Return to Zork
Return to Zork: A mesmerizing interactive adventure of danger, intrigue and cunning.
Storyline
Trailers
2Screenshots
5Review History
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
| Japanese | — | — | Y |

Return to Zork: A mesmerizing interactive adventure of danger, intrigue and cunning.
The player's character is a sweepstakes winner who wins an all expenses paid holiday to the Valley of the Sparrows, in Zork. Upon arrival, however, the player quickly learns that the entire area has fallen under some dark and sinister influence, becoming decayed and dysfunctional. Whole buildings have mysteriously vanished, murderous vultures infest the land, people have frequent and disturbing nightmares featuring some dark being which refers to itself as Morphius, and many of those who have survived have become reclusive and paranoid. The player must survive countless perils whilst exploring the valley, investigating the causes of the powers that have gripped the land and ultimately putting a stop to them.
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
| Japanese | — | — | Y |
Fun Adventure game and return to the world of Zork.
A fun classic game from my childhood.
It's a fun adventure.
Another good old DOS game, still fun even though I didn't personally grow up with these games. Would recommend if your looking to pass the time or a goofy puzzle game.
First timer here. I probably would have liked this back in the day but it doesn't come close to other point and clicks I've played. Nothing felt intuitive with the puzzles. Even with a guide it was a little tricky and felt random. Not really any story. Ran fine at least and lots of save slots. Don't think i'll be picking up the other Zork titles though
It's creative, but it's too easy to get locked out and sometimes too difficult to find your way around, but I guess that's a Zork game for you, even if this one isn't text-based.
really short versionTHIS IS A REALLY CRAP adventure game nothing intuative and all the fun is short lived and very diluted
JUST AVOID!
END.
the too long waylayed slow dull boring good ideas flushed down the toilet version.
Over all it is A slow discombobulated mess of interaction and too many specific logics unto themselves, there is lore, cheesy character acting, some puzzles that are ok I dont mind the legit pitfalls but picking up some items leads to the destruction of a precariously balanced causality that seems to denote that its ok to think out side the box but if you pick it up to look at it this bra box will undo the crappy scripting of the universe! (reloads so you gotta save alot) This game is also THE WORST ive ever played for over expansive scenery (and that is saying something) and also it has the most ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tedious mazes ever not thought out (ive seen 3 so far and thats it why bother theres no challenge just time depletion)! Its already stupidly time consuming (also very boring game xp) for adventure with all the stopping and starting and waylaying it makes what should be a engrossing xp in to A swamp trail of saving and reloading and just a metric ♥♥♥♥ ton of repetition!
The art of adventure ..is lost on these people!
I feel over all that this was a massive waste of my time and your time and the time of the actors involved (well some of them, maybe!)
Slowed.
This game looked fun it had lots of budget for the time with cd tech ect n sure it can be fun when you throw enough things in the same game but thing is the game play it self is just crap not the graphics not the cheesy actors (who poured a fair amount in to it like a fine natcho cheese sauce).Its not the art or story, but the actual ideas of what item and interactions are about (and how) expansion of problematic solving isnt like lucas arts for eg, Its more some individuals flawed logics that they want you to solve, like what am I thinking of, then Nooo! reload your game! to be fair there are things that link up also but I found the whole xp dull, slowing and tedious AF
Waylayed.
!Part of the game tells me after picking up an item that was just sitting around begging to be put in my inventory and examined I mean wtf is a bra box doing there?lets snoop engaging yoink mode!?
But if I follow said justified curiosity and investigate it tells me I have all my items confiscated!?
at this point I gather a hail and hearty ♥♥♥♥ NO What is this?? A fun game or A counter intuitive english teacher who thinks he can teach the world manners, magic and the frailty of causality but doesnt understand hes an idiot!? this is not the art of an adventure game its the art of 3 steps forward 65 steps to the left 102 to the right and then 340 step backwards in to a bog!
Adventure games are already long so if you teach me a “lesson” wich seems here to be not one of logic more of we put an item that you could pick up here that screws the causality of our planned game scenario ..then 'adventure 101' is either dont let me pick it up or dont put it threre! Its not funny its not cleaver the only take away lesson is this YOU SUCK! U wanna teach a lesson? 1st Learn what makes adventure games fun and Stop wasting my time!
