Interactive Fiction

A cross between a pick-a-path book and dos prompt, text adventures (or what are now called interactive fiction, henceforth known as IF) have actually kept a rather steady following in recent times. I was made aware of this fact by taking the above link and playing through the games 'Photopia' and 'Narcolepsy' (by Adam Cadre in '98 and '04 respectively). I had played through a few of these games in my youth and was astounded by the complexity and depth that could actually go into a game like this should the person try (I hadn't played the likes of Zork or anything with a big name).
I recalled most of the basic commands you could do to:
n, s, e, w - north, south, east, west
i - inventory
x- examine
q - quit

More complex commands required two words; a verb and a noun. By today's standards, this looks rather stupid and so obviously planned to demand the appropriate response. With some of these newer games however, it can be ascertained that a lot more work has been put in to deal with the growing curiosity that goes with expanded worlds. The interface of Doom won't let me do anything but shoot imps with an assortment of weapons. I was able to telepathically attack a crazed doctor with a remote control in Narcolepsy though, perhaps proving that there is still fun to be had with words. Moving words perhaps, but describing your planned actions for your in-game avatar is satisfying (even if your in-game avatar does things in a completely unlike fashion).