Created by the 3 guys behind the Mostly Walking show,
Sean Plott, Bill Graner and
Sean Bouchard whilst/after playing an adventure game called Return to Zork.
The game, as some other games from that era, is infamous for one thing, it's easy to become unable to further progress in
the game, due to your actions, without realizing it much later/at all.
Example: On the first screen, you have to obtain a plant. There are many ways to do so, but only one is the right one, and any other choice
will lead you to a fail state, therefore being unable to complete
the game, WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT, until you get to the part where you need to use the plant.
Other example: further in
the game, you have to cross the river, by summoning the ferryman. And he won't let you ride for free, of course. You need a special coin. The thing is, you just have to SHOW it to the ferryman and he
will still take you to the other side, instead of giving it to him. If you give it to him, you are still able to explore the other side of the river, but by the time you want to cross the river and return to the first area, only then will you realize your mistake. You no longer have the coin, so he won't take you back.
Therefore, adopted from the game's name "Return to Zork", comes the term (being) "zorked". It basically means "screwed".
I spent all my money on this new
game and now I'm
broke, I might have zorked myself.
A: The
date was smooth, but I felt weird towards the end.
B: In my book, she totally zorked on you.