Tablet-friendly revamp for BBC’s cult Hitchhiker game

A CULT computer game inspired by radio series Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is being given a
revamp for the social media generation to mark its 30th anniversary.

The game was invented for use on machines such as the Macintosh, Commodore 64 and Atari models in the wake of the popularity of the original radio series, books and TV adaptation.

To tie in with the BBC’s first repeat of the radio programmes for more than a decade, the game – which is notoriously tough – is being given a tablet-friendly relaunch.

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When players manage to crack any of the achievement levels, they can boast to other users by uploading it to social media sites such as Twitter.

Author Douglas Adams helped to devise the game – launched in 1984 – and it became one of the biggest successes of its day.

It was given an overhaul 20 years later, for which it won a Bafta, and is now being updated once again to make it more suitable for modern players with new graphics and illustrations.

It is being launched on the BBC Radio 4 website on March 8, which marks the 36th anniversary of the first-ever broadcast of the programme, the same day repeats of the series begin on Radio 4 Extra.

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Caroline Raphael, commissioning editor for Radio 4 Extra, said: “Douglas was a true visionary and in his own glorious way foresaw all the technology we now take for granted. Radio 4 Extra is delighted to host this game alongside the first two series.

“Hitchhiker’s fans will be rewarded for their loyalty over the years and newer fans have a real, but fiendish, treat in store.”

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