"video" in march 1985 praised the game's fidelity to its source material, stating that "it survives the transition as wacky and spaced-out as ever". though acknowledging that "there may be a few minor problems with "the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy"", the reviewer suggested that "the game is so engrossing, funny, and often so infuriatingly difficult that you'll hardly notice them". in may 1985 "antic" called it an "extraordinary game" and "a step forward from infocom's safe, established approach to game design" with "distinct and tangible" writing, "really the first stylistic departure since the "zork" trilogy". the magazine stated that "hitchhiker" was "not your run-of-the-mill text adventure" but promised that "the puzzles are tough, but follow a certain capricious, twisted internal logic". "compute!" in june 1985 stated that the game "may well be infocom's best effort to date", citing an effective adaptation of adams's "comic absurdity", sense of humor, and "fascinating" story. the magazine "recommended [it] for all adventure gamers", and listed the game in may 1988 as one of "our favorite games", stating that its humor distinguished "hitchhiker" from other adventure games; "[adams'] keen and literate wit make this game a joy". "compute!" gave it the 1989 compute! choice award for role playing/adventure game.