Doing things backwards - an IFDB Poll
by Mike Ciul
RSS FeedGames that take traditional IF tasks and puzzles, and do them backwards or subvert them in a clever way. Thanks to olethros on raif for the inverse puzzle idea.
| Janitor, by Peter Seebach and Kevin Lynn 4 votes "Clean up for the next adventurer" [+]"Clean up for the next adventurer" --Mike Ciul... "'Behind the scenes' of a zork-like, after the game has ended." [+]"'Behind the scenes' of a zork-like, after the game has ended.: Put the treasure back in the vault. Clean the fingerprints off the magic mirror. Get the score back to zero." ( ) --Stewjar... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Lance Campbell...  Vote for this game | |
| Zero Sum Game, by Cody Sandifer 3 votes "Your mother says you have to undo your adventure" [+]"Your mother says you have to undo your adventure" --Mike Ciul... "It Doesn't Get Much More Subverted Than This" [+]"It Doesn't Get Much More Subverted Than This" ( ) --Ghalev... "You have to undo..." [+]"You have to undo all the actions in your previous adventure to bring your score to zero." ( - Full review) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| To Hell in a Hamper, by J. J. Guest 2 votes "Sort of: the..." [+]"Sort of: the challenge is to get rid of a bunch of stuff instead of collecting it." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Lance Campbell... Vote for this game | |
| Enlightenment, by Taro Ogawa 2 votes "The goal is to get rid of all your light sources." [+]"The goal is to get rid of all your light sources." --Mike Ciul... "Get rid of all..." [+]"Get rid of all your light sources to summon a grue." ( ) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Keepsake, by Savaric 2 votes "A comment would..." [+]"A comment would be a spoiler. Trust me, it's backwardsy." ( ) --Wade Clarke... "The core mechanic..." [+]"The core mechanic of the game." ( - Full review) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Beanstalk the and Jack, by David Welbourn 2 votes "Making something so well-known puzzly - and enjoyably reversed to the smallest details." [+]"Making something so well-known puzzly - and enjoyably reversed to the smallest details.: This would be the paradigm case of doing things backwards." --Biep... "The story of Jack..." [+]"The story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but played backwards. Disclaimer: I wrote this game." --David Welbourn... Vote for this game | |
| Sub Rosa, by Joey Jones, Melvin Rangasamy 1 vote "Very clever mechanisms for returning items to original state - detailed and challenging game" [+]"Very clever mechanisms for returning items to original state - detailed and challenging game" ( ) --Audiart... Vote for this game | |
| Barsoom Adventure #1: The Lost City, by Susan Schnitger 1 vote "Hoarding..." [+]"Hoarding treasure? Forget that!" ( ) --Fredrik... Vote for this game | |
| The Unstoppable Vengeance of Doctor Bonesaw, by Caleb Wilson (as Lewis Blanco) 1 vote "Failing is..." [+]"Failing is (intentionally) harder than succeeding, and gives you a more interesting story" --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Winchester's Nightmare, by Nick Montfort 1 vote "Instead of..." [+]"Instead of finding and collecting things, you're dismantling something and getting rid of the pieces." --David Welbourn... Vote for this game | |
| Inhumane, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote "Dying is the objective" [+]"Dying is the objective: Parody of "Infidel" where you have to get killed by all the traps in order to get the treasure." --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Spellcasting 101 - Sorcerers Get All The Girls, by Steve Meretzky 1 vote "In "The Island..." [+]"In "The Island where Time runs Backwards" part of the game, you must act out a modified story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears backwards." --David Welbourn... Vote for this game | |