The PDP-11 under RSTS/E gave users a 64kb address space for code and another for data. Systems like the TRS-80 and the Apple ][ gave a "learn to code" experience that was similar and certainly inspired by the minicomputer experience: you didn't get as much RAM and some of the fancy features but you could so some graphics even if you had to PEEK and POKE.

Very early microcomputer BASICs would fit in machines with 4k of RAM but as RAM became affordable almost all the machines evolved so you could fill out the whole address space. The IBM PC had a way user applications could address more than 64k that was half-baked because you were still stuck with 16 bit pointers, but practically I thought it was was really fun to write assembly programs that used the segments.

I was thinking the other day how DEC's VAX died because the addressing modes (especially indirection) couldn't be implemented in a modern high-performance CPU and how the 64-bit Alpha came too late to stop VAX customers from leaving but way too early to attract general interest because hardly anyone could afford to fill out a 32-bit address space. Like Windows 95, NT and Linux were competing in 1995 and 32MB of RAM seemed like a lot then, it wasn't until the early 2000's that you could really afford more than 4GB...

Got it, thanks. I believe that the version I have might be a later printing of the 1978 version, but actually the book I'm remembering most clearly was a later 1986 book by Ahl with a similar title of "Basic Computer Adventures" which has 10 longer adventure games… including an early version of Oregon trail.

https://archive.org/details/basic_computer_adventures