M.U.L.E. 40th Anniversary Special

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Written by Christian A. Schiller, World of M.U.L.E. curator, with contributions from Andrew Dieffenbach, M.U.L.E. Online developer.
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To mark the 40th anniversary of M.U.L.E., we are dedicating this special write-up to the history of the game’s development, taking a look behind the scenes with reports and new 2023 interviews with those involved. As well as to all the original versions of the game, we introduce you to the officially licensed remakes and the ‘clones’ that excellent games inevitably spawn. Finally, we round off the anniversary celebrations with a test of the brand new M.U.L.E. Online.

Update June 2024: Interview with Roy Glover added, courtesy of M.U.L.E. Online author and WoM contributor Andrew Dieffenbach!


Chapter 1The early 1980ies – Atari 800, Commodore 64
Interview 12023: Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing and Alan Watson
2024: Roy Glover NEW!!!
Chapter 2The middle 1980ies – IBM PCjr, MSX, PC-88, Sharp X1
Chapter 3The late 1980ies – Deluxe M.U.L.E.
Interview 2AJ Redmer
Chapter 4NES, Sega M.U.L.E., Hibernation of M.U.L.E. in the 1990ies
InterludeAttack of the Clones
Chapter 5End of Hibernation – Planet M.U.L.E., M.U.L.E. Returns, M.U.L.E. The Board Game
Interview 3Melanie Bunten and Dan Bunten Jr
Chapter 6M.U.L.E. Online
Interview 4Andrew Dieffenbach
Contents of the special anniversary report

Deutschsprachige M.U.L.E. Fans können eine gedruckte Version dieses Jubiläumsartikels (Stand 2023, ohne Roy Glover Interview) als Andenken hier erwerben: Der Artikel wurde im RETURN Magazin #53 (Mai 2023) abgedruckt und kann im RETURN Shop weltweit bestellt werden.


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