Arthur Dent
An ordinary Englishman and the player character, abruptly pulled into a cosmic adventure after Earth's destruction.
Documented for this version
Keyboard | Type a text command Commands are entered through the DOS keyboard interface. |
|---|---|
Enter | Submit the typed command |
Movement, examination, conversation, and item use are performed with text commands.
No reliable platform-specific action-button mapping is documented.
How it plays
The game uses a first-person, text-only perspective. The player reads room descriptions, examines objects, talks to characters, collects items, and types commands such as movement, observation, and item use.
Progression follows a sequence of story locations and puzzles. Important actions may require combining objects, interpreting unusual wording, or repeating an action after learning new information. The game has no conventional combat system; success depends on exploration, logic, experimentation, and surviving a range of intentionally comic hazards.
Plan your run
Examine every important object and reread room descriptions when the situation changes. Try straightforward variations of commands, since the parser may require a specific verb or object.
Keep useful items and record unusual observations. When a puzzle appears impossible, consider whether an earlier action altered the environment or whether the joke in the prose is also a hint.
Meet the cast
An ordinary Englishman and the player character, abruptly pulled into a cosmic adventure after Earth's destruction.
Arthur's friend and a researcher for the Guide who reveals his extraterrestrial identity.
The flamboyant, two-headed former president of the Galaxy.
A human scientist and Zaphod's companion.
A highly intelligent robot whose constant pessimism is a recurring source of humor.
Before you begin
Save frequently before experimenting with unfamiliar objects or dangerous situations.
Use the game's wording as a clue; unusual descriptions often signal an important interaction.
If a command is rejected, try a simpler synonym or a different object order.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a text adventure developed and published by Infocom for DOS in 1984. It adapts Douglas Adams's comic science-fiction story, placing the player in the role of Arthur Dent as Earth is destroyed and an absurd journey through space begins. The game is driven by typed commands rather than graphics or direct character control. Exploration, puzzle solving, experimentation, and carefully interpreted prose form the core play style. Infocom's parser and Adams's humor were widely praised, although the game's deliberately obscure puzzles could be demanding. It remains one of the best-known licensed interactive-fiction titles of the 1980s.
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