What Is Break Into Chat?

Updated

Break Into Chat (breakintochat.com) is a wiki and blog devoted to bulletin board systems (BBS), BBS door games, and retrocomputing. It is the place to start if you want to read documented histories of door games, hear from the people who built them, or browse preserved software and archives. The site was created to preserve the history of BBS door games after editors on Wikipedia began deleting door game articles.

What the site covers

The homepage describes the project as “All about bulletin board systems, door games, and retrocomputing.” In practice, its material falls into four groups.

Section What you'll find
In-depth histories Long-form research and rescue stories, such as saving the software of Ya'akov Kirschen and the Instant Graphics and Sound protocol for Atari ST BBSes
Interviews Conversations with door game creators, including Gary Martin (TradeWars 2002), Amit Patel (Solar Realms Elite), Joe Reiss, Paul Witte and Herb Flower (Thieves' Guild), Jon Radoff, and others
Wiki articles Reference entries on individual games and topics, from Legend of the Red Dragon and TradeWars 2002 to ANSI art, BBS door, and Instant Graphics and Sound (IGS)
Special collections Preserved archives and tools, such as 300,000 Fidonet messages from the 1990s and AtasciiTube, an ATASCII animation player

Who it's for

  • Researchers and historians who need a citable starting point on a specific door game or BBS topic. The wiki article list is the fastest way in.
  • Retrocomputing hobbyists interested in ANSI art, the Atari ST, or the IGS protocol. The blog's technique experiments and protocol histories are the relevant reading.
  • Curious players who remember games like Legend of the Red Dragon, Solar Realms Elite, or Food Fight and want context on how they were made. The creator interviews are the best fit.

How to use it

  1. Open breakintochat.com and scan the four sections on the homepage.
  2. If you have a specific game in mind, go to the wiki article list and look for its title; entries like Assassin, Barren Realms Elite, or Global War appear there.
  3. If you want narrative context, read the in-depth histories or the interviews with the game's creator.
  4. If you want raw material, check the special collections for message archives and animation players.

The site does not present itself as a general BBS how-to guide or a software download hub; its stated purpose is preservation and documentation. Treat it as an archive and reference source rather than a tutorial site.