‘Flavor Pairing’: How Roberta and Ken Williams Transformed Computer Games

In 1979, Roberta Williams had no plans to revolutionize the gaming world.

Since childhood, she had always been a storyteller, but she had no experience in the emerging world of computers.

Her husband, Ken, however, was a freelance programmer. 

When he brought home the text-based game Colossal Cave, something sparked in Roberta.

Most computer games up to that point were simple puzzles like Tic Tac Toe or action games like Pong.

Colossal Cave was an adventure. It had a story. And Roberta marveled at it.

She asked Ken whether they could create something like that.

In May 1980, Roberta and Ken Williams shipped Mystery House, the first in a series of computer games that would alter the industry forever. 

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Creativity is often defined as taking a solution from one field and applying it to another field.

In a recent HBR study, researchers found that the most innovative solutions came from outside of the problem occupation. “The more distant the field, the more novel the ideas.”

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In cuisine, we talk of ‘flavor pairing’, combining complementary flavors for new and complex taste experiences.

The same can be said for all creative endeavors.

One person has a natural talent in writing and another has a natural talent in performance. One has a talent for design and another has a talent for process.

Together, they create something that neither could on their own.

Jimi Hendrix once said of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’, “I have the feeling that ‘Watchtower’ is a song I could have come up with, but I’m sure I would never have finished it.”

As Roberta and Ken Williams combined their different talents to change computer games, Hendrix and Dylan fused their talents to create something new and more profound.