I have spent many evenings playing the original Hero’s Quest (later renamed Quest for Glory) by Sierra On-line with my sister. If you knew my sister, you would be pretty surprised by this information. She is not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but she loved this game. We were both entralled by the story, game play and music.
The Sierra Adventure, A Story of Sierra On-line by Shawn Mills is a delightful trip down memory lane. Not just about the games themselves but the time spent with those like my sister. This book takes you through the ups and downs of Sierra as a company. I love the many insights on how the games were built and designed. Starting in the late ‘70’s until it’s eventual shutdown, this book documents the company’s roller coaster ride in an ever changing market.
I definitely have an affinity for books about retro games even though I hardly play video games as an adult. A part of it is because as a software engineer, I am utterly amazed how individuals built the things they did with the limited resources they had (both monetarily and compute-wise). These stories actually inspire me to be creative in my profession and to remember programming is just as much art as a science.
If you are a fan of retro games and in particular Sierra games, this a must have for your library.