Work Word Processors Ran “Tetris” and Mahjong!? Full Adventure Even Printed Case Files—Surprising Word Processor Games [Feature]

"Electronic organizers" were tools designed for businesspeople born in the 1980s. I recently wrote an article about how these electronic organizers actually had games built into them.

At the height of the Game Boy craze, office workers could play a full-fledged mystery adventure game on their “electronic organizers”! “Misa Yamamura Suspense Series: The Kyoto Financial Murder Case,” featuring “kanji display,” “stylus controls,” and “resume from where you left off” [Special Feature] | Game*Spark - Domestic and International Gaming News Site

Even rarer than the Famicom version, which is already known for its high resale value!?

https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/10/18/173766.htmlRead more »

During this era, there was another essential item for businesspeople: the word processor, a device specialized for creating and editing documents. To distinguish them from software-based word processors like Microsoft Word and Ichitaro, they were also called “dedicated word processors.”

At the time, personal computers were beginning to become widespread in both homes and businesses, but they were expensive and required various peripherals, making them difficult to use. Word processors, however, were inexpensive compared to PCs, self-contained with a display and printing capabilities, and booted up very quickly—making them invaluable to people who only needed to create documents.Back in the day, before we got a personal computer, my father used a word processor at home. I was allowed to use it myself, and that’s how I learned to type.

Just like with electronic organizers, various companies released games for these word processors. While the Famicom and Game Boy were seen as too childish to be appealing, there was likely a significant demand among adults who were willing to give them a try on a word processor. People may have played them not only at home but also during breaks at work or after hours.

Word processors were sold by electronics manufacturers such as Toshiba, Sharp, NEC, and Fujitsu, but in this article, I’ll highlight a few games released for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (now Panasonic Holdings)’s Panaword U1 series.

"Tetris"

"Tetris," the world-famous falling-block puzzle game. While it has been released on just about every platform imaginable, it was also released for word processors. The publisher of the word processor version was BPS. BPS is best known for developing the Famicom version, but prior to that, they had also released a version for personal computers. The manual details the background behind the development of the word processor version.

After releasing “Tetris” for personal computers, we received numerous inquiries asking,
“Can we play Tetris on a word processor?”

The fact that there were so many requests to port the game to word processors—devices not originally intended for gaming—really illustrates just how massive the Tetris craze was at the time.

Incidentally, in the early BPS version of Tetris, the only way to drop a block intentionally was to make it fall all at once (hard drop), but the word processor version also included a separate option for dropping one row at a time (soft drop), which made for smooth gameplay. They may have taken inspiration from Sega’s arcade version or Nintendo’s Game Boy version.

“Shanghai”

“Shanghai” is a puzzle game for the Macintosh developed by Brodie Lockard and released by Activision in the U.S. in 1986. It has been ported to numerous personal computers and home video game consoles and enjoys worldwide recognition rivaling that of “Tetris.” The word processor version was published by ASCII.

Also known as “Mahjong Solitaire,” the rules of this game are simple. From a pyramid-shaped stack of tiles, you select two matching tiles to remove them; the game is cleared when all tiles have been removed.

Even if you can see a tile you want to remove, you cannot take it if another tile is adjacent to it on either side or if a tile is stacked on top of it. You must choose the order in which you remove tiles carefully, but if you get stuck, you can always go back to a previous move, so there’s no need to worry too much.

It’s a simple yet highly addictive game, and this word processor version also seems to have gained popularity. Later, “Shanghai II” was released, featuring more variations in how the tiles are stacked.

“Professional Mahjong Goku”

For those who enjoyed “Shanghai” but also wanted to play authentic mahjong, there were mahjong games designed just for them. One such title was “Professional Mahjong Goku,” also published by ASCII. Shanoir, the developer, has released many other mahjong games as well.

The characters are based on the famous Chinese literary work *Journey to the West*, and players take on the role of Sun Wukong to face off against numerous demons—and even gods and Buddhas—in mahjong matches. However, there’s no cheating using magical tricks; it’s authentic four-player mahjong.

