A Brief History of Typing Games - From Alien Zaps to Zombie Attacks

Curious Arcade

Exploring the strange and curious history of typing games, from the late seventies to the modern day.

Take a leisurely tour of this offbeat, yet surprisingly profitable, gaming genre. It begins in the late seventies with the work of freelance writer (and programmer) Dick Ainsworth, who was commissioned by Bally to make an “educational” game for their home arcade. Ainsworth laid the foundations for future typing games, pioneering a programming technique that helped advance the field of AI. The tour continues to the early eighties with the first proper typing games and commercially successful educational games for the home computer. MasterType (1981) and Typo Attack (1982) added a keyboarding slant to addictive tried-and-tested arcade gameplay. With more professionals taking up the computer, there remained a gap in the market for a serious typing game. That gap was plugged by Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (1987). Soon enough the mysterious master typist became a software icon. Stories abounded about her miraculous typing exploits. But reporters just couldn’t seem to grab hold of her. Super Mario took on her mantle in Mario Teaches Typing (1992), a typing platformer (typeformer?) published by Nintendo. Then onto the late nineties where Sega performs some strange alchemy, mixing a zombie-blaster with a typing mechanic in Typing of the Dead (1998). It’s a weird but somewhat winning formula. Sega dabbles with the formula all the way through to the 2010s, releasing a steady stream of variations on their type-to-shoot classic. The last stop showcases some fresher takes on the typing genre, with the parodic David Lynch Teaches Typing (2018) and the demonic The Textorcist (2019), games every bit as strange as their titles suggest. The tour ends with a questioning gaze cast over the future of typing games. With phones practically glued to children’s fingertips, and more exciting forms of interaction emerging in the mainstream, one might ask if the keyboard even has a future…

0:00 1978: Bingo Math
2:53 1979: Microsoft Typing Tutor
4:31 1981: MasterType
5:47 1982: Typo Attack
7:18 1987: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
10:56 1992: Mario Teaches Typing
12:20 1996: House of the Dead
14:26 1998: Typing of the Dead
17:02 2001: English/Flick of the Dead
19:59 2018: David Lynch & The Textorcist

Music Credits:

Cool Vibes by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3553-cool-vibes
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

George Street Shuffle by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3800-george-street-shuffle
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Sidewalk Shade - slower by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4353-sidewalk-shade---slower
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Modern Jazz Samba by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4063-modern-jazz-samba
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Pixelland by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4222-pixelland
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Welcome to the Show by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4614-welcome-to-the-show
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5010-ultralounge
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license