<s>
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
is	O
a	O
text-based	O
strategy	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
of	O
land	O
and	O
resource	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
by	O
Mabel	O
Addis	O
,	O
then	O
a	O
fourth-grade	O
teacher	O
,	O
and	O
programmed	O
by	O
William	O
McKay	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
7090	I-Device
time-shared	B-General_Concept
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
three	O
segments	O
,	O
representing	O
the	O
reigns	O
of	O
three	O
successive	O
rulers	O
of	O
the	O
city	O
of	O
Lagash	O
in	O
Sumer	B-Application
around	O
3500	O
BC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
game	O
was	O
expanded	O
on	O
in	O
1971	O
by	O
David	O
H	O
.	O
Ahl	O
as	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
,	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
led	O
to	O
many	O
early	O
strategy	B-Application
and	O
city-building	B-Application
games	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
the	B-Application
first	I-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
with	O
a	O
narrative	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
edutainment	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
is	O
a	O
largely	O
text-based	O
strategy	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
centered	O
on	O
resource	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
,	O
set	O
around	O
3500	O
BC	O
,	O
has	O
players	O
act	O
as	O
three	O
successive	O
rulers	O
of	O
the	O
city	O
of	O
Lagash	O
in	O
Sumer	B-Application
—	O
Luduga	O
I	O
,	O
II	O
,	O
and	O
III	O
—	O
over	O
three	O
segments	O
of	O
increasingly	O
complex	O
economic	B-Application
simulation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
created	O
,	O
both	O
intended	O
for	O
play	O
by	O
a	O
classroom	O
of	O
students	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
person	O
inputting	O
commands	O
into	O
a	O
teleprinter	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
output	O
responses	O
from	O
the	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
itself	O
,	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
,	O
was	O
designed	O
and	O
written	O
by	O
Addis	O
and	O
programmed	O
by	O
McKay	O
in	O
the	O
Fortran	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
for	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
7090	I-Device
time-shared	B-General_Concept
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
many	O
early	B-Application
mainframe	I-Application
games	I-Application
,	O
it	O
was	O
only	O
run	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Commands	O
were	O
entered	O
and	O
results	O
printed	O
with	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
1050	I-Device
teleprinter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	O
1948	O
concluded	O
in	O
August	O
1964	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
report	O
on	O
its	O
outcome	O
given	O
to	O
the	O
Office	O
of	O
Education	O
in	O
1965	O
listing	O
the	O
eight	O
"	O
subprojects	O
"	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
proposed	O
in	O
it	O
,	O
of	O
which	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
was	O
the	O
only	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
project	O
created	O
three	O
games	O
:	O
The	O
Sierra	O
Leone	O
Game	O
,	O
The	O
Free	O
Enterprise	O
Game	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
expansion	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
1973	O
summary	O
guide	O
to	O
educational	O
games	O
described	O
The	O
Sierra	O
Leone	O
Game	O
as	O
being	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
,	O
including	O
having	O
interspersed	O
slides	O
and	O
audio	O
lectures	O
,	O
with	O
only	O
the	O
context	O
and	O
terminology	O
changed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
researchers	O
conducted	O
a	O
playtest	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
with	O
another	O
30	O
sixth-grade	O
students	O
the	O
following	O
school	O
year	O
,	O
and	O
produced	O
a	O
report	O
in	O
1967	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BOCES	O
copyrighted	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
in	O
1964	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
the	O
second	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
segment	O
was	O
reprogrammed	O
by	O
Jimmer	O
Leonard	O
,	O
a	O
graduate	O
student	O
in	O
Social	O
Relations	O
at	O
Johns	O
Hopkins	O
University	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
1401	I-Device
,	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
at	O
demonstrations	O
at	O
a	O
terminal	O
in	O
the	O
BOCES	O
Research	O
Center	O
in	O
Yorktown	O
Heights	O
,	O
New	O
York	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1968	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
employee	O
Doug	O
Dyment	O
