A strange little side quest
The rules may be simple on screen, but the backstory around Venom's Adventure is anything but tiny. Donkey Kong arrived in 1981 with a character called Jumpman, who would later become one of gaming's most recognizable figures: Mario. The timeline takes another interesting turn: 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. That history is one reason familiar mechanics can still feel new when they are recombined well.
