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OUR DIGITAL PAST IS FRAGILE.

SECRETS OF THE
APPLE II
GAMING WORLD

A visual journey into rarely explored passageways

Maintenant disponible en version française : L'univers secret des jeux de l'Apple II / Now available in French
A HISTORICAL RECORD
With each passing year, magnetic media degrades, physical materials are lost, and the innovators of the early computing era fade from the record. While mainstream games are generally well-documented, the early days of the Apple II were a singular moment when individual projects hand-packaged in plastic baggies and distributed out of kitchens and garages were still a possibility.
There are hundreds of such Apple II titles, many of which are at risk of quietly slipping into obscurity. Secrets of the Apple II Gaming World is a unique window into these little-known artifacts, presenting insights gathered over nearly 25 years of research.
A VISUAL ARCHIVE

SECRETS OF THE Apple II Gaming World is a 184 page volume containing 150 photographs of rarely seen Apple II game materials and ephemera, from The Abyssal Zone to Zoo Master.

It documents the distinctive artwork and packaging of the era, all presented in an immersive full size (8.25" x 11"), premium colour, hardcover format.

A HUMAN JOURNEY

SPANNING MORE THAN 40 years, Secrets of the Apple II Gaming World is a purposeful – and at times personal – voyage through rarely explored passageways, chronicling a story of recovery.

It features 50 chapters of exploration across two distinct parts, moving from wide alleys where memories still endure, to narrow corridors where the story survives in fragments. Secrets is a photographic but fundamentally human journey through years of gathering and archiving Apple II games and their history.

GAMES AND DISK IMAGES

The following is a list of Apple II titles are covered in the book for which useable disk images exist through either the A Woz A Day collection or the 4am collection on the Internet Archive. By following the links, these titles can either be played directly in-browser or downloaded for use in an emulator. A number of other titles are not yet available in those two collections but are available in raw flux image format through the Flux Capacity collection.

BezmanWOZ
BezwarsWOZ
Bez-MXWOZ
BezoffWOZ
Double TroubleWOZ
Wheeler DealersWOZ
The Queen of PhobosWOZ
MasqueradeDSK
Mad RatDSK
Sherwood ForestWOZ
Bats in the BelfryWOZ
Jenny of the PrairieWOZ
Cave Girl ClairWOZ
Chelsea of the South Sea IslandsWOZ
Lauren of the 25th CenturyWOZ
The Adventures of Sarah and Her FriendsWOZ
The Adventures of Kristen and Her FamilyWOZ
Tank Attack / Death RunWOZ
BoloWOZ
Other Venture 1: Classic AdventureWOZ
Earthquake San Francisco 1906WOZ
The Abyssal ZoneWOZ
Air Navigation TrainerDSK
ArtesiansWOZ
Bloody MurderWOZ
BoaWOZ
Cosmic CombatDSK
CyclotronWOZ
DestinyWOZ
Empire III: ArmageddonWOZ
Fraktured FaeblesWOZ
HegiraWOZ
Jigsaw JeneratorDSK
MAX-COMMANDWOZ
Meteoroids in SpaceWOZ
PollywogDSK
Secret Agent: Mission OneWOZ
Situation: CriticalWOZ
Space Pirates 3000WOZ
Stellar DefenseWOZ
Stellar PowerWOZ
Sword of SheolWOZ
Tank CommandWOZ
ThrilogyWOZ
Werewolf!!DSK
Adventure at Zodiac CastleWOZ
Zoo MasterWOZ
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Based in Canada, Stéphane Racle discovered the Apple II in 1983. Over the years, his interests have shifted from play to preservation, focusing on archiving the software and stories from the platform's heyday. Some of his prior archival work includes the Computer Gaming World Museum, and he is an occasional contributor to Juiced.GS. He remains active in the Apple II and retro-computing communities, and through this 50-chapter journey, seeks to ensure that as many passageways as possible stay open to future explorers.

Available globally where Amazon books are distributed

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Aussi disponible en version française/
Also available in French