Urban Upstart (1983) | Renga in Blue
Scarthorpe is the sort of town where even the dogs carry flick knives, where there’s only one road in, and it’s a one way street!!! This is the second adventure game by Pete Cooke, afte…| Renga in Blue
Scarthorpe is the sort of town where even the dogs carry flick knives, where there’s only one road in, and it’s a one way street!!! This is the second adventure game by Pete Cooke, afte…| Renga in Blue
Here's a bit of trivia from the Infocom source code collection. All modern parser-IF tools let you type X as an abbreviation for EXAMINE. It's such a familiar shortcut that we forget that most Infocom games didn't work that way. Back when we ...| Zarf Updates
I’ve finished the game, and my previous posts are needed for context. I was quite close to the end last time. The most comparable game I can think of on the last puzzle — and the other reference-puzzles — is the game Avon. That game was chock full of Shakespearean references and in some cases […]| Renga in Blue
(Continued from my previous posts.) I’m gone through essentially the whole map now, with two major chunks and two minor chunks remaining I can’t reach. The red highlights are areas I explored, although I decided not to go through the tedium of filling in every single square to the southwest, as they’re all “wandering aimlessly” […]| Renga in Blue
(Continued from my previous posts.) While I’ve made a fair amount of progress I’ve also hit two points that make me wonder if the game is too buggy to complete. Updates to the map are s…| Renga in Blue
I'm going to the World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle! And speaking! It's the first Worldcon I've attended since 2009 (Montreal). After the Hadean Lands kickstarter, I figured I should spend my travel budget on game dev conferences rather ...| Zarf Updates
Hadean Lands is on sale as part of the Boston-Based Indies bundle on Steam. That's a 15% discount for five titles: Hadean Lands (me!) Monster Loves You Too! (Dejobaan) MewnBase (Cairn4) Million Monster Militia (Space Capsule) Loki's Revenge ...| Zarf Updates
Here's a new toy: a Discord bot that plays IF games. Say you've got a group of people who want to play an IF game together. You'd log into the IFTF Discord and go to the #zarfbot-9000 channel. (That's where the bot is currently running.) Type ...| Zarf Updates
A quick reminder: today is is the last day to register for NarraScope 2025 if you want to attend in person. (Remote attendance will be open until June 18th.) If you want the conference rate at the University City Study hotel, you need to grab ...| Zarf Updates
Worldcon is the apex annual convention for a certain stratum of science fiction fandom. My stratum, to be precise. It's also the conference whose members vote the annual Hugo Awards. Sadly, Worldcon the conference is becoming less notable than ...| Zarf Updates
A few days ago, Kate Willaert wrote: As much as I love the word "Metroidvania," I dislike people calling these games Metroidbrainias because it makes it sound like their root is in Metroid games when they're just standard Adventure games in ...| Zarf Updates
(Continued from my previous posts.) I have the One Ring to rule them all, that means the rest of this ought to be easy, right? My count otherwise is unchanged: 4 out of 9 Man-Rings, 0 out of 3 Elf-…| Renga in Blue
(Continued from my last post.) The grey-rain curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. — Re…| Renga in Blue
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor w…| Renga in Blue
Today, we move back in time to 1975: personal computers were only starting to become real; the Altair wasn’t out until the very end of the year. This means if you wanted to play a coin-op game like Shark Jaws you could go to an arcade… …but for a computer game, you’d need access to […]| Renga in Blue
Nearly all the haunted mansions (or castles) that we’ve experienced through All the Adventure have been, at their essence, fan fiction. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing for the circumstances, given the tiny space most authors have had to work with. As I’ve observed before, fan fiction is a shortcut of sorts that allows an […]| Renga in Blue
I’ve finished, and this continues from my previous post. First, briefly, regarding the verbs: they’re inside the machine code in plain text, but backwards. I don’t know if this is meant as a slight bit of “encryption” or if there’s some technical reason based on how input sequences are treated. It was mainly useful to […]| Renga in Blue
(Continued from my previous post.) Last time I left off having trouble with getting both the ring (for the girlfriend) and a diving suit (apparently needed due to the kidnapping). The solution is o…| Renga in Blue
