The documentary Get Lamp has just been released, celebrating the work of text-based adventure writers for early computers. Watch the trailer embedded above to find out more.

Here’s more about the film: “In the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them. They were called ‘computer adventure games,’ and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind.”

This GalleyCat editor loves this particular genre of writing, and every year we cover the Interactive Fiction Contest–as writers around the country create space operas, medieval quests, and countless other text-based computer adventures.

Sign up before September 1st if you wish to participate in the 2010 contest. Here are a few of this editor’s favorite pieces from previous contests: “Everybody Dies” by Jim Munroe and “Violet” by Jeremy Freese.