The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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 |
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Reviews
Discussion
| Subject | User | Date |
|---|---|---|
| graphical remake? | Pseudo_Intellectual (64960) | 2008-10-23 17:37:40 |
| Waxy makes an interesting score | DJP Mom (11318) | 2008-04-19 21:37:06 |
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 +
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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 <i>Hitchhiker's</i> also has a graphical interface. Sean Sollé, who worked with Adams on <i>Starship Titanic</i>, and Rod Lord, who did the graphics on the BBC's television version of <i>Hitchhiker's</i>, 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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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. Amiga, Macintosh, Commodore 16, Plus/4 added by Terok Nor. TI-99/4A, TRS-80, Apple II added by Servo. Amstrad PCW, Tatung Einstein 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 8th, 1999. Last modified February 22nd, 2023.