Net Worth →
Video Games

Hunt the Wumpus: Game Guide, Developer and Facts

Hunt the Wumpus — video game guide with key facts, developer and background.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team3 min read✓ Fact-checked
Hunt the Wumpus
Gregory Yob via Wikimedia Commons · BSD

Hunt the Wumpus is a text-based adventure game developed by Gregory Yob in 1973. In the game, the player moves through a series of connected caves, arranged as the vertices of a dodecahedron, as they hunt a monster named the Wumpus. The turn-based game has the player trying to avoid fatal bottomless pits and "super bats" that will move them around the cave system; the goal is to fire one of their "crooked arrows" through the caves to kill the Wumpus. Yob created the game in early 1973 due to his annoyance at the multiple hide-and-seek games set in caves in a grid pattern, and multiple variations of the game were sold via mail order by Yob and the People's Computer Company. The source code to the game was published in Creative Computing in 1975 and republished in The Best of Creative Computing the following year. The game sparked multiple variations and expanded versions and was ported to several systems, including the TI-99/4A home computer. It has been cited as an early example of the survival horror genre, and was listed in 2012 on Time's All-Time 100 greatest video games list. The Wumpus monster has appeared in several forms in media since 1973, including other video games, a novella, and Magic: The Gathering cards.

Quick facts about Hunt the Wumpus

  • Title: Hunt the Wumpus
  • Developer: Gregory Yob
  • Released: 1973
  • Type: Video game
  • Wikidata ID: Q1638078

Compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hunt the Wumpus?

Hunt the Wumpus is a text-based adventure game developed by Gregory Yob in 1973.

Who made Hunt the Wumpus?

Hunt the Wumpus is by Gregory Yob.

When was Hunt the Wumpus released?

Hunt the Wumpus was released in 1973.

Sources

More in Gaming & Internet