The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

aka: H2G2, HHGTTG, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - a science fiction story, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Don't Panic!
Moby ID: 88
TRS-80 CoCo Specs
Buy on Commodore 64
$40.00 used on eBay
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Description official descriptions

You are Arthur Dent, an Englishman with a bad hangover wearing a dressing gown containing a much needed buffered analgesic and some fluff. Your house has just been destroyed, followed shortly thereafter by your planet Earth (mostly harmless). You’ve been rescued by your friend Ford Prefect, who’s not actually an out-of-work actor. He has given you a book (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), a towel, and is now telling you to put a fish in your ear. It must be a Thursday; you’ve never quite gotten the hang of Thursdays.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is written by Douglas Adams and Steven Meretzky and based on Adams’ BBC radio series, television series, and the series of subsequent novelizations. It’s one of the classic Interactive Fiction games produced by Infocom, labeled as Science Fiction and has a Standard Level of Difficulty. Though divergent from the source material, the main characters, locations, and concepts are here. Unlike the book, death can come quickly if Arthur fails to observe his surroundings, collect inventory, talk to people, and consult the Guide. DON’T PANIC!

Original C=64 Grey Box Contents: Megadodo Publications Advertising Booklet for your very own Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy complete with Fluff, Destruct orders for your home and planet, a nice red button with the words DON'T PANIC printed in large yellow letters, a pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses, No Tea, and your very own Microscopic Space Fleet. All this can be yours, for the low, low price of only 59.99 Altairian Dollars.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

4 People

Design
Front Cover Illustration by
Tester

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 15 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 159 ratings with 4 reviews)

Read the book. If you like it, then (and only then) will you be prepared to like the game.

The Good
This game retained much of the humor and irony of the book. It manages through language. It always seemed to have a witty comeback, no matter what I typed in. If I typed in, "jump," it would respond, "Wasn't that fun?" Or if I made a juvenile comment like, "Kiss Ford," I would receive a [humorous] lecture about just what kind of game I was playing anyway. The bottom line is that the game seemed to respond intelligently and ironically. Additionally, it was challenging. Not a matter of searching around empty rooms where nothing happened—I knew approximately what was supposed to happen, and it drove me crazy trying to make it that way. The secret to getting the babble fish in your ear is...oh—if you want to cheat, go read hints online.

The Bad
Honestly, I was a bit upset that it wasn't longer. Where was the sequel? But then again, a sequel would have had to be very different from the first game—and this was so good, why risk a bad sequel.

The Bottom Line
In this game, Douglas Adams has found even another way of retelling his story—and it works. Just like the radio show, just like the books, this game is the essence of fun. But the fun in this game really picks when readers and listeners have put the other media aside. To understand the jokes, one should be familiar with one of the other media.

Commodore 64 · by Jacqke (1005) · 2004

Another Infocom Milestone

The Good
This was the first game to be adapted from a license, and Steve M's wit was a perfect match for the source material. This game houses the most hallowed of all confounding puzzles, the Babel Fish! Its other achievement is it broke the rules of classic text adventures (such as lying to you which ways you could really go!)

The Bad
I was not amused about that lying part at first (it's one of the first things you encounter!) Also, the game was quite difficult. I believe this game prompted the ratings system for all Infocom games.

The Bottom Line
If you loved the book and love text adventures, this is a match made in heaven!

DOS · by Tony Van (2803) · 1999

Two words: BABEL FISH

The Good
To this day, I still cannot forget the dreaded babel fish puzzle. This puzzle taxed my brain for weeks. I ended up having to get a couple of friends to come over to brainstorm with me on how to get the babel fish in my possesion. It was things like this that make me have fond memories of this game. This was one of the first games I played on my computer when I got it in 1985. It also made me realize how games like this could make me and my buddies stay up all night trying to think up ways to solve some of these puzzles. I only wish that some of the puzzles in today's games would match up to the evils of this game.

The Bad
Not much.

The Bottom Line
The ultimate thinking game. That could be said about any Infocom game. You definitly have to think your way through all of the puzzles.

DOS · by mclazyj (28) · 2000

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
graphical remake? Pseudo_Intellectual (66248) Oct 23, 2008
Waxy makes an interesting score DJP Mom (11333) Apr 19, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled sequel

A sequel, The Restraunt at the End of the Universe, was planned but never was finished due to a bad consultant.

Extras

This game came with some of the most humorous software trinkets (Infocom called them "feelies") found in a game box. For example, you get a "Microscopic Space Fleet" (a closed ziplock bag with -- apparently -- nothing in it), Peril-sensitive Sunglasses (the lenses are solid black), etc.

Graphics

A version of the game with graphics added can be played at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml. Unlike the version found at Douglas Adams' website, you can save and load in this one.

Sales

According to DouglasAdams.com, the game sold around 350,000 copies. The site goes on to note that, with the development of graphics games, the human race rapidly abandoned all that it had learned about language resulting in Infocom's closing.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) –#42 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) –#4 Funniest Computer Game
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #8 Hardest Computer Game

Information also contributed by emerging lurker, LeChimp, PCGamer77, Terrence Bosky and FatherJack

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Related Sites +

  • Infocom homepage
    At this site you can find information on ALL of Infocom's interactive games, Infocom related articles, sample transcripts, InvisiClue hints, walkthroughs, maps and information on buying Infocom games today.
  • Play The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    A Java applet that allows you to play the game within your web browser.
  • THE HITCHHIKER ADVENTURE GAME by Douglas Adams - 20th Anniversary Edition
    Hosted by the BBC, this version of Hitchhiker's also has a graphical interface. Sean Sollé, who worked with Adams on Starship Titanic, and Rod Lord, who did the graphics on the BBC's television version of Hitchhiker's, provided the coding and the artwork. Shimon Young tied it all together using Flash.
  • The Commodore Zone
    All about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - introduction, images, related links and comments area.
  • The Infocom Gallery
    High-quality scans of the grey box package and manual of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 88
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Contribute

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Brian Hirt.

TRS-80 CoCo added by Slik. Commodore 128 added by Starbuck the Third. Atari 8-bit, Amstrad CPC added by Kabushi. Browser added by Pseudo_Intellectual. PC Booter added by Nélio. Macintosh, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Amiga added by Terok Nor. Apple II, TI-99/4A, TRS-80 added by Servo. Tatung Einstein, Amstrad PCW added by Игги Друге. Atari ST, Commodore 64 added by Belboz.

Additional contributors: Dietmar Uschkoreit, Timo Takalo, Terrence Bosky, krammer, Pseudo_Intellectual, mo , formercontrib, c64fan, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added March 8, 1999. Last modified March 8, 2024.