All iam really saying is if this was guybrush he wouldnt have stopped the whole game to wag fingers and say well that aint how we behave is it hed just say look I dont need to mess with that right now or maybe.. Iam not tangling or untangling with any bra without explicit permission! ...I learnt that the hard way!
Also a lot of items are not being used to their potential to say the LEAST!
Tips.
>Save all the dam time and on multiple slots!
>dont pick up the stupid bra box or causality is undone (poor game scripting) ..Many items in the game if taken before other events are prone to forcing a restart and taking all your inventory items leaving you wondering around aimlessly at odds with yr mouse & the effort of pushing the start button in the 1st place
>dont drop items or you may go nuts!? (yes its a game that lets you brake it but it aint exaclty a far cry from that anyway!)
>in the cheap inventory shaded side of the box is use, light side is pick up (to use outside the box)
>Survivor is just chess with a zimmerframe!
when he say this piece can force the other in to the pit there is no demonstration or discription how this is actually done (its actually just about blocking his escape route)
>play a better game (litrally you can choose most other adventure games)
What a blast from the past! Perfect for a stormy night!
A fun, interesting game i used to play as a child. Brings back good memories of a better time.
Infocom <3
Return to zork is a classic. This one is real old. If I had never played this it would be pretty good, but I know what is coming up next. I already beat this game. Still good to remember the past.
it's a zorkin' good time
This game was the first visually enhanced version of the Zork series and is entertaining and challenging still.
This was a personal favorite so playing it again fills me with a warm nostalgia.
I played this game when it originally came out. Loved it and thanks to steam I can play it over again.
It took me 30+ years to final reach the ending scene. Of course, I had to cheat to see it ..
Brings back childhood memories
Pros:
Good story
Fun puzzles
Good graphics (for its time)
Has the most evil laugh in all video games
Cons:
The text during game play is rather small
No Steam Achievements
I give it 7.9/10
Missing a lot of the FMV's i remember it having as a kid, but oh well. Never figured I'd get a chance to play it again, so I'll take what I can get.
That being said, it's f&$*ing impossible. 10/10.
This game brought back so many memories. I remember thinking the graphics we great. Very good game for the old gamers .
im not returning
My dad bought this game when it first came out, gave it to me when i was 7, said I was smart enough to figure out what to do, said its a lot of writing things down and noticing everything. "look at all the things, its all important" he said. I bought this game again a few years ago because Markiplier was playing some point and click games and reminded me of Zork. This game was prime puzzle gameplay back in the day. it still is so cool to see how much work they must've put into rendering this game and the love and dedication it took to really pull a game like this together
[h1][i]Return to Zork[/i] is a 1993 graphic adventure game, and the fifth in the [i]Zork[/i] series.
The previous games were text adventures, while [i]Return to Zork[/i] uses a first-person perspective with video-captured actors and a point-to-click style.
There's no manual included, which contains the answers to the pop-quiz given by Mr.Peepers. So you'll need to look up the answers to what questions she asks.
It's a super funny and entertaining game. Boos is definitely me in the future, that guy's my spirit animal!
"[i]Want sum Rye!? Course ya do! *Pours glass*[/i]"
If you like point-and-click puzzle games, this is for you!
8/10[/h1]
A classic adventure game that is worth it. I loved meeting the characters again.
Old school fun. It is challenging if you do not use cheats as I did back when it first came out, but it is hard to resist cheats now with such easy access. Still fun to see the story unfold.
Unbelievably difficult game
They don't makes games like this anymore. The simple fact Steam has this game is half the reason i paid for it again. The other half is due to the fact that I can actually play it ll the way through without having the CD ROM skip and fail to load and NO it doesn't skip during animation cuts. : ) This game is not easy and really really makes you think outside the box. To save you some time these are the days of the week : Sand day Mun day Grues day Wands day Birthday Frob day Star day.
if you're not used to this kind of game, save often and be prepared to backtrack.
This game is a piece of weird, wonderful early 90s nostalgia.
Want some nostalgia?
'Course you do.
Pretty sure every person interested in playing this game has already played it. It runs well enough on W10 and it's worth it for the bump of nostalgia alone. I'm also left wondering how I figured some of this stuff out as a kid, other than through endless trial and error..
This was definitely my favorite Zork game. It was just so weird and entertaining. One of the best classic DOS games of all time.
