The Kobayashi Alternative — the Heinlein is missing and the clock is running Runs here
1985 · Simon & Schuster · System 6 · Mini vMac (Mac Plus) · 512×342 black and white
Guide updated September 2026
You are Kirk. The USS Heinlein has disappeared somewhere in the 145 Trianguli system, Starfleet Command wants it found without a diplomatic incident, and the briefing tells you the region is only partially charted. Then it hands you the ship.
What makes it unusual is the clock. Time passes in real time aboard the Enterprise whether or not you type anything, the bridge crew get on with their work, and people walk in and out of rooms while you are deciding. Very few text adventures of any era have done that.
Boots straight to the mission briefing. Click Continue, and you are on the bridge with the clock already running.
Controls
| Type + Return | Everything. This is a parser game. |
| <CREW MEMBER>, <ORDER> | Address your officers by name — SPOCK, SCAN THE PLANET |
| LOOK / STATUS | Describe where you are; check the ship |
| SAVE / RESTORE | Save inside the emulated Mac |
Star Trek belongs to Paramount and is actively exploited; nothing here claims otherwise. The software was Simon & Schuster's under a 1985 licence that expired long ago, and the program has not been sold in about forty years. A game on a live licensed property is a weak position and it comes down at once on objection.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Macintosh floppy this copy was made from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Macintosh Plus, 512×342, black and white |
|---|---|
| System | The floppy's own — this disk carries the System it shipped with |
| Emulator | Mini vMac, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Saves | Inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
The parser is addressed partly through your crew: you give orders to named officers rather than doing everything yourself, which is both the best idea in the game and the source of most of its frustration, because the phrasing it accepts is narrow.
It is a hard game, and it was criticised at the time for being obscure. Going in expecting to consult a walkthrough at some point is realistic rather than defeatist.
Why it is remembered
Real time in a text adventure. The world does not wait for your next command. It is the thing everyone mentions about this game and almost nothing else did it.
You command rather than act. Telling Spock to scan and Sulu to set a course, and having them get on with it, is a genuinely different interaction model from picking up objects, and it fits the licence better than a conventional adventure would have.
It is a proper licensed artefact. Simon & Schuster published it with Pocket Books' Star Trek novel line alongside; the game was written by Diane Duane, who also wrote several of the best-regarded Trek novels.
Getting started
Read the briefing carefully before you click through it. It names the system, the ship and the constraints, and the game will not repeat them.
Learn the crew-order syntax early — officer name, comma, instruction. Most of your commands will take that form and the parser is fussy about it.
Save often, because the clock does not stop while you think, and a wasted hour of ship time is genuinely lost.
Questions people ask
Is this an official Star Trek game?
It was, in 1985, licensed by Simon & Schuster. That licence expired long ago and the program has not been sold in about forty years.
Does time really pass while I think?
Yes. The ship's clock runs in real time and the crew act on their own. It is the game's defining feature.
How do I give orders?
Address officers by name — SPOCK, SCAN THE PLANET. The parser is particular about the phrasing.
Is it hard?
Yes, and it was criticised for obscurity when it came out. Expect to need help at some point.
Can I save?
Yes. Saves live inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
Who wrote it?
Diane Duane, also the author of several well-regarded Star Trek novels.
Put Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative on your own site
Free, no permission needed and no account. Paste this where you want the machine to appear; it brings its own emulator and asks nothing of your page.
<iframe src="https://macemu.com/embed/star-trek-kobayashi/"
width="512" height="342"
style="border:0;max-width:100%"
allowfullscreen
title="Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative"></iframe>Sized to this title's real screen. How embedding works.
