Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter

Space Quest is the first adventure game in Sierra’s Space Quest Series. It is a science-fiction comedy and was developed with Sierra’s AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter) engine. Like other AGI games, players interract by typing in short sentences to pick up or use objects, perform actions, talk to characters, and solve puzzles. Using the keyboard or a joystick, players also can guide their character around the screen. Some sections of the game have a time limit; this includes the opening location and near the end when the player needs to set a self destruct. In addition to the adventure game elements there are several arcade action sequences players need to complete in order to reach the next location in the game.

In Space Quest players control the games hero, Roger Wilco (Actually, in this game players can provide their own name, however Roger Wilco is the default; later in the series Roger Wilco became the character's official name). Roger is the janitor on board the spaceship Arcada and at the beginning of the game is sleeping in the broom closet. He is awoken by a noise, and emerges from the closet to find that the ship has been boarded by the Sariens. The Sariens have already killed the crew and stolen the Star Generator (a powerful device that was being researched by Arcada’s crew). Roger is able to find an escape pod on the ship and crash land on the desolate, desert planet Kerona. After making his way through a series of paths and underground caves, Roger arrives at the small town of Ulence Flats. Here he learns of the location of the Deltaur, the Sariens spaceship where they have taken the Star Generator. Roger is able to leave the planet Kerona by purchasing a spaceship and travels to the Deltaur; once aboard, he sneaks past Sarien security by disguising himself and programs the Star Generator to self destruct. Once the Deltaur is destroyed, Roger receives the Golden Mop as a reward for his efforts.

Space Quest was remade in 1991 under the title Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter. The remake featured enhanced music and digitized sound effects, new graphics in a 1950’s retrofuturistic style, and a point-n-click interface instead of typed commands. The game’s story and many of the puzzles remain largely the same.