Colossal Cave Adventure: 3 Open Source Clones Compared
Advent takes a source-fidelity approach that several other Adventure ports don't: rather than building on Baggett's TADS-based 'Colossal Cave Revisited' rewrite, it translates the original historical source code (Fortran, RATFOR, or A-code) of four separate Adventure-family games directly into modern C99, and can be compiled to run in a browser via the Z-machine. Open Adventure instead forward-ports one specific lineage — the Crowther/Woods 2.5 (350-point) version, the last written by the games' original authors — with no original assets required and a permissive BSD-2-Clause license. The third listed clone, also named Colossal Cave Adventure, only documents DOS and Amiga ports and its development status is marked dead.
Comparison table
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Linux
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Active
- Last updated
- 2mo ago
- Stars
- 305
- Contributors
- 22
- License
- bsd-2-clause
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- NoOpen Adventure is a complete forward-port of the original Crowther/Woods Adventure; no original assets required.
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Web
- Play in browser
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Active
- Last updated
- today
- Stars
- 92
- Contributors
- 2
- License
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- NoReconstructed from disassembly; no original assets required.
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- DOS, Amiga
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Archived
- Last updated
- 11y ago
- Stars
- 33
- Contributors
- 1
- License
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- —
| Title | Open Adventure | Advent | Colossal Cave Adventure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Playable | Playable | Playable |
| Platforms | Linux | Web | DOS, Amiga |
| Play in browser | No | No | |
| Mobile | No | No | No |
| Project health | |||
| Development status | Active | Active | Archived |
| Last updated | 2mo ago | today | 11y ago |
| Stars | 305 | 92 | 33 |
| Contributors | 22 | 2 | 1 |
| License | bsd-2-clause | — | — |
| Compatibility | |||
| Requires original assets | NoOpen Adventure is a complete forward-port of the original Crowther/Woods Adventure; no original assets required. | NoReconstructed from disassembly; no original assets required. | — |
Frequently asked questions
Are the Colossal Cave Adventure clones on this page open source?
Yes — every clone catalogued here is an open-source project. Availability, license, and development-status details for each one are listed in the comparison table above.
What license do these Colossal Cave Adventure clones use?
Open Adventure (bsd-2-clause).
Do I need to own the original Colossal Cave Adventure to play these clones?
Open Adventure and Advent run standalone, no original files needed.
Can I play any of these Colossal Cave Adventure clones directly in a browser?
Yes — Advent has a browser-playable build linked in the comparison table above, no install required.
Which Colossal Cave Adventure clone is the most actively maintained?
Open Adventure and Advent are currently under active development, based on recent commit activity. See the "Development status" row above for every clone's current status.
See the full write-up for each clone, or go back to Colossal Cave Adventure.