The year was 1993. I fired this game up on my first Pentium processor computer. My dad told me not to tell Mom of the filth we we were playing. First wrong turn around the lighthouse leads to death. You don't drink the Rye correctly it leads to your death. You click the wrong button you die. This game defined me as a child and taught me valuable life lessons.
Want some rye, course you do.
If you've played this game before, it's still the ♥♥♥♥. The Zork franchise is past due for revival :)
If you played it back in the day you'll love it. If you're under 30 you probably won't.
Short, and dumb puzzles. Looks like they had fun making it though.
Fun game, recommended to most people that aren't afraid of a bit of work
As I see it, the big problem with this game is not the fuzzy graphic or clunky interface (I'd expect both from a game this old). The big problem is that the plot itself doesn't seem to be coherent. There's just no reasoning behind what happens, which makes already difficult puzzles impossible.
Want some rye?
'Course you do!
A point and click classic, and the first graphical Zork adventure, RTZ is a first person perspective adventure game where you play as an anonymous sweepstakes winner that travels to the Valley of the Sparrows for vacations, only to find out all is not well in the Valley (now renamed to the more appropriate "Valley of the Vultures"), and some sort of magical evil entity is messing things up. It's your job to find out what's wrong and help the residents of the Great Underground Empire to set things right once again.
While it didn't age that well in some regards, and has some very frustrating elements (the forest maze, some unexpected deaths and the sliding puzzle...), I was actually surprised how well thought and relatively generous RTZ is in some places. You actually get a lot of hints on how to progress and solve puzzles if you take your time and read things, as well as show photos and items to the characters you meet. Some puzzles can also be solved in more than one way, which is a nice touch. You can also re-do some of the actions if you mess up (most notably the bonding plant if it withers), but you still have to be careful, as there are some places you can permanently screw yourself over, so having multiple saves is definitely advised.
Voices and acting are rather cheesy, yet they emit that characteristic 90s FMV game vibe, which I really appreciate. I'm also really digging the school-band style CD audio tracks. Too bad they don't play that often in the game.
Considering the nature of the original text adventures, RTZ is just a product of its time (1993), so don't expect it to be a smooth ride nowadays. But if you like relatively difficult (and sometimes cryptic, if you don't pay attention) old adventure games, or the universe of Zork in general, I'd say definitely give this one a try!
If you like problem solving then it's the game for your but it does get tricky
This game sucked, it was realy not good. if you are like me, an imbecile, you will enjoy your experience. Want some rye, course ya do. I would also like to stress in this review that I spent real money to be precise 30 minutes worth of labor in real life to buy this game.
"Oh how nice. A visitor!" I loved this game in my teens. I never fully beat it but my friend (who actually owned the game) did. Now I've found my old friend again. Not him; that jerk ran off with my girlfriend in 2001. RTZ. "And she only eats CARROTS!" Also, I never paid for the game when I was a teenager, so in purchasing this I'm buying a piece of my soul back. "Want some rye? 'Course ya do!"
Unfortunately, DosBox loads up and then semi-immediately crashes. *buzzard attacks & you're dead* nVidia GTX 2070 SUPER with a Samsung 44" double-wide monitor. I guess I'll try again when I can afford a better PC. "YOU FOOL!! YOZOZO!!"
* In case anyone else runs into this issue, you'll want to modify the DosBox config file, in the folder which contains the RTZ manual (there's a link to that within the launcher). I had to change fullscreen to false and it works. 640x480 wasn't gonna look good on my giant monitor anyway. "Hmm? It's your sword..."
After being one of the most famous and iconic text adventure games series, Return to Zork has now transitioned the series into the point and click adventure genre, with all the advancements that comes with the change, including graphics, voice-acting, and more that come with the shift. Unfortunately, this advancement also comes with a bit of baggage that makes this game somehow feels more dated than even the older text-adventure Zork games.
That's not to say that Return to Zork is a bad game, though. Sure, the sound can be especially grating now, and the graphics are just plain old and pretty plain at this point, but there's still a surprising amount of charm to this decades old game.
