Adventure Gamers - Forums

The Spirit fades, in Darkness lying. A quest proclaim - the Light is dying. Seek the secret everywhere, from thin fronds of the roof trees to dark tunnels that lie below the root.

Below The Root (1984) may quite possibly have been the first graphic adventure to feature verb menus - it’s certainly the first that I’m aware of. It’s an imaginative and charming game with a more interesting setting and plot than anything Sierra ever came up with. The story has you, the protagonist, attempting to reunite two estranged races - the utopian Kindar who live in vast tree-cities and the mysterious and highly spiritual Erdlings who occupy the caverns below the root. The game’s backstory and lore, based on Zilpha Snyder’s fantasy novels, is extensive and must have been quite fascinating for early adventurers not used to such depth in a game before. It’s also highly non-linear, with 5 player characters to choose from. It does need a remake as modern players will likely find the controls too finicky, but it’s a shame the game does not get talked about much anymore as it surely deserves a place in the annals of adventure history.

Curious about what Grunspreke and Kiniport do. “You can’t Grunspreke that”

This is where your trusty manual comes in handy!

Grunspreke: The ability to influence tree growth. (the huge trees in the game are called “grunds”)
Kiniport: The ability to move inaccessible objects or your own body with your mind.

Of course, you need to obtain both the skills before you are able to use the command.

I have no idea what the first game to have a verb bar is (it never even occurred to me to think of such a thing before) but there are games before 1984 that have them.

An example I can think of off-hand would be The Time Secret  which was released in 1983.

D - 21 July 2016 04:45 PM

I have no idea what the first game to have a verb bar is (it never even occurred to me to think of such a thing before) but there are games before 1984 that have them.

An example I can think of off-hand would be The Time Secret  which was released in 1983.

Never heard of it. Any info? It doesn’t come up on Mobygames.

Here is a youtube video of Time Secret:

The verb bar contains the cardinal directions (NSEW) as well as verbs like Take, Open, Talk, Inventory, etc.

Considering what an incredibly obvious idea the verb bar is, it was probably independently implemented by many different developers around the world at around that time.