First

Energon Absorber
Author: Numeron
Links: Original Post, Enhanced executable version
Language: Java

All along your childhood you heard legends talk about the legendary big $100 gold coin being held in the third basement of the magic zombie infested wherevers that lie below the town’s chapel. Today, in your 18th birthday, you have decided to retrieve it and prove yourself a man.

As you descend into the unholy depths you notice a Zombie is chasing you around! the worst of your nightmares has come true, and the only way to escape will be recovering all the pieces of the gold key.

In the end, you found the great big gold coin, but what did you win? you just became a Zombie and will chase whoever is fool enough to seek the cursed coin!

Original program used standard java output plus a frame to obtain user input; another dev later replaced IO handling for usage of libjcsi, making it look and feel much better.

This entry stands in the complexity midpoint of the rest of entries; while gameplay is not trivial (ie, you can unwillingly lose the game and there is a goal), it isn’t complex enough to be fun; more levels, obstacles inside them and scoring could have aided.

Gameplay: Unchallenging but existant, not too fun
Technical Highlights: It works as a game!