The Emerald Elephant

A short illustrated text adventure. Struck blind by the sight of the Castle of Darkness, you are guided by a talking firefly, through fourteen locations in and around the castle. Somewhere lies a secret treasure room holding the Emerald Elephant of Cipangu, in a different place each game. You walk from place to place and choose commands from a list: up, down, in, out, back, peer, take, leave, a look at what you carry, and help. You can carry six things, and the right ones open the way: a knife for the postern, a golden key for the main gate, and a pillow, a mouse and a flagon for the treasure room. Carry the elephant out through the main gate to win; the postern will not let it pass.

Controls: Push the stick north, south, east or west to walk, with a fresh push for each step. The left button opens the command list: the stick chooses, the left button does it and the right button closes the list. A button turns a MORE page. Either controller works.

ColecoVision version credited in the source to Claude (an AI made by Anthropic) for Amy Studio, in Amy, the language by Amy Bienvenu, 2026: a reimagined adaptation of the published rules. From Ahoy! Nos. 9-10, September-October 1984, page 54: original Commodore 64 program by Orson Scott Card. Two-part article on writing text adventures: Part I (September 1984) built the exploration program; Part II (October 1984, page 54) printed the complete game. Published in the magazine as "The Emerald Elephant of Cipangu". This is a modern homebrew adaptation, not a commercial Coleco release.