Page "Infocom" Paragraph 3

Infocom games are text adventures where users direct the action by entering short strings of words to give commands when prompted.

Generally the program will respond by describing the results of the action, often the contents of a room if the player has moved within the virtual world.

The user reads this information, decides what to do, and enters another short series of words.

Examples include " go west " or " take flashlight ".