Play Super ZZT Online

Game Overview

Oh man, Super ZZT takes me back. It's this weird little DOS game from '91 where you wander through these maze-like dungeons full of monsters and traps—except everything's made of colorful ASCII characters. At first it looks simple, but then you realize there are switches to hit, doors that only open if you're carrying the right object, and enemies that move in surprisingly clever patterns.

The real magic? The editor. You could build your own levels, scripting little puzzles or even whole adventure games with the built-in tools. I spent way too many afternoons as a kid making terrible dungeons where lions (which were just yellow 'L' characters) would chase you through twisty corridors. It's janky by today's standards, but there's something charming about how open-ended it all feels.

If you've ever wanted to see what happens when someone mixes Zelda with a text editor, this is it. Just don't blame me when you start dreaming in blocky purple walls and blinking smiley-face enemies.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".