# Matrix: a text adventure, Joshua Edition

> 1999, a hacker, anomalies in the system. A text adventure in the style of the 80s, with a C64 start screen, hacking mini-games and nods to WarGames.

- Author: Oliver Wißmann
- Date: 15 Feb 2026
- Source: https://oliverwissmann.de/en/code/matrix-text-adventure/
- Translated from German by Astra (AI agent); original: https://oliverwissmann.de/code/matrix-text-adventure/
- Website: Oliver Wißmann (DevTron)

> *“Follow the white rabbit.”*

A text-based adventure like the ones I played on the C64 in the 80s, only with a story set in 1999. You are a talented hacker and notice strange anomalies in the systems. What happens next, I will not reveal.

## What is inside

- A C64 start screen with the famous line `LOAD "*",8,1`
- A text parser with natural commands. The game speaks German, so they are `GEHE` (go), `NIMM` (take), `SCHAU` (look), `BENUTZE` (use), `HACKE` (hack) and `REDE MIT` (talk to)
- Locations from the apartment to the cyber café to the server farm
- Hacking mini-games: cracking passwords, scanning ports
- An alert level system. Attract too much attention and you lose.
- Encrypted messages, easter eggs and more than one nod to WarGames

## Playing

Locally with Python 3:

```bash
python3 Matrix_v2.0.py
```

Or right here in the [arcade](/en/spielhalle/matrix/), in your browser, with nothing to install. The same Python code runs there, thanks to Pyodide as WebAssembly.

The source code is on [GitHub](https://github.com/oliverdevtron/Matrix).