The cheesy overacting of the different characters just adds to the zany and surreal world of Zork, and in hindsight, it is surprisingly fairer compared to the earlier Zork games: hints and info are dropped by the characters if you take the time to speak with them and show various items and photos to them. It’s actually pretty fun to talk with the various characters to uncover lore and hints, getting to know just what happened since one’s previous adventure in Zork. Each puzzle also has multiple ways to solve them, which is a huge plus compared to other adventure games. Still, like the previous text adventure Zork games, save often. You might even have to restart the game once. Or twice.
Return to Zork is pretty dated, there's no denying that. Still, I think there's enough old-school charm in the game to be worth your time and take in the sights of the weird, unique, and zany world of Zork: this time with graphics and voice-acting!
Brilliant game reminds me of when i was a little kid : )
Yes, recommend it, but only for those fans of old school adventure games with a lot of patience. Save often, save a lot. I like it for the nostalgia and to complete the Zork series.
Revisited this classic from my childhood. Love it for all the wrong reasons. Click the wrong thing and you're dead. Make sure you save often and have a walk through ready if you're serious about completing the game.
Gutes Spiel.
Gute Geschichte.
Humor erstklassig.
Rätsel nicht zu schwer, sind mit einer Lösung leicht zu schaffen.
Lediglich der Akzent in der Englischen Sprache ist manchmal etwas schwer zu verstehen, dafür bietet das Spiel zum Glück aber Untertitel an.
Es ist ein Klassiker unter der Zork Reihe, kein reines Textadventure wie Zork 1-3, nicht so schwer wie Zork Nemesis.
Ein Spiel was das Nostalgie Feeling stark aufleben lässt, mit viel Humor und Herz.
Spiele wie dieses müsste es wieder mehr geben.
Das sind die Spiele die sich lohnen zum spielen und die zeitlos sind.
This is one of those games you play b/c you had it a long time ago.
With that being said, want some rye?
'Course ya do.
I love this game. This game was a part of my childhood, and the characters, the gameplay, everything about it nostalgic. Highly recommended.
One of the absolute best point n click adventure games ever made. Right up there with Day of the Tentacle. Return to Zork uses classic RPG tropes to tell a fun story set in its own unique world. The puzzles are clever. The video capture was state of the art at the time and now serves as a fun nostalgia trip of how far graphics have come over the last few decades. The music is excellent. The game is just great. Highly recommended.
Thank God that not all video games are like Return to Zork. I've said this before, I love puzzles games, but I don't like games where there isn't near enough information to deduce a theory let alone a solution to a puzzle. Return to Zork is chocked full of these types of “middle finger to the players” puzzles and to make matters worse, there is a glitch right at the end of the game that makes it impossible to finish unless you know a way around it.
Pros:
Many hours of game play (Mostly because the answers are impossible to find)
Non-linear
Several puzzles to solve (If you can find the answer which is unlikely)
Cons:
Controls could have been better
Puzzles range from Very hard to Impossible
You die for the stupidest reasons
Too much back and fourth
Many of the puzzles have no explanation
Very, VERY easy to become "trapped" from achieving victory
I've played nearly every Zork game ever developed and I have to say, this game is by far the worst of the bunch. Zork Nemesis and Zork Grand Inquisitor, and even the original text adventures Zork I, II, and III have clues and information that help you find the answer to the puzzles facing you. However, Return to Zork has very little of that and in one instance, the information comes to late.
For example, in the gift shop, near the beginning the game, there are only three things you can take. The battery, which on the shelf, and some tickets and coins, both in the cash register. If you take the tickets and coins first, you'll die. However, if you put the battery into the tele-orb first (the tele-orb is in your inventory at the start of the game and needs a battery), THEN the wizard will warn you to put the battery into tele-orb first before you go the the cast register. Thanks for that. The best thing is, the information in the manual (which you need to read) says that you are a sweepstakes winner and you can go to the gift shop and take whatever you want and you WILL NOT be punished. Yeah, right.
Worse of all, right at the very VERY end of the game, you have to cross the Citadel Bridge for your final showdown with the villain. There is a glitch that makes in impossible to finish the game. Fortunately, a fellow gamer found a way around this stupid glitch.
At the time of this review, Return to Zork was selling for $5.99. Not worth it by a long shot. Even this game were good, six dollars is a bit high for a game released in 1993. If you're thinking about trying one of the Zork games, then play Nemesis or Grand Inquisitor. They are very challenging, but they have logical puzzles with clues as to solve them.
