Roberta Williams – Mother of Graphic Adventure  Design

Historically, the Gaming Industry has been known to be male dominated. The majority of developers, designers or even executives are men. But have you ever wondered if there are any women who have contributed to the evolution of the gaming industry, as we know it today? 

“Have you ever heard about Roberta Williams?”

“Let’s discover her story!”

How it all started

Roberta Williams, also known as the “mother of graphic adventure design”, is known to be one of the pioneers in the Gaming Industry. Nothing could have prepared her for the success she was about to have, since she has never been a “tech girl”. Her discovery of video games started with the game “Colossal Cave Adventure”, a text based adventure game. Roberta quickly became fascinated and captivated  by this game. The immersive aspect of the game ignited in her the desire to create her own game; an adventure game combining narrative elements and graphics to create a more compelling and interactive experience. With the help of her husband, a very renowned programmer, who initially was not really convinced by her idea, she brought to life her vision and created her first game “ Mystery House”; launched in 1980. The game is considered to be the first graphic adventure game in history.

Description of the game:

In “Mystery House,” the player finds themselves in an old, mysterious mansion with seven other guests. As they explore the mansion, they discover that one of the guests is a murderer. The player’s goal is to find out who the killer is before it’s too late. The game involves searching different rooms, finding objects, and using them to uncover clues. The graphics are simple black-and-white line drawings, which was a big innovation at the time. 

Success story:

The launch of her game was an immediate success. This led Roberta and her husband to create their own gaming company known as “Sierra On-Line”, which quickly became one of the leading adventure game companies worldwide. Between its founding in 1980 and its restructuring in the late 1990s, Sierra On-Line published around 200 to 250 games.

Just do it!

Roberta Williams on top of being the “ mother of graphic adventure design”, is also a huge inspiration to our generation; especially girls. Showing that  girls have a place in the Gaming Industry, whether it is behind the scenes, in the “making of process” or in front of the screen, enjoying a nice game.