Oct 3, 2011

2011 Interactive Fiction: The Games

The Interactive Fiction Competition has been going on for 16 years now and I still consider it one of the best things that ever happened to that digital and at times tasteless behemoth that is the internet. Silly prose aside, the IF Competition has been tirelessly encouraging the development of text adventures and interactive fiction  for all these years, while simultaneously helping advance and popularize the medium. Oh, and providing hundreds of quality freeware games too.

This year's competition has been one of the most impressive ones yet, what with its nearly forty interactive fiction authors, over two hundred judges and the variety of authoring/programming tools used. There are even a few games including graphics and sound. And at least one that doesn't require any typing whatsoever.

You can -and most probably should- play the 2011 competition games in a refreshing variety of ways; yes, they have indeed been finally made available. You can download the complete archive including every competition game, you can grab each game individually and even play most of these lovable text adventures online. Further info on each entry can be found here and you should probably get around to downloading an interactive fiction interpreter (a program that will let you play the games; they do come in their very own file formats) like the excellent, dead simple to use and obviously freeware Gargoyle.

After playing a few games you will apparently be more than welcome to your opinion on said games, meaning that you will indeed be allowed to vote for your favourites by following this highly democratic link. As for me, I know I will not be voting. I rarely do so when it comes to competitions. I will instead be playing and writing about those entries that intrigue me the most. Stay, uhm, tuned?

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

15 comments:

  1. Intriqued since you got me addicted to "Frotz" and i must certainly will be tuning into radio free Gnome... on ...short wave?!

    erm.. that democratic link is in red you know!.. but no worries i'll get my crayons.... Like the formating on this post.. :)

    (heads off to get crayons....)

    ReplyDelete
  2. (sprays Gnome's Lair with anti-crayon spray)

    And don't forget to tune in on Gnome AM every Saturday evening!

    Mind you, it odes feel lovely addicting people to text adventures. Misanthropic definitely, but lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  3. (returns with crayons......several hours later, throws crayons in the bin....)

    cheap crayons... no worries i'll get some gloss paint... and yes I haven't played the xbox 360 in nearly a week... text adventures, mahjong, and I'm reading Edgar Alan Poe....?!!

    ..maybe I've come down with a bug..

    (heads off to get green glass paint...)

    ReplyDelete
  4. No worries. Lie down for a couple of days, relax and take an aspirin.

    Everything should be back to normal.

    Then again, it seems you are on a wise track to metamorphosis.

    (thinks about giving Mah-jong a go...)

    ReplyDelete
  5. (returns with gloss paint...takes aspirin...lies down and waits for several days to pass)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blog Narrator10/8/11, 12:48 AM

    ...I've heard that brain cells shrink the older you get but this.. this is....just ridiculous

    ReplyDelete
  7. No, it is not. It is an old gnomic tradition that most definitely works.

    Look at Elderly. Doesn't he look perky already?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Blog Narrator10/10/11, 4:34 AM

    To be honest I've seen better looking corpses..

    ReplyDelete
  9. But he's alive isn't he?

    (kicks)

    (Elderly moans)

    See? He's doing just fine!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Blog Narrator10/12/11, 2:57 AM

    oh if only I could leave here...

    Gnome perhaps you could do me a favour? any chance you'd kick...oops! check if he's alive again? perhaps more thoroughly?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Is this a sadistic hint of a smile I'm detecting?

    You sick, sick narrator!

    (kicks narrator)

    ReplyDelete
  12. ouch!!!!.. hey there was no call for that...

    ;(

    me sadistic!!! meee!?

    whose being pulling pincers from spiders recently! huh!. well? huh? hitting defenceless working class helpers huh!?

    and what if I was to tell elderly about your plan for world domination..!?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, but you wont. I've made sure...

    (enter Frida)

    (doors close)

    Mwahahahahahahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  14. nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

    ............

    ...

    ...

    ReplyDelete