#005: Trap

Release Date: 1 August, 1972

Platform: Mainframe

Genre: Puzzle

Developer(s): Steve Ullman, Bob Albrecht

Publisher(s): People's Computer Company

While I'm working on my "big project," I want to make sure that I still have some new content for you all. Fortunately, there's some small fish to fry before the next big landmark in Pong, so I'll aim to have these smaller games come out periodically while working on bigger things.

The first of these "small fish" is Trap, which is probably more notable for its authors and publisher than the actual game itself.

First we'll start with Bob Albrecht. He's a hugely influential figure in the early computing scene, promoting computer education, and was heavily involved with David Ahl in creating 101 BASIC Computer Games. Plus he's extremely relevant to People's Computer Company because, well... he sort of founded the thing.

My information here comes from a smashing interview I found of Bob from back in 2015 with HCLE Virtual Museum. He got his start with computers in the mid-50s after quitting university, working for various computer companies, including CDC, before immersing himself in the realm of computer education in the early 1960s. He began teaching students and teachers alike. He started with the Fortran language before jumping ship to become an early advocate for BASIC, for which he wrote many books and instruction guides.

Albrecht would eventually move to California to continue his advocacy for and work on BASIC with many others in what was known as the Portola Institute and his DYMAX group that formed out of Portola. In 1972, he and Dennis Allison formed our focus game's publisher, People's Computer Company. And no, it's not like all the other "People's" organisations in the world that are actually totalitarian communists - rather, the name takes inspiration from the rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, most notable for introducing the legendary Janis Joplin to the world of rock 'n roll.

PCC produced its first newsletter in October 1972, and released an issue six times a year until its closure in 1981. A few noteworthy books were produced under the PCC banner as well, such as What to Do After You Hit Return, and continued Albrecht's advocacy for BASIC and for computer education. The newsletters appear to be all available on Internet Archive for those interested. PCC also spawned the long-running Dr. Dobb's Journal computer magazine, which kept going all the way up to 2014!

As a side, if you're wondering how the timelines match up in terms of the release date for Trap, Steve Ullman dated his original source code to the August 1 date. According to MobyGames, PCC apparently re-released it in September of the same year. I can't find evidence for this, however, other than 101 BASIC Computer Games stating that Albrecht modified the game.

As for Steve Ullman, there's much, much less known about him. Pretty much nothing, in fact. For one, a quick Google search yields many Steve Ullmans, so figuring out which one is the Steve Ullman that wrote Trap is a crapshoot, frankly. It's not helped by the fact that this is the only known game he's credited for according to MobyGames, and 101 BASIC Computer Games, while acknowledging Ullman as the original author of Trap, instead credits the game to Bob Albrecht, who modified it into the form appearing in the book.

One piece of good news, at least, is that Trap is identical between both versions of BASIC Computer Games. That's always good to discover, as it means I can play the version provided by Vintage BASIC's collection.

The original 101 BASIC Computer Games write-up. I'm not sure what that creature at the bottom is supposed to be...

Trap itself is an incredibly simple game. It's a number guessing game, where the computer randomly selects a number between 1 and 100 and you have to guess what it is. The method by which you guess is by inputting two numbers which you're trying to "trap" the computer's number in between. The computer will tell you if you've trapped its number, or if its number is higher or lower than your numbers with each guess, and you only have six guesses. You repeat the process until you've either guessed the number successfully (to make a guess you input the same number twice) or run out of guesses. That's it.

Here's the game's instructions, in case mine don't make sense.

It's a bit weird to explain, but Trap is fundamentally a very simple and easy to understand game. For my playthrough, I took a relatively simple and logical approach to guessing the number. I started with 25 and 75 as my guesses, essentially halving the playing field, and would work from there.

Smaller than both is a win for my strategy.

Turns out the computer's number was smaller than 25, which ends up being the best-case scenario for this strategy, as I've now quartered the amount of possible numbers instead of halving them. My next move was to halve the playing field again, so I selected 12 and 24 as my range. The number was smaller again, leaving me with only 12 possible numbers.

My third guess was 5 and 11. I trapped the computer's number, which is excellent.

It's a trap!

From here it was just a matter of whittling down the numbers. I selected 7 and 9 for guess #4, and the computer's number was in that range. That gives me effectively guarantees me being able to guess the number correctly with my final two guesses. 

Here I fumbled with the controls a bit. I didn't read the instructions properly and tried to submit a single number when the instructions clearly said to type the same number twice. My stupid fault. I fumbled my way to selecting 8, as that would either be correct, or tell me whether the number was 7 or 9. It told me the number was higher, meaning that the correct number must be 9.

Got your number!

And that's trap. For the YT video, I did a similar strategy. The computer's number was in between 25 and 75 this time, so I halved the numbers until I got a "higher than" entry. From there I was able to figure out the number in only five guesses, so that was pleasing. On to the scores.

Time Played: 3 minutes. A round doesn't take long at all.

Difficulty: 1/10 (Very Easy)

It's just a guessing game with an extra step. These all have simple logic to them that makes them very easy to win.

Gameplay: 2/20

A number guessing game with an extra step that does make things a tiny bit more interesting. You do have strategic options available for how to approach your guessing, and the 6 guess limit also helps push you in that direction.

Controls: 5/10

Another one that's as standard and plain as it gets. It works, but that's all it needs to do.

Visual: 5/10

Again, standard fare. Nothing to complain about, works as intended.

Functionality: 5/5

The game's even good at ignoring accidental extra inputs of knuckleheads who don't read the instructions properly.

Accessibility: 4/5

I honestly think this is a pretty decent gateway game into text-based gaming. It's a simple premise, doesn't require a whole lot of reading, meaning it's also good for kids.

Fun Factor: 1/20

While it does offer a small amount of strategic options, it's still just a number guessing game at the end of the day. Not worth replaying in my eyes, as it's too simple for my tastes.

Trap earns a score of 22 (31.42%), which is exactly the same as Mathdice's score, which means a tie-breaker is required to separate them. Trap has the higher gameplay score, meaning it wins the tie-breaker to sit above Mathdice in the E-tier. This and Mathdice do seem kind of like sister games to me in some strange way.

And if I thought those two games were similar, the next two are going to seem that way also. 1972 seems to have a thing for number guessing / educational text games so far. I'll continue work on the "big project" in the meantime, but won't put a date on it's release. It'll be done when it's done. Preferably sooner rather than later.