Feelie

Not to be confused with Feely.

For the rock band, see The Feelies.

"Feelie" is a term first used by Infocom to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. Feelies differed from game to game and were of the same theme as the game they came packaged with. For example, Wishbringer, a fantasy game with magic, came with a "Magick glowing stone." These extra objects and documents sometimes served as a form of copy protection, as several games were impossible to solve without information found in their feelies. Although the term was first used by Infocom, it can refer to similar content found in any company's games.

Games

Some of Infocom's games and their feelies are listed below:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  • A button with "Don't Panic!" printed in large, friendly letters
  • Pocket Fluff
  • Order for destruction of Arthur Dent's house
  • Order for destruction of Earth
  • Microscopic Space Fleet (an empty plastic bag)
  • "Peril Sensitive Sunglasses" ("glasses" made of opaque black cardboard)
  • The game also indicates that it comes with "no tea," a key joke and puzzle in the game.
• Planetfall
  • A Stellar Patrol "Special Assignment Task Force" ID card (similar in appearance to a credit card)
  • 3 interstellar postcards
  • A Stellar Patrol recruiting manual, "Today's Stellar Patrol"
  • Diary entries of the player-character, to establish the background of the story.
• Zork I
  • The Great Underground Empire: A History
  • Map of the Underground Empire
  • A zorkmid (sought after by collectors, as it was only included with the 1987 Zork Trilogy collection).

After Infocom

After the demise of Infocom, Activision became responsible for the Zork franchise. The first editions of the three graphical Zork games they produced each included printed feelies.

• Return to Zork
  • Sweepstakes Letter & Envelope.
  • Encyclopaedia Frobozzica, 966 GUE edition.
• Zork Nemesis
  • Mission diary of the player's predecessor (missing, presumed dead).
• Zork Grand Inquisitor
  • Zork timeline poster, covering prehistory to the inquisition era. (thus covering all previously released games except Return to Zork, which takes place in the distant future of the series)

Present day

Feelies were most common in games of the 1980s and 1990s, but have since been omitted from most games regular releases, and items akin to feelies are now mostly found in various games' special editions. For example, Catherine was released in a deluxe edition which included a pillow case and clothing items like those the main characters wore, while the game itself came in a mock-pizza box from a fictional, in-game store. Likewise, a special "Zombrex Edition" of Dead Rising 2 included a fake syringe (a functional pen), an accompanying safety information card, a steel case, a sales brochure, and a prescription pad. In the European release, this was expanded to include a making-of documentary DVD.

External links

• The Infocom Gallery with images of most feelies from the Infocom games
• An alternate location for The Infocom Gallery
• The Zorkmid Project, an effort to mint new zorkmids
• Computer Chronicles on feelies for Leather Goddesses of Phobos