9 Pioneering Video Games EVERYONE Forgets

9. Colossal Cave Adventure

Spearheaded by eminent computer developer William Crowther in 1976, text-based adventure program Colossal Cave Adventure was highly influential for multiple reasons.

For one thing, its setting and style paved the way for myriad other creations over the next few years alone, including Zork, Adventureland, Acheton, Adventure, and The Golden Baton.

What’s arguably more notable – and less often acknowledged – is that Colossal Cave Adventure included a cheat code way before the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Doom, and Grand Theft Auto franchises turned the trick into a staple of the medium. It even predates the legendary Konami Code by roughly a decade!

Simply put, players could input “xyzzy” to skip a large portion of the game. Supposedly, Crowther made it for his sister – Betty Bloom – who was playtesting it and became irritated by Colossal Cave Adventure’s leisurely pacing. There’s also been speculation that the phrase was based on – or later became – a Crowther family password.

In any case, it obviously laid the foundation for one of our most beloved video game attributes.