Space Quest I

Space Quest:
Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter
Original cover art
Developer(s)Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)Mark Crowe
Scott Murphy
Programmer(s)Scott Murphy
Ken Williams
Sol Ackerman
Artist(s)Mark Crowe
Composer(s)Mark Crowe
SeriesSpace Quest
EngineAGI
Platform(s)DOS, Macintosh, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST
ReleaseOctober 1986[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter (commonly known as Space Quest I) is a graphic adventure game, created by Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, and released in October 1986 by Sierra On-Line.[2] It is the first game in the Space Quest series, and sees players assume the role of a lowly janitor on a research ship, who becomes involved in stopping an alien race using a new form of technology for evil purposes.

The game was the first to be created by Murphy and Crowe, after working on other Sierra titles at the time such as King's Quest II. Part of their proposal included moving away from the serious, medieval settings of other titles, in favour of making a "fun, silly game", utilising Sierra's AGI engine.[3] Space Quest I became an instant hit, selling in excess of 100,000 copies to begin with,[citation needed] and spawned several sequels, beginning with Space Quest II in 1987.

A remake of the game by Sierra was released in 1991, featuring improved graphics and gameplay. In 1992, Adventure Comics created a three issue comic, based on the game's plot.[4]

  1. ^ "Sierra Newsletter, The - Volume 1 Number 2 (1987)". 1987. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  2. ^ Weston, D.B. Greatest Moments in Video Game History. DB Weston. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-301-17414-0.
  3. ^ Purcaru, John Bogdan (29 January 2014). Games vs. Hardware. The History of PC video games: The 80's. Google Books. p. 296. Retrieved 11 December 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ ""Adventure Comics (Firm)" to "Adventure Series"". Michigan State University Libraries. Retrieved 2020-03-25.