Games with Impossible-to-film moments - an IFDB Poll

by aaronius
RSS Feed

I'm looking for games that demonstrate the power of text-based games. Games with sentences that would make developers of 3D games weep, like "The army of ten million robots marched over the liquid landscape," or "She concealed her anger perfectly."

View Comments (2) - Add a comment


PataNoir, by Simon Christiansen
4 votes
"Puzzles depend on..." [+]"Puzzles depend on manipulating the metaphors and similes used to describe the objects." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Lance Cirone...

Vote for this game

Counterfeit Monkey, by Emily Short
3 votes
"The entire game..." [+]"The entire game mechanic based on changing objects by adding or removing letter. Also the special item that allows changing spelling between American and British." () --DustyCypress... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Lance Cirone... (No comment) [+](No comment) --C.E.J. Pacian...

Vote for this game

A Beauty Cold and Austere, by Mike Spivey
3 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Lance Campbell... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --cgasquid...

Vote for this game

Cragne Manor, by Ryan Veeder, Jenni Polodna, Adam Whybray, Adri, Andrew Plotkin, Andy Holloway, Austin Auclair, Baldur Brückner, Ben Collins-Sussman, Bill Maya, Brian Rushton, Buster Hudson, Caleb Wilson, Carl Muckenhoupt, Chandler Groover, Chris Jones, Christopher Conley, Damon L. Wakes, Daniel Ravipinto, Daniel Stelzer, David Jose, David Petrocco, David Sturgis, Drew Mochak, Edward B, Emily Short, Erica Newman, Feneric, Finn Rosenløv, Gary Butterfield, Gavin Inglis, Greg Frost, Hanon Ondricek, Harkness Munt, Harrison Gerard, Ian Holmes, Ivan Roth, Jack Welch, Jacqueline Ashwell, James Eagle, Jason Dyer, Jason Lautzenheiser, Jason Love, Jeremy Freese, Joey Jones, Joshua Porch, Justin de Vesine, Justin Melvin, Katherine Morayati, Kenneth Pedersen, Lane Puetz, Llew Mason, Lucian Smith, Marco Innocenti, Marius Müller, Mark Britton, Mark Sample, Marshal Tenner Winter, Matt Schneider, Matt Weiner, Matthew Korson, Michael Fessler, Michael Gentry, Michael Hilborn, Michael Lin, Mike Spivey, Molly Ying, Monique Padelis, Naomi Hinchen, Nate Edwards, Petter Sjölund, Q Pheevr, Rachel Spitler, Reed Lockwood, Reina Adair, Riff Conner, Roberto Colnaghi, Rowan Lipkovits, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Scott Hammack, Sean M. Shore, Shin, Wade Clarke, Zach Hodgens, Zack Johnson
2 votes
"Peccable's room" [+]"Peccable's room" ( - Full review) --MathBrush... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Lance Cirone...

Vote for this game

Horse Master, by Tom McHenry
2 votes
"The game..." [+]"The game wouldn't work at all if you could see your horse. You'll know what I mean after you've played it." --Simon Christiansen... (No comment) [+](No comment) --C.E.J. Pacian...

Vote for this game

Aayela, by Magnus Olsson
2 votes
"Much of the..." [+]"Much of the action takes place in darkness." --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Ad Verbum, by Nick Montfort
2 votes
"Relies on the..." [+]"Relies on the player associating certain word spellings with certain objects." --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Beyond Zork, by Brian Moriarty
1 vote
"Multiple ways to extend beyond the parser into the real world" [+]"Multiple ways to extend beyond the parser into the real world: The various nymphs that briefly appear over your keyboard. The Implementors' reminder of your last typo. Also the Easter Egg if you try to open the mailbox on the wine bottle's label. Plus various scenes too esoteric to represent in any visual form, such as the vague outline in the Ethereal Plain." ( - Full review) --mjhayes...

Vote for this game

Goose, Egg, Badger, by Brian Rapp
1 vote
"The entire..." [+]"The entire conceit is based on the multiple meanings of various words" --Christina Nordlander...

Vote for this game

The Chinese Room, by Harry Josephine Giles and Joey Jones
1 vote
"The moment when the player's mother appears." [+]"The moment when the player's mother appears." () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Rover's Day Out, by Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman
1 vote
"Everything is simultaneously two things at once" [+]"Everything is simultaneously two things at once: You have to keep two different realities in mind as you play this; focusing on either one (as a visual depiction would have to do) would lose much of the effect." ( - Full review) --sneJ...

Vote for this game

Photopia, by Adam Cadre
1 vote
"The solution to..." [+]"The solution to the labyrinth puzzle would fall flat in a visual medium" --Christina Nordlander...

Vote for this game

The Primrose Path, by Nolan Bonvouloir
1 vote
"Contains a..." [+]"Contains a striking time-stopping moment that might be possible to film but would be very hard to handle in a graphical game because of the way the player has to interact with the stopped objects." () --Emily Short...

Vote for this game

So Far, by Andrew Plotkin
1 vote
"One section takes..." [+]"One section takes place in complete darkness and puzzles rely on the PC operating sound phenomena." --Christina Nordlander...

Vote for this game

Varicella, by Adam Cadre
1 vote
"Numerous scenes..." [+]"Numerous scenes where the protagonist's inner monologue contains important information, or we learn flashback information about the scenery." () --Emily Short...

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.
Game Title (or TUID or IFID):

Poll created on November 5, 2009