Put In The Floppy Disk and Let's Play Quiz

Answer: Grue

"Zork" was created in 1977 by a group of MIT students and eventually sold to the public on 5.25-inch floppy disks. (Remember those?) Because early home computers couldn't handle complex graphics, the game had no visuals at all. It used written text descriptions to aid a player exploring a large and mysterious underground empire in search of hidden treasure. To move around or interact with objects, the player had to type short commands like "go north" or "open mailbox". The players even drew their own maps on sheets of paper.

The game became famous as being one of the first and most immersive text based adventure games. It also had the Grue which was a terrifying dark predator that lived in the unlit areas. If a player stepped into a dark room without a glowing lantern or a lit torch, the game would instantly give a warning that the player was likely to be eaten by a Grue, making light a very valuable resource.

Answer: Weather report

"Lemonade Stand" was created in 1973 as an educational tool and eventually delivered to school computer labs on 5.25-inch floppy disks. Apple included it on their computers in the early 1980s. The basic premise is simple. A player runs their own sidewalk business for 7 to 30 simulated days, trying to make as much profit as possible. Every morning, they check the daily weather forecast and use that information to decide how many advertising signs to make, how much to charge per cup, and how many ingredients to buy.

The main threat to the simulated business is a bad weather day that appears on the morning report. A cloudy or rainy day causes customer foot traffic to plummet, meaning all the expensive lemonade the player prepared for a hot summer rush suddenly goes to waste, teaching players firsthand how events like weather can completely disrupt a business.

Answer: Dysentry

"The Oregon Trail" was originally created in 1971 for a mainframe computer then became a school computer lab legend on 5.25-inch floppy disks starting in 1985. The basic premise puts a player in charge of a covered wagon guiding a pioneer family across a grueling, 2,000 mile (3,219 km) historic journey from Missouri to Oregon. Survival requires constantly balancing the budget, hunting for food, and managing the travel pace to keep everyone healthy.

The absolute biggest threat to the player's party (as we all quickly learned in the game) is dysentery, which is a severe intestinal disease caused by poor sanitation on the trail. It became the game's most infamous hazard because it strikes without warning, turning a simple river crossing or a drop in food rations into a sudden, tragic medical emergency that could wipe out an entire family before ever reaching the West Coast.

Answer: Li Yuen

"Taipan!" was created in 1979 for early computers and widely played throughout the 1980s on those good ole' 5.25-inch floppy disks. The game's basic premise casts a player as a merchant in the 1800s operating out of the Far East. The goal is to amass a fortune by sailing between historically named ports (like Hong Kong or Saigon) to buy and sell goods like silk, arms, and highly lucrative (but very illegal) opium.

As players navigate the high seas, they face constant threats from ocean thieves, but the most dangerous adversary is Li Yuen. Acting as the powerful local sea mafia boss and pirate admiral, Li Yuen demands massive cash "donations". If the players consistently pay his extortion fee, his fleet might protect their ships; if they refuse, he sends a large and aggressive fleet to hunt them down and blast their trading ship right out of the water.

Answer: Magic Mirror

"King's Quest I", with a subtitle of "Quest for the Crown", was created in 1984 and delivered to players on 5.25-inch floppy disks. This game revolutionized the industry by introducing colorful, animated 16-color graphics to adventure gaming, where a player moved Sir Graham using the keyboard while typing text commands to solve puzzles. The basic premise centers on a desperate quest to retrieve three stolen, legendary relics to save the kingdom from ruin.

The ultimate treasure of this trio is the Magic Mirror, which has the mystical power to show the future to anyone who peers into it. To recover it, a player must enter a deep, underground cavern and outsmart a giant dragon (that breathes fire, of course) guarding the mirror, making it the final obstacle standing between Sir Graham and the crown.

Answer: V.I.L.E.

"Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" was created in 1985 and sold to schools and homes on floppy disks. The basic storyline makes a player be a rookie detective traveling across the globe to gather geographic clues from local witnesses to track down elusive thieves who have stolen famous historical landmarks (such as the Crown Jewels from London).

The central evil force driving all of this global chaos is V.I.L.E., which is the Villains' International League of Evil. This elaborate criminal syndicate is made up of henchmen who carry out the heists. As the detective, the player's ultimate goal is to outsmart V.I.L.E.'s master thieves, issue a valid warrant based on their description, and eventually arrest their brilliant ringleader, Carmen Sandiego herself.

Answer: The bulldozer

"SimCity" was created in 1989 by Maxis and delivered to players on (sadly, now vintage) floppy disks. The simulation game had no traditional win or lose conditions; instead, the basic storyline cast a player as a city's mayor and sole planner, tasked with growing a small town into a thriving metropolis from an overhead view.

One of the most important tools for a player was the bulldozer. It served as the ultimate instrument for both city renewal and destruction. Whenever a zone becomes abandoned, a highway layout needs rerouting, or a massive fire breaks out and threatens to consume a neighborhood, the player simply selects the bulldozer to instantly flatten the tiles. It became a legendary feature of the game because it allowed people to switch between building an amazing city and completely wiping their own creations off the map.

Answer: Jaffar

"Prince of Persia" was created in 1989 and delivered to home computer users on (you guessed it) 5.25-inch floppy disks. The game set a technical milestone for its time, using a filmmaking technique called rotoscoping (tracing video footage of a real person frame by frame) to give the main character lifelike movements. The game is a true race against time. The player must act as an imprisoned protagonist who must escape a dungeon filled with mazes, pressure plates, falling spikes, etc.

Standing between the player and freedom is Jaffar, the evil man who has seized power in the Sultan's absence. Jaffar locks the young princess in a tower and sets a giant hourglass, giving the player a strict 60 minute countdown clock to battle through Jaffar's traps, defeat his guards, and stop his evil plans before the final grain of sand drops.

Answer: Otters

"Odell Lake" premiered in 1986 by MECC on those wonderful 5.25-inch floppy disks. In a unique simulation twist, the player takes on the role of a native fish (such as a rainbow trout) swimming through the different depths of a lake ecosystem. To survive, the player must navigate the aquatic food chain by deciding whether to eat, ignore, or flee from the various creatures they encounter.

The ultimate apex predator of this game is the dreaded river otter. Unlike smaller threats or companion fish that a player can easily ignore or chase away, the otter is incredibly fast, smart, and relentlessly aggressive. Facing one almost always triggers an emergency choice, as failing to execute a perfect "Deep Dive" or "Escape" command means the player's fish will instantly become the otter's next dinner.

Answer: Troogles

"Number Munchers" came out in 1986 and was delivered on those big 5.25-inch floppy disks. The game attempted to turn everyday math drills into an exciting arcade game where a player controls a green, hopping creature on a grid filled with different numbers. The goal is to leap from tile to tile and safely "munch" on the correct answers (like multiples of three or prime numbers) to clear the board and advance to the next level.

The big threat on the board comes from the Troogles. These brightly colored monsters constantly wander onto the grid, randomly changing the answers on the tiles or aggressively chasing the player's character down. To win, the player has to exercise quick mental math while actively outmaneuvering the tricky Troogles (say that three times quickly).