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Suggestions for IF newcomers, from Nick Montfort
As I see it, "interactive fiction for newcomers" does not mean "easy stuff." Below, I've selected ten pieces - many of them rather intricate and difficult - that I believe quickly give a sense of the powerful, interesting ways in which interactive fiction can work. If you want easier stuff that is also good, check out Fredrik Ramsberg's "A Beginner's Guide to Playing Interactive Fiction," which has many games ready for download in step 6. To see how to run the games below, check the FAQ.
(A very short work!) A degenerate case of IF, in which you have only one turn. But it's quite an interesting piece, which I keep mentioning and showing to people ... so I decided to include it here.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) Histories, creatures, and aspects of setting from Lovecraft's disturbing works manifest themselves in the small town, and expansive interactive fiction world, of Anchorhead.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) Codework meets Cooties in a difficult piece that forms a challenging, compelling system. My review of Bad Machine.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) Los Angeles heats up as your hard-boiled detective character tries to get to the bottom of Jessica Kincaid's case.
(A medium-sized work, but might be completed in about two hours.) Within a strange facade, three levels of tests await an early human.
(A short work requiring about 30 minutes or an hour from the interactor.) A small and strangely populated world has a strange lexicon to go with it.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) An 18th-century French estate will yield to magic and allow a returning prodigal to explore it and uncover the mystery of its sudden abandonment.
(A short work requiring about 30 minutes or an hour from the interactor.) The culmination in many ways of the "one-room game set in my apartment" type of IF. What seems a banal situation turns terrifying as manipuation of the environment unlocks reality.
(A medium-sized work - could possibly be finished in two hours, but is likely to take longer, particularly if you want to explore additional conclusions.) An intricate steampunk piece with that deals with insanity and language.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) A strange palace holds intrigues, surprises, an array of excellent characters. My and Stuart Moulthrop's article about Varicella.
These are great ... but hard to find, because they are from the commercial days of IF and aren't freely distributed.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) A work engaging political issues and providing an excellent relationship between its frame world and the simulated worlds within it, this is a strong case (to those willing to work through it over many hours and learn to use its special interfaces) for IF as an important new form of literary experience. The interactor, taking the part of an artificial intelligence, explores simulated futures and sees the player character's city transformed over time.
AMFV and the other four Infocom games may be made available on an Activision compilation that seems to have been in production for more than a year and a half (as of November 2005).
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete.) With brilliant one-liners, a landscape representing the minds of four different characters, and puzzles that please many, this work by a former U.S. poet laureate is extraordinary and unfortunately little-known.
Unavailable for purchase since the mid-1980s, although a Google search for "abandonware Mindwheel" might turn up something.
(A long and extremely difficult work, but it is easy in a short session to see some of its most interesting aspects.) A set of robots with different senses and abilities provide the unique experience of this IF world. The original packaging included a game board where the position of the different robots could be noted.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete. The introductory segment of the work by itself is a fine introduction to IF.) A fantasy world to which the player character flee connects in unusual ways to the reality of history and nuclear war.
(A long work that will take many sessions to complete, but is easy and intended for beginngers.) This work, for children, presents another interesting coupling between fantasy and reality, offering a town that is transformed during play and a set of puzzles that each have multiple solutions.
nm 2005-11