The Edifice

The Edifice is a 1997 work of interactive fiction by Lucian P. Smith about the evolution of an early anthropoid in stone-age times. It is distributed in z-code format as freeware. The game won the 1997 Interactive Fiction Competition, and went on to also win that year's XYZZY Award for Best Puzzles and XYZZY Award for Best Individual Puzzle. It gained plaudits for its famous "language puzzle".