Enter Zorkmid.
Create your eCash identity, print a card, and explore Lantern. Carry your own key into the world.
Choose a game to play. No sign-in required.
What it is
Lantern began as Zarkmid, a Zork-adjacent idea about
interactive fiction, persistence, and cryptocurrency. It has evolved into
a more general model: a browser talks to a small Python server, which
talks to dfrotz, which runs a story file you provide.
Important: rigler.org is one deployment,
not the required home of the project. You can run Lantern yourself, change
the endpoint, and host it on your own machine or local network.
How people can use it
Run it locally
Install Python and Frotz, add your own compatible story files, and run Lantern on your laptop or Linux machine.
Host it on your LAN
Think of it like the way people used to host Minecraft servers: one machine runs the service, other people connect to it.
Bring your own story files
Zork is the obvious demonstration, but the architecture is broader than one game. You provide the files you are entitled to use.
Add signatures and payments
Lantern is exploring player-held signing identity and optional crypto payments for hosting, persistence, or shared services.
Why this matters beyond nostalgia
Lantern is not just about replaying an old game. It is a testbed for a broader idea:
A host can run a real service. A player can keep continuity that is not locked to one operator. Another host can run a compatible instance.
Running it yourself
At a high level:
Then point the server at your own story files and open the browser interface. The endpoint can be local, on a LAN, or on a VPS.