Best Beginner Game of All Time (2024 edition) - an IFDB Poll

This is a poll for the games that you think would be helpful for people new to IF. You should vote for whatever game(s) you think best answer the question:

"My friend is new to IF. Can you recommend a good game for beginners?"

There already exist some polls for beginner games. However, the opinion on what makes a good beginner poll changes over time. This poll is meant to reflect what people in 2024/2025 feel is appropriate for a beginner.

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	9:05, by Adam Cadre 4 votes "Simple, can hardly be said to have puzzles, and the end hooks you" [+]"Simple, can hardly be said to have puzzles, and the end hooks you: this is the first parser game I ever finished!" --pieartsy... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Adam Biltcliffe... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Tabitha... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Drew Cook... Vote for this game

	16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds, by Abigail Corfman 4 votes "quickly rewarding with some easy wins and difficult ones for completionists to strive for" [+]"quickly rewarding with some easy wins and difficult ones for completionists to strive for" --pieartsy... "Choice-based..." [+]"Choice-based puzzle game with some easy victories but plenty more to find through replays " () --Adam Biltcliffe... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Drew Cook... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... Vote for this game

	Galatea, by Emily Short 4 votes "very responsive parser and npc, no compass navigation" [+]"very responsive parser and npc, no compass navigation: I know some people who love this game who haven't even heard of other parsers!" --pieartsy... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Drew Cook... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --EJ... Vote for this game

	Eat Me, by Chandler Groover 4 votes "Fantastic game, got my friends into IF" [+]"Fantastic game, got my friends into IF" () --Max Fog... "great limited-parser beginner game and a wonderfully gooey plot" [+]"great limited-parser beginner game and a wonderfully gooey plot: got my partner into IF!" () --pieartsy... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Hidnook... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	The Lonely Troll, by Amanda Walker 3 votes "has a good tutorial mode and, even further, hints are available" [+]"has a good tutorial mode and, even further, hints are available: The limited scope helps as a beginner game, too. Just nine rooms (with a Map command available). " --Zed... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --jakomo... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Drew Cook... Vote for this game

	The Lost Islands of Alabaz, by Michael Gentry 2 votes "best puzzle difficulty curve I've ever seen, very easy to start" [+]"best puzzle difficulty curve I've ever seen, very easy to start" ( - Full review) --OtisTDog... "A good expansive "quest"-feeling, while the puzzles difficulty slowly increases." [+]"A good expansive "quest"-feeling, while the puzzles difficulty slowly increases." ( - Full review) --Rovarsson... Vote for this game

	The Den, by Ben Jackson 2 votes "fun story and logical puzzles with lots of hinting" [+]"fun story and logical puzzles with lots of hinting" () --pieartsy... "Engaging story..." [+]"Engaging story for anyone into YA fiction, plenty of puzzles to solve but hard to get fully stuck for long" () --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	The Impossible Bottle, by Linus Åkesson 2 votes "Online version has great hyperlinks that let you know what verbs to use " [+]"Online version has great hyperlinks that let you know what verbs to use " ( - Full review) --MathBrush... (No comment) [+](No comment) --pieartsy... Vote for this game

	Violet, by Jeremy Freese 2 votes "great puzzles with an easy ramp up and an engaging voice/story" [+]"great puzzles with an easy ramp up and an engaging voice/story" () --pieartsy... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Hidnook... Vote for this game

	The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Andersen, by Ryan Veeder 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --jakomo... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	Birdland, by Brendan Patrick Hennessy 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --EJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... Vote for this game

	Bogeyman, by Elizabeth Smyth 2 votes "Possibly one of the best for teaching IF" [+]"Possibly one of the best for teaching IF" () --Max Fog... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	Lost Pig, by Admiral Jota 2 votes "Very generous parser" [+]"Very generous parser: Most parser games tend to fail in confusing ways when the user types natural English commands. Lost Pig tends to understand you and include a fun gag whenever you try something, making it a fun toy to interact with while you solve the puzzles. The puzzles are way hard, but the game includes hints, and with those hints, you'll probably win if you keep trying." --Dan Fabulich... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --OtisTDog... Vote for this game

	An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There, by Mandy Benanav 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Adam Biltcliffe... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... Vote for this game

	Toby's Nose, by Chandler Groover 2 votes "limited parser with rich implementation and you're a dog!" [+]"limited parser with rich implementation and you're a dog!" ( - Full review) --pieartsy... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Drew Cook... Vote for this game

	The Basilisk and the Banana, by Jasper & Darren 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Adam Biltcliffe... Vote for this game

	Superluminal Vagrant Twin, by C.E.J. Pacian 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Sobol... Vote for this game

	Miss Gosling's Last Case, by Daniel M. Stelzer 1 vote "not-too-difficult whodunit with fun dynamic" [+]"not-too-difficult whodunit with fun dynamic" ( - Full review) --OtisTDog... Vote for this game

	Use Your Psychic Powers at Applebee's, by Geoffrey Golden 1 vote "Short, fun, high replay value" [+]"Short, fun, high replay value" () --Tabitha... Vote for this game

	The King of Shreds and Patches, by Jimmy Maher 1 vote "excellent tutorial to act as training wheels, plus well-paced long form story" [+]"excellent tutorial to act as training wheels, plus well-paced long form story" ( - Full review) --OtisTDog... Vote for this game

	Deadline Enchanter, by Alan DeNiro 1 vote "Gives you a walkthru in game and is beautiful" [+]"Gives you a walkthru in game and is beautiful" ( - Full review) --MathBrush... Vote for this game

	Counterfeit Monkey, by Emily Short 1 vote "Holds your hand throughout" [+]"Holds your hand throughout: It defaults to a really detailed tutorial mode. It's not for kids—you need a strong vocabulary, but no prior IF experience needed. A beginner will require hints, but I think that's OK." () --Dan Fabulich... Vote for this game

	Blue Lacuna, by Aaron A. Reed 1 vote "Top-notch tutorial" [+]"Top-notch tutorial: More parser games should adopt Blue Lacuna's innovations, including verbless nouns, and making directions optional (just type the exit name)." --Dan Fabulich... Vote for this game

	Aisle, by Sam Barlow 1 vote "Good introduction to parser games" [+]"Good introduction to parser games" --Tabitha... Vote for this game

	Photopia, by Adam Cadre 1 vote "Minimal puzzles, directed play" [+]"Minimal puzzles, directed play: Beginners tend to struggle with puzzles, and this game only has one or two, but you feel like a genius when you solve them." --Dan Fabulich... Vote for this game

	Six, by Wade Clarke 1 vote "everyone knows how to play hide-and-seek" [+]"everyone knows how to play hide-and-seek" --OtisTDog... Vote for this game

	Night House, by Bitter Karella 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Max Fog... Vote for this game

	A Matter of Heist Urgency, by FLACRabbit 1 vote "designed for ultra-beginners using parser for first time" [+]"designed for ultra-beginners using parser for first time" ( - Full review) --OtisTDog... Vote for this game

	The Lookout, by Paul Michael Winters 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... Vote for this game

	Wishbringer, by Brian Moriarty 1 vote "Designed for beginners" [+]"Designed for beginners: Infocom designed this game to be played by beginners, and it shows. It's decently fun, includes a magic system to let you skip puzzles you're stuck on." --Dan Fabulich... 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 28, 2024