NEW! (FEBRUARY 2026): After 45 years, Arctic Adventure finally has full graphics, in a new version I vibecoded using Claude Code. Check out Arctic Adventure 2026 here.
When I--that's me, Harry McCracken--was in high school in the early 1980s, I loved playing text-based adventure games on Radio Shack's TRS-80 microcomputer, especially those written by Scott Adams (not the Dilbert guy). I wrote one myself at the time in TRS-80 Level II BASIC and called Arctic Adventure. I never would have guessed it would lead to this website, in part because the web didn't exist at the time.
Amazingly, it's now possible to make TRS-80 BASIC games run in a web browser, which is what inspired me to debug and otherwise spiff up my game in 2021. Eventually, that also led to me giving Arctic Adventure a total overhaul built with modern tools, technologies and frills--though it's still really the same game.
Here's what you'll find here so far:
ARCTIC ADVENTURE: Here's the original TRS-80 Model 1 version, in the debugged and somewhat expanded version I created in 2021. You'll also learn the saga of how I came to write the game and then pick up development again 40 years later.
ARCTIC ADVENTURE 2026: This one is my new web-native version, with fancy animated color graphics, much better game saving and loading, more hints, and a few other enhancements. Thanks to generous assistance from AI--Claude Code--I put it together in a week.
ARCTIC ADVENTURE FOR THE TRS-80 MC-10: Jim Gerrie ported the game to the MC-10, a Radio Shack computer I didn't even remember. This version's gameplay is the closest to my 1981 original.
LOST SHIP ADVENTURE: Even before I wrote Arctic Adventure, my friend Charles wrote this TRS-80 adventure. Like me, he created a slightly updated version in 2021 and wrote about the story behind the game.
SLOT MACHINE: I wrote this TRS-80 gambling simulation in 1979 or so, long before I'd ever used a slot machine or knew much about them.
I'm happy you've found your way here. If you have any questions, suggestions, or bug reports, drop me a line.