Amy Briggs
Encyclopedia
Amy R. Briggs is known for creating Plundered Hearts
, an interactive fiction
computer game published by Infocom
in 1987. A Minnesota
native, she graduated from Macalester College
in 1984 with a B.A.
in English
, specializing in British literature
. Already a fan of Infocom's games, Briggs joined the company in 1985 as a game tester. Working long hours playtesting games and learning the ZIL programming language, she quickly rose to the rank of Implementor.
Briggs's literary background led her to write the company's only romance
-genre text adventure. She also chose an explicitly female lead character, again unique for Infocom (other lead characters were either of unspecified gender, male, or allowed a choice of sex). She explained these choices by saying, "C. S. Lewis
said he had to write The Chronicles of Narnia
because they were books he wanted to read, and nobody else had written them yet. Plundered Hearts was a game I wanted to play."
Although Plundered Hearts was her only text adventure, Amy Briggs worked as a writer and editor on a number of other Infocom projects: she did a major rewrite of Quarterstaff
, and helped to design "The Flathead Calendar", the main feelie
included with Zork Zero
. After Infocom was shut down in 1989, she returned to Minnesota where she attended graduate school, eventually earning a Ph.D.
in cognitive psychology
from the University of Minnesota
. Then she went to work for 3M
as a human factors
engineer.
Plundered Hearts
Plundered Hearts is an interactive fiction computer game created by Amy Briggs and published by Infocom in 1987. It was released simultaneously for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the PC and Commodore 64. Plundered Hearts was Infocom's first game in the "romance" genre...
, an interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
computer game published by Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
in 1987. A Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
native, she graduated from Macalester College
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
in 1984 with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, specializing in British literature
British literature
British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...
. Already a fan of Infocom's games, Briggs joined the company in 1985 as a game tester. Working long hours playtesting games and learning the ZIL programming language, she quickly rose to the rank of Implementor.
Briggs's literary background led her to write the company's only romance
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
-genre text adventure. She also chose an explicitly female lead character, again unique for Infocom (other lead characters were either of unspecified gender, male, or allowed a choice of sex). She explained these choices by saying, "C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
said he had to write The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
because they were books he wanted to read, and nobody else had written them yet. Plundered Hearts was a game I wanted to play."
Although Plundered Hearts was her only text adventure, Amy Briggs worked as a writer and editor on a number of other Infocom projects: she did a major rewrite of Quarterstaff
Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth
Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth is an interactive fiction computer role-playing game developed by Scott Schmitz and Ken Updike and released by Infocom for Macintosh in 1988...
, and helped to design "The Flathead Calendar", the main feelie
Feelie
Infocom used the term feelie to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. Feelies differed from game to game and were of the same theme as the game they came packaged with...
included with Zork Zero
Zork Zero
Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz is an interactive fiction computer game, written by Steve Meretzky over nearly 18 months and published by Infocom in 1988, with an original retail price of $59.95...
. After Infocom was shut down in 1989, she returned to Minnesota where she attended graduate school, eventually earning a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. Then she went to work for 3M
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
as a human factors
Human factors
Human factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
engineer.