"According to Cain" placed #1 on Winter is Coming's "The 10 scariest free interactive fiction games to enjoy this winter."| Jim Nelson
✨Save the Date: 25/09/25✨ I’m excited to announce that YOU ARE ODYSSEUS is now available to pre-order! You can order wherever you normally order your books, but here are my favourite (UK) links: Bl…| Greek Myth Comix
---| The Digital Antiquarian
---| The Digital Antiquarian
This post is mainly to announce that after an immense amount of work, a group at Gaming Alexandria (mainly gschmidl, ftb1979, bsittler, and eientei) have managed to repair the damage to the NEC PC-…| Renga in Blue
---| The Digital Antiquarian
Bonus surprise post! Yes, I arise from my slumber for at least a little while. This is the sequel to Japan’s first graphical adventure game, using the same first-person-with-directions view a…| Renga in Blue
In this final essay on Steve Meretzky's Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Drew Cook considers the difference between titillation and comic joy.| Gold Machine
Hi, folks! I have an update at this unusual time because, as of the last proper article, we’ve actually finished with our coverage of 1998, and I wanted to give you a preview of what’s coming for 1999. As usual, these subjects are more 1999-adjacent than pedantically bound to that year. And also as usual, […]| The Digital Antiquarian
The early days were the best. We had successes, we had fun, and we had a good business model. As the industry changed, everything became more complicated and harder.| The Digital Antiquarian
In 2023, Joey D. Jones of the University of South Hampton interviewed me and over a dozen others about the authorial burden of interactive fiction. His paper on the topic is now available.| Troy Press
We’re back in France with this game; the most relevant prior game to read about is La maison du professeur Folibus. As observed in my posts on Folibus, the ZX81 had a stronger impact in Franc…| Renga in Blue
In part 2 of Gold Machine's 3-part series about Infocom's Leather Goddesses of Phobos, we examine its worldbuiding and play.| Gold Machine
---| The Digital Antiquarian
Here we go! More babbling about IF! In my last post, I talk a little bit about my long-term Twine project. It’s quite ambitious, and it will likely be a while before even the prologue is in a playable state. Luckily, I tripped and fell headfirst into an awesome opportunity completely by chance that is […]| History Will Say This Was Just a Book Blog
By 1980 in the United States, the TRS-80 had still vastly outsold the Apple II, with 200,000 units to 35,000. The Apple II was the outlier expensive machine while TRS-80 was “for the people&#…| Renga in Blue
If you take the time to dig beneath the surface of any human community, no matter how humble, you’ll be rewarded with a welter of fascinating tales and characters. Certainly this is true of Oakhurst, California. The little town nestled in central California’s Yosemite Valley near the western end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains has attracted more than its fair share of dreamers and chancers over the past 175 years or so.| The Digital Antiquarian
The Gold Machine interprets and critiques interactive texts via literary and cultural analysis, beginning with Infocom’s games from the 1980’s.| Gold Machine
A many years ago, the IF Archive existed, and it was an FTP site. It lived at ftp.gmd.de. That was a long time ago. (1992, but who's counting.) Slightly less long ago, the World Wide Web existed, and I said "I bet there could be a web mirror ...| Zarf Updates
Here we embark on the final part of the trilogy from the ZX81 Adventure Tape 1 as published by Phipps Associates and written by Mike Farley (see previously: Greedy Gulch, Pharaoh’s Tomb). The…| Renga in Blue
Shockingly, this game’s name does not clash with one I’ve already played yet; we had Pharaoh’s Curse and King Tut’s Tomb but never put the two together. CASA has one other g…| Renga in Blue
In October I wrote: This leaves me with two big IFTF roles: Treasurer and IF Archive lead. I'm happy with the IF Archive job; I figure I'll hold onto that for a while. But it's getting to be time to hand off the Treasurer job. I've been doing ...| Zarf Updates
Here's a little something I've been working on: The Visible Zorker! This screenshot has spoilers for Zork 1. This whole project is spoilers for Zork 1. That's the point. Really, go give it a shot. It's a toy. You can read the rest of this ...| Zarf Updates
