Must-play games - an IFDB Poll

by Jeff Sonas
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I am looking for the games that, in your opinion, you simply must have played in order to really call yourself an IF aficionado. Or if someone wanted to play N number of IF games in order to get as good an overview of the IF classics (contemporary or ancient) as possible, then you would recommend these N games. Thus you might sacrifice some quality because you think a game played a key role historically or exemplifies an important topic.

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Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry
32 votes
"Ridiculously intriguing" [+]... "Infocomesque" [+]... "Balanced, atmospheric, well implemented, big and fair" [+]... "Massive, sprawling map; creepy Lovecraftian horror is dead on point throughout; one great NPC" [+]... "The best game I.ve ever played" [+]... "Even if you don't..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "Epic, well-done,..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Zork I, by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling
20 votes
"You are likely to be eaten by a grue" [+]... "Classic Original" [+]... "It's Zork!" [+]... "In the beginning, there was ZORK" [+]... "Never really got old" [+]... "Throwing that leaflet" [+]... "It's a classic, maaan!" [+]... "A timeless classic" [+]... "Hard to argue with the longevity" [+]... "The Original" [+]... "When an IF game..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Photopia, by Adam Cadre
20 votes
"Very well-made" [+]... "The first puzzle-less game" [+]... "So hugely..." [+]... "Easiest to get..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "Historically..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Galatea, by Emily Short
17 votes
"Best NPC and conversation." [+]... "Renewed my interest in the form" [+]... "A must-play for..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "To see what IF..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "Nuanced, detailed..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin
16 votes
"A classic" [+]... "Tells a great story you couldn't tell in another medium." [+]... "This whole game is pretty much a cold open " [+]... "Very Innovative" [+]... "The game that..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... "Challenging, but..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "it's really good" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Blue Lacuna, by Aaron A. Reed
14 votes
"More an experience than a game. Immerse yourself." [+]... "Impressive on so many levels. Especially impressive is how nuanced the game is. Desicions that I didn't at first think of as important affected my relationships, etc." [+]... "Haunting and beautiful. " [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "A landmark..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Counterfeit Monkey, by Emily Short
11 votes
"Excellent use of medium" [+]... "the best that IF has to offer" [+]... "inventive wordplay puzzles seamlessly integrated into the narrative" [+]... "My favourite..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Adventure, by William Crowther and Donald Woods
11 votes
"The original." [+]... "Xyzzy. Twisty little passages" [+]... "The starting point of big bang adventure theory." [+]... "Should be okay to play ports ;)" [+]... "The first IF..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "If you're into..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Trinity, by Brian Moriarty
11 votes
"A brilliant from The Infocom era" [+]... "Infocom's finest hour" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Curses, by Graham Nelson
9 votes
"One of the early 'modern' works of IF" [+]... "Atmospheric and imaginative" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Shade, by Andrew Plotkin
8 votes
"Hooked me onto IF for good." [+]... "Quite possibly..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Planetfall, by Steve Meretzky
8 votes
"Join the Stellar patrol and see...a mop and bucket?" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... "This one one of..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Enchanter, by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling
7 votes
"Best work of the classic Blank/Lebling collaboration" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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A Mind Forever Voyaging, by Steve Meretzky
6 votes
"Emotionally-engaging, richly detailed classic." [+]... "A masterpiece" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 Presents "Detective", by C. E. Forman, Matt Barringer, Graeme Cree, and Stuart Moore
5 votes
"Palatable intro to some of the ways IF can be terrible" [+]... "This is absolutely hilarious" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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9:05, by Adam Cadre
5 votes
"Short game with profound impact" [+]... "Short and sweet classic" [+]... (No comment) [+]... "Great example of..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Babel, by Ian Finley
5 votes
"Thrilling & captivating " [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Worlds Apart, by Suzanne Britton
4 votes
"Amazing writing, amazing atmosphere." [+]... "Wonderful, dreamlike, touching." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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All Roads, by Jon Ingold
4 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Superluminal Vagrant Twin, by C.E.J. Pacian
4 votes
"Excellent parser based space trading simulator." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Adventureland, by Scott Adams
4 votes
"Set the standards..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Space Under the Window, by Andrew Plotkin
4 votes
"Short and extremely unique" [+]... (No comment) [+]... "A unique way of..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Whom The Telling Changed, by Aaron A. Reed
4 votes
"A modern masterpiece" [+]... "The first IF game I ever played, great mechanics, I'm biased. " [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Metamorphoses, by Emily Short
4 votes
"Set new standards for mechanical puzzles" [+]... "Fantastic depth of implementation." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Savoir-Faire, by Emily Short
4 votes
"truly brilliant, old school-esque" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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De Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
4 votes
"Uses several tricks best enabled by IF in service of big ambitions" [+]... "It’s not for everyone (it’s very dark), but I would still consider it a ‘must-play’ game" [+]... "The best piece of..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Gun Mute, by C.E.J. Pacian
4 votes
"Shows IF's limits aren't always obstacles to surmount" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Main Hall & Beginners Cave, by Donald Brown
3 votes
"First Eamon adventure" [+]... "The beginnings of a unique series!" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Hobbit, by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler
3 votes
"Limited parser but with flavour!" [+]... "Revolutionized IF..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Deadline, by Marc Blank
3 votes
"The first really good murder mystery" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Andromeda Apocalypse — Extended Edition, by Marco Innocenti
3 votes
"This one has it all" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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1893: A World's Fair Mystery, by Peter Nepstad
2 votes
"Colossal and well written." [+]...

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Violet, by Jeremy Freese
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Lurking Horror, by Dave Lebling
2 votes
"A well-done and underappreciated masterpiece" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Mulldoon Legacy, by Jon Ingold
2 votes
"Clever, Atmospheric Massive Puzzlefest By A Master " [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin
2 votes
"Will change the way you think of cave crawlers" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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PataNoir, by Simon Christiansen
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... "A novel puzzle..." [+]...

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For a Change, by Dan Schmidt
2 votes
"Surreal, Minimalist, Perfect" [+]... "Classic. Inventive language" [+]...

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A Change in the Weather, by Andrew Plotkin
1 vote
"The first (co-)winner of IFComp - high quality" [+]...

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Slouching Towards Bedlam, by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Owl Consults, by Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney Hamilton
1 vote
"Multi-PC superhero story done right. " [+]...

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A Fire Darkly: Chapter 1, by Louis Rakovich
1 vote
"Dark, beautifully-written and fun" [+]...

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Sorcery! 2, by Steve Jackson and inkle
1 vote
"Amazingly good gamebook adaptation" [+]...

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Theatre, by Brendon Wyber
1 vote
"Creepy Lovecraftian horror" [+]...

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The Axe of Kolt [8-bit versions], by Larry Horsfield
1 vote
"1991 adventure convention award: Best text only 8-bit adventure" [+]...

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Christminster, by Gareth Rees
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Kaged, by Ian Finley
1 vote
"great plot twists" [+]...

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Open Sorcery, by Abigail Corfman
1 vote
"Unique viewpoint and solid mechanics" [+]...

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Seabase Delta, by Peter Torrance
1 vote
"Perhaps the most famous Quill game with graphics. A budget game for several machines in 1986." [+]...

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Worldsmith, by Ade McT
1 vote
"A modern classic" [+]...

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Mindwheel, by Robert Pinsky, William Mataga, Steve Hales
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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