What game first got you interested in IF? (1995–2012) - an IFDB Poll

What game first got you interested in interactive fiction? This may, or may not, be the first IF game you ever played. Respond to this poll only if you first played the game BETWEEN 1995 and 2012 INCLUSIVE; otherwise, respond to one of the two other similarly-titled polls. Select a poll based on when you first played the game, not when the game was published.

Other polls: 1994 and earlier, 2013–present

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	Worlds Apart, by Suzanne Britton 2 votes "I had already encountered parser games, most notably H²G² on the BBC website, but this game opened up a whole new world for me." [+]"I had already encountered parser games, most notably H²G² on the BBC website, but this game opened up a whole new world for me." ( - Full review) --Rovarsson... (No comment) [+](No comment) --george... Vote for this game

	Jigsaw, by Graham Nelson 2 votes "Not the first parser game I played, but the first one I remember being very enthusiastic about" [+]"Not the first parser game I played, but the first one I remember being very enthusiastic about" () --EJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) --C.E.J. Pacian... Vote for this game

	Curses, by Graham Nelson 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --MathBrush... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Morningstar... Vote for this game

	Wishbringer, by Brian Moriarty 2 votes "loved the map!" [+]"loved the map!" () --dmarymac... "Found on a..." [+]"Found on a relative's computer while on holiday, kid me was entranced by this - I played only in short bursts and never finished but loved the world, the way of interacting with the story, the fact that it was text-based and didn't require manual dexterity (I was bad at computer games but loved reading, ha)." () --E.K.... Vote for this game

	A Change in the Weather, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote "Downloaded after..." [+]"Downloaded after school, in an unused office where my mom worked, probably in 1996. I'd played a few classics before (Nord & Bert most memorably) but it was very exciting to find that you could make these games on your own!" --Caleb Wilson... Vote for this game

	Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --george... Vote for this game

	Leather Goddesses of Phobos, by Steve Meretzky 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	Unnkulian Unventure II: The Secret of Acme, by David Baggett 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --Johnnywz00... Vote for this game

	Ballyhoo, by Jeff O'Neill 1 vote "This story was..." [+]"This story was magical to me and introduced me to some good vocab at a young age!" () --dmarymac... Vote for this game

	Time: All Things Come to an End, by Andy Phillips 1 vote "1st contact with international IF scene" [+]"1st contact with international IF scene: Around 1996 I found the IF newsgroups. This game was being discussed at the time and it was the first thing I remember playing on the Z machine stack." --n-n... Vote for this game

	Shade, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --Lionstooth... Vote for this game

	The Haunted House!, by Neopets 1 vote "a silly, scary little neopets game I played as a kid " [+]"a silly, scary little neopets game I played as a kid " --pieartsy... Vote for this game

	Galatea, by Emily Short 1 vote "Stumbled upon it..." [+]"Stumbled upon it while looking for games to play in my high school computer lab. I was fascinated by the characterization/themes and the complex dialog system, and had so much fun experimenting to find different endings!" --Ally... Vote for this game

	Tsukihime, by Kinoko Nasu 1 vote "The VN that got me into VNs" [+]"The VN that got me into VNs: Notorious for having a lot of sudden deaths, most memetically one where you are eaten by a shark inside a hotel (long story). Also, some really bad sex scenes. Nevertheless, I was hooked by its twisty story and ended up extensively exploring VNs afterward, which influenced my tastes in and eventual creation of choice-based IF." --EJ... Vote for this game

	Zork II, by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --slugzuki... Vote for this game

Is there another game that you think should be on this list? Just fill in the title of a game you'd like to vote for.

Poll created on December 30, 2024