iPod and iTunes: The Missing Manual, Third Edition

Text-Based iPod Adventure Games

“You are a brave elven warrior on the cusp of a mighty adventure in the curiously chatty Forest of The Shnooks. You walk along in the woods until you come to a fork in the path. Do you want to go left or right?” If Dungeons & Dragons—or any of the old-style adventure games that lead you through the action by way of words instead of exploding graphics—appeals to your sense of fun, the iPod is right there with you.

Thanks to the versatile Notes feature in the past few iPod generations, you can load up a detailed text-based game along with your Lord of the Rings soundtracks and head off on a thrilling quest—even if you’re stuck on the crosstown bus. Here are a few sites to see if you’re in the mood for adventure:

• XOPlay (http://www.xoplay.com). A company with several $15 text-based games available, including The Rise of the Lost, a D&D-style tale and BUM, a rags-to-hope-fully-riches story of urban life.

• iPodSoft (http://ipodsoft.com). This site has a large collection of story games to download and also a program to make your own interactive text games to share with others. Although the free iStory Creator software started out as a Windows-only program, a Mac version has landed as well. Once you get your game completed, you can upload it right back to the iPodSoft site for others to play.