To preface this explanation, remember that it "was a different time" so one's expectations for what a game could and could not do, or even what a game was, were

To preface this explanation, remember that it "was a different time" so one's expectations for what a game could and could not do, or even what a game was, were very different. The best way I can explain it is if you have ever played a modern game that you liked so much you went back and did all the side quests (or maybe you are just a completist when it comes to games), the Infocom text adventures were something like the side quests with no main mission. Yes there was a successful endpoint, but even that could be achieved in different ways and most of the fun was exploring all the different things that could happen. 99% of the outcomes were $NOT_SUCCESS but almost all of them removed the sting of "failure" with something to make you laugh. I think I beat Zork II before I discovered the Invisiclue book series but either way, "winning" didn't stop me from playing it many more times to see what could happen when I got to that room right near the end with a bunch of exits.