I've been down a bit of rabbit hole reading about some classic adventure game implementation systems.

Andrew Plotkin has a presentation about rule-based programming in interactive fiction that explores the history of game implementation languages for text adventures. While the specifics deal with text adventures and the parser driven interaction, the general details show how specialised languages are beneficial for any adventure game.

Less comprehensively, but still interesting, is Ron Gilbert’s various notes on SCUMM: the Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion (and other classic Lucasarts point & click adventures). Gilbert shows some examples of SCUMM Script and its facilities, and has dug out his SCUMM C64 implementation notes.

On a related note Gilbert is kickstarting a nostalgia fuelling adventure: Thimbleweed Park.