Rendezvous With Rama

About

You’re the commander of the effort, tasked with intercepting a mysterious alien vessel named Rama. The game unfolds through text-based decision making as you navigate the ship’s systems, conduct surveys, and manage crew resources. Your choices determine whether you unlock Rama’s secrets or doom the mission. Time is a factor, prolonged exploration risks stranding you as the craft exits the solar system. Released in 1984, this sci-fi adventure leans into the era’s parser-based design. Players guide the effort’s investigation of the cylindrical alien ship via command inputs, balancing curiosity with urgency. The DOS, C64, and Apple II versions reflect early interactive fiction’s strengths and limitations. It’s a relic of 80s speculative fiction, where curiosity about the unknown drives every tense decision.

Storyline

By now, the year 2130, all of the largest asteroids in the solar system have long since been discovered. Smaller ones are being found at the rate of a dozen a day. So when a huge new asteroid appears the only surprise is that it was overlooked for so long. It is duly assigned the next available name, Rama, and is promptly forgotten about-but not for long. As Rama approaches Earth, every question about it seems to have an answer that raises more questions. And as observations continue, the most impossible explanation becomes the only one: Rama is actually a spaceship. The next step is obvious: mankind must attempt a rendezvous. But only one of our spaceships is close enough. As fate has it, that ship is the Endeavor - the ship that you command. Without even reading them, you know what your orders will be: to rendezvous with the giant ship, to explore it, to meet with its inhabitants, and to return home before it speeds on its orbit away from the solar system. Yet even in your excitement, you realize it is not an easy mission. You will have to make difficult decisions - many of them. And you will have to work very fast - because if you stay on Rama too long, returning home will be impossible. From the first moment it has been clear: this is the mission of your lifetime. Thousands would gladly sacrifice anything for the chance to be in your shoes. But only you have that chance. Only you can explore Rama.