<!--
	Title: (PC-Communiqués) A Zork Fan Turns Pro
	Author: James Langdell
	Source: PC Magazine, v2(6)
	Date: November 1983
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/pcmag-a-zork-fan-turns-pro/zug-cartoon.png" alt="A cartoon of a disguised man tearing up hint books">

Have you played *Zork*, *Starcross*, *Witness*, or another of Infocom’s
adventure games, and reached a point where you couldn't figure
out your next move? For the last 2 years help has been available
from the Zork Users Group, which created booklets of
"InvisiClues" printed in invisible ink so players could ration out
secrets one at a time. (See "[In Search Of The Exotic](/library/pcmag-in-search-of-the-exotic)," PC, Volume
2 Number 2.)

In addition to providing the hint service, the Zork Users Group
produced maps, posters, T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers in
support of Infocom's games, along with a newsletter titled *The
New Zork Times*. There was so much demand for the group's
products that its founder (known then only as “Mike") enlisted his
parents, friends, and neighbors — none of them Zork players — to
help service the adventure fanatics.

The Zork Users Group was so successful that it no longer exists.
On completing his MBA degree this year, Michael R. Dornbrook
was hired by Infocom as product manager for its entertainment
software. To avoid a conflict of interest, "Mike" folded the Zork
Users Group.

In the future, Infocom, will produce maps and hint books for its
own games. All of the user group's InvisiClue volumes have been
rewritten. Infocom now makes a practice of creating maps and sets
of clues at the same time its games are authored. The clues should
be available as soon as new games are released, but the booklets
won’t be packaged with the software; Dornbrook said that many
adventure players don’t want to be too easily tempted by the hints.

The late Zork Users Group’s buttons and bumper stickers might
now be collector’s items, but the new InvisiClues can be ordered
from Infocom, Inc., P.O. Box 855, Garden City, NY 11530.
