# Help me remember a film/video game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176 "2012-11-16T11:54:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reebevoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reebevoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reebevoli)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/1 "2012-11-16T11:54:18Z")
I am trying to remember a film that featured a computer adventure game and my google-fu is letting me down. The film is from (I think) the 80s and is a fantasy type adventure with a young boy as the main protagonist. At the beginning of the film he is playing an adventure game on a home computer and he cannot get past a wizard/dragon/troll (or some such). The game uses a text parser and he tries various options to no avail. He then goes off and has the main ‘real life’ adventure and at the end of the film he uses his experiences to work out what he has to do in the game and defeats the wizard/dragon/troll. I’m sure this is a well known film and I’ve seen it at least twice, but my brain won’t release the info. ETA: Just realised this is probably better suited to Café Society as I’m after the film name not so much the game. ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/2 "2012-11-16T14:08:58Z")
Big. ---
**Author:** ![Reebevoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reebevoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reebevoli)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/3 "2012-11-16T14:46:42Z")
Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/4 "2012-11-16T20:18:28Z")
From memory “melt wizard” “What do you want to melt him with?” “Throw thermal pod” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/5 "2012-11-16T21:34:39Z")
For what it’s worth he revisits the game while still an adult and it helps him decide he needs to go back to being a kid again. I also believe I have read online it is a real game. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-film-video-game/641176/6 "2012-11-16T21:51:31Z")
There’s [this old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=281310) (“what was the computer game that Tom Hanks was playing in ‘Big?’”) in which **GIGObuster** concludes that it was a fictional game (and I agree). There is conjecture that the game may have been “[Wizard and the Princess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_and_the_Princess),” a precursor to the _King’s Quest_ series, or possibly “[Colossal Cave Adventure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure),” however the graphics from those games does not seem to match up with screenshots of the game from the movie, nor does the specific game scenario shown in the movie appear in either game.