forgotten gems - an IFDB Poll
by Marius MüllerI'm looking for games that don't show up in the IF histories or recommended lists, for what reason whatsover. Old games that maybe weren't boundary-pushing or noteworthy, but still give you a fun play experience. If you ever thought "Hey, everyone mentions Zork but not..." That is the kind of game I'm looking for.
| Worlds Apart, by Suzanne Britton 5 votes "Still n°1 on my list." [+]"Still n°1 on my list." (  - Full review) --Rovarsson... (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Kinetic Mouse Car... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri! 5 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Audiart... (No comment) [+](No comment) --tildemania... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Christminster, by Gareth Rees 4 votes "Great atmosphere, fitting with the coherent story." [+]"Great atmosphere, fitting with the coherent story." --Biep... (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| First Things First, by J. Robinson Wheeler 4 votes "lots of flaws but a sparkling gem nonetheless" [+]"lots of flaws but a sparkling gem nonetheless" ( Vote for this game | |
| Adventurer's Consumer Guide, by Øyvind Thorsby 4 votes "Solidly fun puzzle game." [+]"Solidly fun puzzle game.: I've put it on a few lists myself, I suppose, but for the most part I don't see people talking about this one as much as I think it deserves. It's thoroughly silly, but the puzzles are inventive and clever and it's a big, rewarding piece." ( ) --Ryan Veeder... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
| The Edifice, by Lucian P. Smith 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... "An intelligent..." [+]"An intelligent work with excellent, involved puzzles and a setting rarely seen in IF." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Kinetic Mouse Car... Vote for this game | |
| Gourmet, by Aaron A. Reed and Chad Barb 3 votes "Wickedly funny" [+]"Wickedly funny: A tremendously entertaining farce with some occasionally difficult bits and the most fiendish lobster in history. Doesn't get discussed as much as Aaron's later work, but good stuff." --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Degeneracy, by Leonard Richardson 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Bolivia By Night, by Aidan Doyle 3 votes "A lighthearted..." [+]"A lighthearted romp of a superhero story based on exotic mythology, Excellent use of superpowers in a text adventure." ( ) --Felix Pleșoianu... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Guess the Verb!, by Leonard Richardson 2 votes "A minor IF comedy classic" [+]"A minor IF comedy classic: I don't see this game on the "best of" lists very often, which is a shame, as this is a very clever and often inventive, if somewhat flawed, take on IF conventions and cliches. The puzzle involving the finicky parser is an early highlight." --Molly... "Another oldish..." [+]"Another oldish classic that doesn't seem to be talked about much. Bite-sized, well-written, with great jokes and puzzles (I particularly like how you convince Lalrry to take your payment), plus the format means that on replay you have a shot at skipping the areas you didn't like." ( ) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| The Plant, by Michael J. Roberts 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Blighted Isle, by Eric Eve 2 votes "One of my favorites..." [+]"One of my favorites...: It is strange that this game is so little talked about, compared to Eve's other works." ( ) --strivenword... "Big, ambitious,..." [+]"Big, ambitious, many-NPC work." ( Vote for this game | |
| The Mulldoon Legacy, by Jon Ingold 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --ifwizz... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Worldsmith, by Ade McT 2 votes "Only one rating the last two years" [+]"Only one rating the last two years: A masterpiece" ( ) --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Halothane, by Ravi Rajkumar 2 votes "not perfect, but a good story, a lot of fun, and greatly overlooked" [+]"not perfect, but a good story, a lot of fun, and greatly overlooked" ( ) --Anya Johanna DeNiro... "Nothing special..." [+]"Nothing special in terms of gameplay, but the writing and story are very good." --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Nevermore, by Nate Cull 1 vote "Another of my favourites that rarely shows up on polls" [+]"Another of my favourites that rarely shows up on polls: a dark, excellently coded and written adaptation/expansion of Poe's "The Raven"." ( ) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Gnome Ranger, by Pete Austin 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Orevore Courier, by Brian Rapp 1 vote "A brilliant little thing;" [+]"A brilliant little thing;: one of my favorite games that no one really remembers. Simple but fun characterizations and a fun pulpy setting mixed with one great little puzzle." ( Vote for this game | |
| Stationfall, by Steve Meretzky 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
| Enlightenment, by Taro Ogawa 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --Emily Short... Vote for this game | |
| Breakers, by Rodney Smith, Joe Vierra, William Mataga 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --kala... Vote for this game | |
| Redemption, by Sam Ruby 1 vote "Great Eamon game" [+]"Great Eamon game" ( - Full review) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| On Optimism, by Zach Flynn (as Tim Lane) 1 vote "A very good surrealist game." [+]"A very good surrealist game.: I think it just came out in a bad time, when the IF community was tired of surrealism. I think everyone thought it was just another "Blue Chairs" -- but it does have much of the appeal of works like Blue Chairs and So Far, at least to me." ( ) --strivenword... Vote for this game | |
| La Canción del Bardo, by Bruce Humphrey 1 vote "Castilian language - Well written, fun, polished... and unheard of." [+]"Castilian language - Well written, fun, polished... and unheard of.: This game doesn't even show up on caad.es (the Spanish equivalent of IFDB). The author put a lot of work into it, beta tested it, entered it into a contest, and revised it again afterward. It works well, has good puzzles and narrative, and I just enjoyed it. The title is entirely misleading, I suppose; it isn't written in verse, and the PC is more like a wizard than a bard." ( Vote for this game | |
| Ingrid's Back, by Pete Austin, Peter McBride, Godfrey Dowson, Graham Jones 1 vote "Great and obtainable!" [+]"Great and obtainable!" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Small World, by Andrew D. Pontious 1 vote "Unique and fun..." [+]"Unique and fun setting, some really cool puzzles, and just generally very well-written and polished -- why isn't this better known?" ( ) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Scapeghost, by Pete Austin 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( Vote for this game | |
Poll created on October 25, 2011
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