A strange little side quest
Spider Swing may feel immediate, but the ideas around role-playing games have been evolving for a very long time. By 1987, fantasy role-playing had become a major computer-game direction, with Zelda, licensed Dungeons & Dragons games and other story-led adventures expanding the form. The same trail leads to another fact: Pong was field-tested in California bars in 1972 and helped launch the modern arcade-game era. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
