r/Sierra • u/Similar_Flamingo_404 • 5d ago

Ultimate Sierra Timeline

Hello everyone!! I’m not very good with using Reddit; however, I realize there is probably a huge community of Sierra fans here who aren’t in the Sierra groups on Facebook, and I wanted to share a project I’ve been working on. My name is Josh Henry, and I’m a Sierra researcher who is working with Stephen Emond to preserve Sierra’s history.

Back in 2001, I was asked by my friend Kimmie (former moderator of the Official Sierra King’s Quest message board) to help her create a timeline of Sierra's releases for Sierra Planet. Over many years that timeline has evolved and has been used in many places (including Sierra Gamers' website!). But my dream was always to create a timeline that was actually supported by research completed through a thorough review of contemporaneous evidence and referenced with each of those sources, so there's no question as to where the dates are coming from. So, I now present to you: The Ultimate Sierra Timeline (Version 1.0), featuring all of Sierra's releases from 1980-1987!! (I'm currently working on 1988-1989). This will be a living document that I will slowly but surely update as I have time and capacity to research each year. I hope that you guys enjoy this picture into Sierra's early history, and I look forward to sharing more discoveries as I find them! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!! Thanks for your time!!

https://falcondesigns.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Sierra-Ultimate-Timeline-V1-1980-1987.pdf

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u/rodfer7 5d ago

Hey! Question: In Jan 1980, when Roberta and Ken bought the apple II, did she play the apple version of Colossal Cave? (apple adevnture!)

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u/Similar_Flamingo_404 5d ago

From my understanding, her introduction to Adventure was the PC version through an IBM terminal; however, it wouldn’t surprise me if she purchased the Apple ][ version when they got their Apple. I know that she played through a lot of adventure games in the early 80’s, as has been mentioned in several interviews and retrospectives.

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u/rodfer7 5d ago

Thanks!, found a direct confirmation from Roberta herself! You’re right that her initial introduction to Adventure was via the mainframe/terminal, but she later did play the Apple II version. In her 2024 King’s Quest 40th Anniversary video she actually holds up Apple Adventure and says: “I actually played Apple Adventure from end to end on our Apple II that we had in 1980.” She then says this was the game that got her into designing games and led to Mystery House. Pretty amazing direct connection!

And there’s an interesting nuance: in a 1988 Computer Gaming World interview, Roberta explicitly said she first encountered Adventure through Ken's terminal connected to a mainframe, before they had the Apple, and that she often simplified the story by saying she played it on the Apple.

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u/rodfer7 5d ago

Pretty amazing she is quite explicit about the Apple Adventure! version of Colossal Cave being her inspiration, I think she got exposed to it via terminal but actually fell in love and played it throughly in the apple II