Ah, my brother and I started with D&d, but our folks weren't into games other than Monopoly, lol. Lil' sis tried the Atari 2600 and bounced off. And of, course, big bro and I had that sibling rivalry thing going on- there was no sharing or helping going on unless we had to under threat of not being allowed to use the family station wagon (a really "hip" 1981 Dodge Diplomat woodie SW, ugh!) to go to a concert. :/

*wry grin* I got 'em for doing my chores, etc - sometimes also because my dad was as big a gamer as I was. :D

I remember invisiclues, but back then, I could either afford the game and my student loan payment and food, or I could skip paying something to buy the book. IIRC, they were like $10, which back in the mid-80s was a lot of money. That was a full tank of gas, a pack of smokes, a bottle of Coke, and a pack of Wrigley's. A friend had one for Zork, I think? But I think he also wasted the marker for the book by sniffing it, constantly, lol.

Heh, remembering the old days made me flash to Invisiclues - 'member those? Maaaan... were Infocom ahead of their time...

Yep. I do miss the early days- before social media, anyway.

*grin* So much has changed since then... and so much hasn't.