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Fahrenheit 451 (video game)

interactive fiction computer game based on the novel by Ray Bradbury

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ1392326 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fahrenheit 451 is an interactive fiction game released in 1984 based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury. Originally released by software company Trillium, it was re-released in 1985 under the company's new name Telarium.

The player's goal is to help Guy Montag, the main character from the novel, to evade the authorities and make contact with an underground movement.

Development

Bradbury himself contributed to the game by writing the prologue and responses of the game's intelligent computer "Ray".

Working under the aegis of Byron Preiss Visual Publications, the plot of the game was conceived by Byron Preiss and the text was written by Len Neufeld (known for his previous authorship of books in the Be an Interplanetary Spy interactive novel series, also produced by Preiss).

Plot

At the ending of Fahrenheit 451, former Fireman Guy Montag is a fugitive, wanted for murder for killing his supervisor and stealing contraband books. The game takes place five years later. A pointless war has swept across the country, leading to martial law by the Firemen. Now an agent for the literary underground, Montag makes his way to New York. His mission is to break into the heavily guarded New York Public Library on 42nd Street.

Editorial summary

“Fahrenheit 451 (video game)” enters the record as interactive fiction computer game based on the novel by Ray Bradbury. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Fahrenheit, video and game can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1984, 1953, 1985—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1984. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Fahrenheit, video and game.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Fahrenheit 451 (video game)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Fahrenheit, video and game provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1392326. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 1953 and 1985.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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Three-step research path

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  2. Expand the search: follow Fahrenheit 451 (video game) primary sources, Fahrenheit 451 (video game) archive and Fahrenheit research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fahrenheit 451 (video game)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.