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Wordsmiths

TV-G | 10 min | Documentary

Before video games could get graphic, text-based adventures imagined the future of literature.

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Season 1

Episode 1

Seeing Farther

Meet the group of rogue programmers who, in the 1980s, decided to elevate computer games to an art form.

Episode 2

The Dragon Slayer

Though his industry was becoming increasingly concerned with the bottom line, Chris Crawford understood that video games could revolutionize storytelling.

Episode 3

Come Together

For one programmer, the future of gaming was about more than art. It was a social issue.

Episode 3

The Doom Generation

Doom was a fast-paced and immersive first-person shooter game whose success was the envy of the industry.

Episode 4

One More Turn

The history-inspired Civilization games say less about the past than they do about what’s next.

Episode 5

Searching for Shangri-La

Extending his empire to the small screen, George Lucas built a video-game incubator on his own ranch.

Episode 6

Dungeons & Doctors

Young doctors-turned-game-designers performed a digital transplant on an iconic role-playing game.

Episode 7

Wordsmiths

Before video games could get graphic, text-based adventures imagined the future of literature.

Episode 8

From Then to Now

From the art gallery to the boardroom, video games are going places their inventors never anticipated.

Episode 9

The Revolution Will Be Digitized

Pong took computer games out of the lab and into the dive bar. Here’s how the runaway success of Atari’s first game led to the company’s eventual downfall.

Credits

Director
Peter Mishara
Producer
Christina Piovesan