A strange little side quest
Even a quick game like Screw Escape sits on top of decades — and sometimes centuries — of ideas. The first crossword puzzle book appeared in 1924 in a cautious initial printing of 3,600 copies, complete with a free pencil. The surprising part is how quickly the next milestone followed. Spacewar! appeared on MIT's PDP-1 in 1962 and became one of the earliest influential computer games shared among programmers. The screen is modern; the urge to test skill, pattern and timing definitely is not.
