Typing Open Door And Ken Sent Me
| Field | Computers/Gaming |
| Went Obsolete | 1995, with the advent of Sierra's Phantasmogoria |
| Made Obsolete By | The “interactive movie” subgenre of adventure games |
| Knowledge Assumed | Since-obsolete critical reasoning skills, insider Sierra info |
| When useful | During text-based adventure games with a graphics overlay |
Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away, children sat eagerly around their Apple ][s and typed commands into the much-beloved King's Quest (by Sierra) and watched as Graham, the hero of the game, completed actions such as “open door,” “pick up pebbles,” and “throw pebbles at giant.” These children grew up and played other Sierra text-based adventures with a graphics overlay, such as the entire King's Quest series, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest for Glory, and Leisure Suit Larry.
“Ken sent me” was from Leisure Suit Larry 1, and it was a reference to Ken Williams, one of the founders of Sierra (with his wife Roberta, who wrote all of the best Sierra games). Sierra games were full of sly messages within the text-based games, and the greatest downfall of the company's movement to the interactive movie format was the loss of this element of humor.
The Quest lines laid the foundation for all of the strongest adventure platforms– LucasArts? developed their initial line of games (Loom, Monkey Island I, Sam + Max) as a slight variation on the text-entry theme, offering the player a list of options, rather than entering text commands.