Players can gauge their skill level through a ranking system. You start at 5th Kyu, but you can advance by winning ranked matches. You can also practice in unranked matches, which do not affect your rank.

The rules can be customized in various ways to suit the player’s preferences. Although I’m a beginner with only a basic understanding of mahjong, I was able to enjoy playing the game.

“Disney Character Puzzle Land”

“Disney Character Puzzle Land” features Disney characters. Published by MicroCabin—a company best known for releasing numerous titles primarily for PCs—it also released several games for word processors.

This puzzle game features illustrations of familiar characters like Mickey and Donald Duck, with a total of 16 illustrations available. There are three types of puzzles to play: “Slide Puzzle,” “Rearrange Puzzle,” and “15-Puzzle.”

In order of difficulty from easiest to hardest, they are “Slotting Puzzle,” “Rearrange Puzzle,” and “15-Puzzle.” The “15-Puzzle”—also known as a slide puzzle—is challenging enough to give even adults a run for their money. At the end of the game, a score is displayed based on the time taken.

Overall, this is a game aimed at younger children, but just as I did, there were surely many children who were allowed to play with their parents’ word processors when their parents weren’t using them. It’s likely that parents often bought this game specifically for those children.

*Manhattan Requiem: Angels Flying in the Dark*

Among word processor games, there were also several adventure games designed to be played with full concentration rather than just as a quick break. One of these was *Manhattan Requiem: Angels Flying in the Dark*.Published by River Hill Soft, it is the second installment in the hard-boiled adventure series *The Case Files of J.B. Harold*, originally developed for PC.

In Manhattan, New York, a woman met a mysterious death. Detective J.B. Harold is tasked with investigating this case, which leaves many unresolved mysteries… The game progresses using a command-selection system, which was standard for adventure games of that era.

While there are many police and detective-themed mystery adventure games, this series eschews flashiness, focusing instead on steadily and methodically advancing the investigation. Its hard-boiled style and high-quality scenario made it popular at the time.

Additionally, as a feature unique to the word processor version, you can print out your investigation reports. Being able to review your findings on actual paper rather than just on the screen likely gave players the feeling of being a real detective.

*Love in Casablanca: The Murderer Transcends Time and Space*

Another adventure game originally developed for PC is *Love in Casablanca: The Killer Transcends Time and Space*. The publisher, Thinking Rabbit, is also known for the puzzle game *The Warehouse Keeper*.

Jerry, a reporter working for a Chicago newspaper, finds that his best friend has suddenly vanished one day. A diary sent by his friend reveals that his father—a time-travel researcher—is being threatened by the military.Jerry and a colleague visit his best friend’s house, but… The game opens with this scene, setting the stage for a sci-fi mystery depicted on a grand scale.

The game uses a command-input system, meaning you type commands directly from the keyboard—such as “knock on the door.” The original version was released in 1986, and while the system was already beginning to show its age even at that time, this port remained as faithful to the original as possible.

Incidentally, this title and *Manhattan Requiem* were billed as “the world’s first ‘reader-participation novels.’ The much-talked-about ‘Word Processor Novels.’”

What exactly is a “reader-participation novel”? I was puzzled when I first saw this term, but it’s simply a reference to the standard adventure game style where you advance the story through keyboard commands. However, since there were likely quite a few word processor users who wouldn’t immediately recognize the term “adventure game,” it seems reasonable to assume that the marketing team felt the need to come up with a new, more accessible term…

Although word processors were initially specialized for document creation, as you can see from the menu in the image at the beginning, they gradually became more feature-rich. The fact that you could play games on them is proof of that. However, by the late 1990s, these word processors were gradually losing market share.The main factors cited were the increasing capabilities of competing personal computers and the widespread adoption of the Internet and the Windows OS. Then, shortly after the start of the 2000s, production was discontinued company-wide.

The games released for word processors are now on the verge of being forgotten in a corner of history, but I believe they deserve to be recorded as a side stream of gaming history.