Most histories of personal computing focus on devices resembling a modern computer, with a keyboard and screen — perhaps provided separate from the main product — and the main hardware …| Renga in Blue
In 1988, a contest was run by the Adventureland BBS out of Lexington, Kentucky called The Great American Adventure Search. ADVENTURELAND, the largest public domain Adventure base in America, is loo…| Renga in Blue
In this final post about Infocom's Trinity, Drew considers philosophical responses to its rather bleak conclusion.| Gold Machine
When bad things happen to all sorts of people. The Tragic Plane Crash and Other Myths “Tragedy” is a word that gets repeated often in our media. When something horrific happens, it is called a tragedy. Plane crashes, we are told, are tragedies, and so are collapsing buildings. You might think I’m going somewhere pedantic […] The post The Dearth of Tragedy appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
The best ending is not the ending. Depraved Indifference as a Cosmic Horror For the past handful of posts, I’ve maintained the position that humanity is, separate from humans as individuals, a kind of inexorable force, a destructive tendency or eventuality visited upon the earth. In fact, I’ve consistently preferred the term “creation” over “earth” […] The post Suffer the Children appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
Another Pull at an Old Thread Recent discussions have attempted to bolster a few, key ideas. The first and most controversial, given the present critical landscape, is that while historical detail informs our understanding of humanity, it isn’t, in and of itself, a theme or interpretive “code wheel” that can unlock the meaning of Trinity. […] The post Now I Am Become Death appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
Examining the Libra episode of Infocom's Trinity, which features a swarm of lemmings at a Soviet atomic test site.| Gold Machine
Reframing my current assessment of Infocom's Trinity. A controversial opinion regarding the construction and meaning of a beloved game.| Gold Machine
My Interactive Fiction Competition entry Under the Cognomen of Edgar Allan Poe was reviewed by Justin Kim at The Final Arc. Highlights: On one hand, it’s a game about dealing with the duality of superficial popularity vs meaningful respect as a career writer. On another hand, it’s a mystery about the last days of famed […]| Jim Nelson
This is what it says on the tin: a game about birding. (I started properly birding a year and change back, which is the surest sign I have become middle-aged. The link to ebird.org in this game shows up in … Continue reading →| These Heterogenous Tasks
From nowhen to somewhen: narrative vignettes, cumulative storytelling, and a bad day at the beach. Further discussion of Narrative and Geographical Modularity In Trinity In a previous post, I discussed the wide, middle part of Trinity‘s structure. This so-called “Wabe” is a highly effective design, unifying both storytelling and mechanics. Narratively, it establishes Trinity as […] The post “Tell the Truth, but Tell It Slant:” Modularity and Sacrifice appeared first on Gold Machine.| Gold Machine
Today is the start of the Interactive Fiction (IF) Competition 2024, which includes my latest IF title, Under the Cognomen of Edgar Allan Poe. Over 67 titles are entered in the competition this year. The great thing about IF Comp is that anyone can play and be a judge.| Jim Nelson
On the Interactive Fiction Community Forum, author Brian Rushton has been at work completing his series reviewing every game to win the XYZZY and IF Comp awards. He recently posted his review of According to Cain, the most recent game to win the XYZZY: Your game, the player’s, while fraught with occasional physical danger, is […]| Jim Nelson
Forgot to mention it here—a couple weeks back, I was interviewed by otistdog (“Mad Scientist”) at the Interactive Fiction Community Forum about According to Cain. Sample from the Q&A: Q: What was it about the Cain and Abel story that attracted you as a subject?JN: Two brothers fighting over the affection of their parents and […]| Jim Nelson
Yesterday, the 2022 XYZZY final awards were announced. If you don’t know, the XYZZY Awards are given yearly for interactive fiction. They’re sometimes called the Academy Awards for interactive fiction. I was blown away to learn that According to Cain won Best Game and Best Implementation for 2022. Cain was also nominated for Best Writing, […]| Jim Nelson
The 2022 XYZZY Awards for interactive fiction is now accepting nominations. The XYZZY Awards is one of the oldest video game award on the books. It first started in 1997 and has been held yearly since. It’s often called the Oscars for interactive fiction. If you’ve played even one interactive fiction game first released in […]| Jim Nelson