gave	O
a	O
talk	O
about	O
computers	O
in	O
education	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Alberta	O
,	O
and	O
after	O
the	O
talk	O
a	O
woman	O
who	O
had	O
once	O
seen	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
described	O
it	O
to	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dyment	O
decided	O
to	O
recreate	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
an	O
early	O
program	O
for	O
the	O
FOCAL	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
recently	O
developed	O
at	O
DEC	O
,	O
and	O
programmed	O
it	O
for	O
a	O
DEC	B-Device
PDP-8	I-Device
minicomputer	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
also	O
chose	O
to	O
rename	O
the	O
ruler	O
to	O
the	O
more	O
famous	O
Babylonian	O
king	O
Hammurabi	O
,	O
misspelled	O
as	O
"	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dyment	O
's	O
game	O
,	O
sometimes	O
retitled	O
The	B-Application
Sumer	I-Application
Game	I-Application
,	O
proved	O
popular	O
in	O
the	O
programming	O
community	O
:	O
Jerry	O
Pournelle	O
recalled	O
in	O
1989	O
that	O
"	O
half	O
the	O
people	O
I	O
know	O
wrote	O
a	O
Hammurabi	O
program	O
back	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
;	O
for	O
many	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
program	O
they	O
'd	O
ever	O
written	O
in	O
their	O
lives	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
1971	O
,	O
DEC	O
employee	O
David	O
H	O
.	O
Ahl	O
wrote	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Sumer	I-Application
Game	I-Application
in	O
the	O
BASIC	O
programming	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
FOCAL	B-Language
,	O
BASIC	O
was	O
run	O
not	O
just	O
on	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
and	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
but	O
also	O
on	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
then	O
termed	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
making	O
it	O
a	O
much	O
more	O
popular	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1973	O
,	O
Ahl	O
published	O
BASIC	B-Application
Computer	I-Application
Games	I-Application
,	O
a	O
best-selling	O
book	O
of	O
games	O
written	O
in	O
BASIC	O
,	O
which	O
included	O
his	O
version	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Sumer	I-Application
Game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
expanded	O
version	O
was	O
renamed	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
and	O
added	O
an	O
end-of-game	O
performance	O
appraisal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
multiple	O
versions	O
of	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
,	O
several	O
simulation	O
games	O
have	O
been	O
created	O
as	O
expansions	O
of	O
the	O
core	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
Kingdom	O
(	O
1974	O
)	O
by	O
Lee	O
Schneider	O
and	O
Todd	O
Voros	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
then	O
expanded	O
to	O
Dukedom	B-Application
(	O
1976	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
derivations	O
include	O
King	O
(	O
1978	O
)	O
by	O
James	O
A	O
.	O
Storer	O
,	O
and	O
Santa	B-Application
Paravia	I-Application
en	I-Application
Fiumaccio	I-Application
(	O
1978	O
)	O
by	O
George	O
Blank	O
;	O
Santa	O
Paravia	O
added	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
city	O
building	O
management	O
to	O
the	O
basic	O
structure	O
of	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
,	O
making	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
an	O
antecedent	O
to	O
the	O
city-building	B-Application
genre	I-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
early	O
strategy	B-Application
game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
was	O
created	O
during	O
the	O
early	B-Application
history	I-Application
of	I-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
as	O
part	O
of	O
research	O
into	O
new	O
uses	O
for	O
computer	O
simulations	O
,	O
it	O
pioneered	O
several	O
developments	O
in	O
the	O
medium	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
being	O
a	O
prototype	O
of	O
the	O
strategy	B-Application
and	O
city-building	O
genres	O
,	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
the	B-Application
first	I-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
with	O
a	O
narrative	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
edutainment	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
code	O
for	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
is	O
lost	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
projector	O
slides	O
and	O
three	O
printouts	O
of	O
individual	O
game	O
sessions	O
were	O
found	O
in	O
2012	O
and	O
donated	O
to	O
The	O
Strong	O
National	O
Museum	O
of	O
Play	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
are	O
kept	O
in	O
the	O
Brian	O
Sutton-Smith	O
Library	O
and	O
Archives	O
of	O
Play	O
.	O
</s>
