A strange little side quest
Stickman Boost! may feel immediate, but the ideas around role-playing games have been evolving for a very long time. Early computer role-playing games helped turn rules, inventories, exploration and character progression into systems that could support long-form digital adventures. The surprising part is how quickly the next milestone followed. Computer Space reached arcades in 1971 and became one of the earliest commercial electronic arcade games, even though its controls proved demanding for many players. That long chain of experiments is part of why role-playing games still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.