This morning I learned that my interactive fiction game According to Cain was selected for the 2023 Interactive Fiction Top 50. This is a poll run by Victor Gijsbers every four years since 2011, and generally attracts interactive fiction enthusiasts and authors (most of whom gather now at intfiction.org). The goal of the poll is […]| Jim Nelson
The recorded video of my NarraScope 2023 talk—”According to Cain: From concept to completion”—is now up: Or, watch it on YouTube. Published 29 August 2023. Last updated 28 August 2023.| Jim Nelson
It’s been awhile. Although the web site has been mostly quiet, I’ve actually been juggling a few projects and staying busy. First, I am working on a new novel, which I hope to have mostly finished before the end of the year. It’s a bit of curveball compared to my past work—an absurdist caper comedy […]| Jim Nelson
As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog entry or two, I’ve started experimenting with Interactive Fiction or IF in order to practice branching narratives and improve my writing. There’s something very…| History Will Say This Was Just a Book Blog
A definitive book about the first half-century of interactive fiction.| aaronareed.net
This accessible academic textbook chronicles the legacy the adventure game genre has left behind on the contemporary gaming landscape. A generation of designers grew up playing these games, which are rarely studied today as a comprehensive body of work, and their DNA lives on not only in the work of contemporary auteurs but also in the form of dozens of daughter genres, from visual novels to walking simulators to escape rooms to puzzle platformers. We make the case that the genre has always b...| aaronareed.net
Apologies for the radio silence — I had some major work things to get to pushing up to the end of the year, and my brain just hasn’t gotten back in gear yet. The Project will continue n…| Renga in Blue
In this second of two posts about critical reactions to Infocom's Trinity, Gold Machine considers content published after 2010.| Gold Machine
Mask of the Rose is a dating-and-murder-mystery virtual novel set in Failbetter’s Fallen London universe. In line with that genre, it typically gives the player between two and four dialogue …| Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling
A map I made for the interactive fiction game Anchorhead.| Tobias V. Langhoff
Events September 1. The yearly IF Comp is now accepting submissions for this fall. If you intend to enter, you should indicate that by September 1 (so tomorrow — though I imagine most people w…| Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling
I’ve been unusually quiet lately and not even following my usual link assortment schedule – apologies for that, especially to people who’ve sent me interesting links lately. I do mean t…| Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling
Gold Machine takes a look at reviews of Trinity from years ranging from 1994 to 2010 before drawing some tentative conclusions.| Gold Machine
It’s once again IF Comp season; I’ll be doing some reviews. (Disclosure: I’m married to the lead organiser of the competition.) This is Graham Walmsey’s adaptation of Buchan…| These Heterogenous Tasks
Goat Game is a tightly-crafted piece about complicity and corporate careers, the difficulty of effecting change, and how this intersects with how you relate to people. The characters are all anthro…| These Heterogenous Tasks
The Last Night of Alexisgrad is a choice-based game for two players. This is an unusual but venerable format – the first I’m aware of is the Duel Master series, first published 1986, wh…| These Heterogenous Tasks
This game is not in any way a reference to Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan; rather, it’s a straightforward space-adventure story that has, y’know, actual space mermaids in it. It&#…| These Heterogenous Tasks
I made a game. It’s called Scents & Semiosis. It’s a piece of interactive fiction about perfume, memory, and the process of assigning or re-evaluating personal symbolic associations…| These Heterogenous Tasks
The good people (Pseudavid, Twine) is a piece of horror, or of horrific magic realism. A couple, Alice and Daniel, take their first holiday together; they are from different cultures, and the relat…| These Heterogenous Tasks
Black Sheep (Nic Barkdull and Matt Borgard, Twine) is a cyberpunk mystery. Your father – head of a Singularity-focused corporation with a cult following – has died, and your sister has …| These Heterogenous Tasks
