An important source of low-cost computer software from the age before the internet, Compute’s Gazette distributed a variety of software, including a couple of games each issue. They also distributed Speedscript, an important early word processor, which was one of their biggest hits. But for kids, the games were the most important thing.

The C64 Appreciation Society recently typed in the early CG game The Frantic Fisherman, and made a fifteen minute video demonstrating the process and the game. Remember, while you could order a 5¼” disk with all of an issues programs on it, most people who wanted to use them had to sit down in front of their machine and type on line after line of code. It often took hours, and even with error checking software like The Automatic Proofreader and MLX to help, the danger of typos was great.

The Frantic Fisherman is not a terrific game. It’s really simple, just a matter of moving your fisherperson to the right place and either swinging your club or raising your umbrella. You can select the speed, but it doesn’t get faster naturally as you play. But it’s a good demonstration of what magazine type-in games from the time were like. Take a look, and travel back in time.

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