These remind me of playing LoRD (Legend of the Red Dragon) way back when...
...and also of dying repeatedly when I first played Zork. Good ol' text games.
There was this other game from way back (early 80's) that was like Zork, but it took place out in a desert and there was some alien monster that was lurking around. I remember that being the first game I ever played that creeped me out. I can't remember the name of it though. Good times.
