adventures, or even the early days of point-and-click adventures, should have fond memories of Sierra Entertainment. Founded by legendary gaming icons, Roberta and Ken Williams, they created some of the most memorable titles in the early adventure genres, such as King’s Quest, Space Quest, and Phantasmagoria. However, even the industry-changing duo had sources of inspiration, which was the case with Will Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventures, back in...

Colossal Cave managed to capture the true essence that made the original game so captivating and engaging. The fantastic use of immersive sound makes you feel like you're really on a humorous cave-spelunking adventure.