Had to start over.
Bug in Forest of the Spirit that made that I could not move.
Was brilliant game in the day. But now to many bugs.
Certains jeux ont vraiment trop vieilli, c'est le cas de celui-ci. On comprend à peine les dialogues et donc la suite du jeu (qui est déjà un jeu basé sur l'humour absurde à la base, ça n'aide pas). Dommage.
I's Zork,need I say more
Fun old FMV game that can be tricky at times.
Very old school game with some of the most cryptic puzzles in the history of adventure games.
Its freaky, funny, creepy, addictive, and was ahead of its time back in 1993 along the lines of silent hill for some of the younger gamer's
Want some Rye?
'Course you do!
it was nice game before i grow up
This is peak FMV gaming
Here's some nostalgia, ladies and gents! One of my most favorite games from back in that day, right here on Steam, bringin' back the good ol' days of sitting in my rooom in the middle of the night on a school day just playing this game til 2am.
In all seriousness, the game runs great and has none of them bugs like a few vintage converts I've played. Works with my DOS Box perfectly. 0, count em Z/E/R/O complaints.
Really glad to see Steam bring this old classic back, this was one of my first video games and it’s still a good one. Very long and full of difficult puzzles, I must have spent over 200 dollars on the Infocom hint line trying to get through it. These days there is much free help of course on the Internet, and if you enjoy a challenging point and click game with good voice acting and some tongue in cheek humor this game is a great value. Highly recommended.
I'm really glad they put this on Steam, was kind of fun going back and playing this. As a kid I had tried to beat it with my friends at school and we'd be trading notes about things we saw or did to advance the story, and I have a lot of good memories from that.
Looking at it now it's pretty aged, and has one of the strangest tones/theme I've ever experienced in a media property, but enjoyed using a guide to play through it in its entirety once and for all. Recommended to anyone who played it in the 90's and wants a nice nostalgia trip.
"Why do flatheads right "TGIF" on their shoes?"
"...Toes Go In First!"
Played this back in the day, graphics and FMV rotoscoping were hi-tech in the mid 1990s. This is a point and click with the same Zork sarcastic humor that doesn't take itself seriously at all (see above quotes). The only negative I can think of is that you can lose the game, even in the first room. Also subtitles for the FMV actors would be nice.
For a few bucks it's worth it if you are either nostagic or a big point and click fan and willing to put up with the pre-Pentium dated-ness of the game. Want some rye? Of course you do!
This game was an old tried and true for me. Great adventure with challenging, yet fun, puzzles. Quality is very nostalgic, consistent with the CD version.
I'm glad this old game is availble on Steam in full functionality. The game is basically King's Quest meets Myst, and that's why I love playing this. Also a good bonus is that it comes with the manual which comes with excerpt answers for the copy protection questions (luckily I haven't come across one that required the full guide while playing).
I played this game when I was a kid. I still can'tbeat the game without help😅
I have a soft spot for this game, as this is the game that Infocom should have put out back in the day when the world went all into video. The future that never was. The neat things are of course the digitized voice, and CD audio sound track. It pushed 286 class machines & real mode MS-DOS to it's limits. Back in the day, this game was a nightmare to configure as it needed quite a bit of real mode. A DOS Extender would have gone a LONG LONG way in furthing it's acceptance, or perhaps a Windows port. Sadly neither happened.
So what we have here is a rather poor CD-RIP, with ogg samples of the audio, and the bare minimum files needed to play the game. Not that I really need the MechWarrior 2 demo, but it would have been cool.
Now the bad.
This is the MS-DOS CD version, and has zero integration with steam. It's simply the Sierra DOSBox launcher, DOSBox 0.74 and a simple launcher. The default MIDI sound horrible on Windows 10, however you can edit dosboxRTZ_single.conf and run midiconfig to set a different output. Since the game offers zero integration, no screen shots, no streams, no cards, no nothing. I'm surprised they didn't use the SCUMMVM version that can play this, as it would offer a much nicer environment. Otherwise, it's the GOG version, no changes, nothing.
Otherwise, yeah it's great, take good care of your bonding plant!
Looks just as ♥♥♥♥♥♥ as it did on my Macintosh, love it...
You want to use hints and save often while playing this game?
'Course you do!









