by Canalboy - 18 votes for 18 games, last vote on January 9, 2024; created on August 1, 2022
"I was recently re-essaying Castle Ralf and if you "Cogitate" in a certain location there is a seemingly authentic sequence which appears to be formatting your C: drive. As this was a DOS game from 1987 it must have frightened the..."
by Canalboy - 8 votes for 7 games, last vote on November 6, 2025; created on June 23, 2022
"I mean games that have no posted solutions. I realise that a lot of these could be buggy and therefore unfinishable but some will be just too difficult. I guess only the authors would know for sure."
by Fredrik Ramsberg - 74 votes for 28 games, last vote on August 12, 2023; created on June 16, 2022
"I'd like to compile a list of some of the most enjoyable games available in Z-code format (blorbed or not). Please add games that you thoroughly liked, and vote for games already on the list. Everything from short pieces to epic works..."
by deathbytroggles - 12 votes for 6 games, last vote on January 9, 2024; created on May 29, 2022
"I am looking for massive puzzle games (think Curses, Mulldoon Legacy) where the game can never be put in an unwinnable situation that isn't obvious (either before or after). "
by MathBrush - 12 votes for 11 games, last vote on December 2, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best use of Multimedia in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 9 votes for 8 games, last vote on December 2, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best use of Innovation in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 13 votes for 9 games, last vote on November 28, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Implementation in the XYZZY awards. Recall that best implementation is intended for excellence in parser use such as default responses and..."
by MathBrush - 18 votes for 13 games, last vote on December 2, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual PC in the XYZZY awards. Please include a comment mentioning the PC. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an..."
by MathBrush - 8 votes for 6 games, last vote on October 7, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual NPC in the XYZZY awards. Please include a comment mentioning the NPC. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an..."
by MathBrush - 7 votes for 5 games, last vote on May 26, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual Puzzle in the XYZZY awards. Please include a comment mentioning the puzzle. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not..."
by MathBrush - 10 votes for 9 games, last vote on November 28, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best NPCs in the XYZZY awards. This is for the overall NPCs of the game; there is another poll for best individual NPCs. This is not a..."
by MathBrush - 17 votes for 14 games, last vote on December 2, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Puzzles in the XYZZY awards. This is for the overall puzzles of the game; there is another poll for best individual puzzle. This is not a..."
by MathBrush - 17 votes for 10 games, last vote on December 1, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Setting in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 13 votes for 11 games, last vote on November 28, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Story in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by MathBrush - 13 votes for 12 games, last vote on November 28, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 15 votes for 12 games, last vote on November 28, 2022; created on May 20, 2022
"This is for suggesting games released in 2021 which you think might be worth considering for Best Game in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by Andrew Schultz - 12 votes for 10 games, last vote on January 1, 2023; created on May 5, 2022
"I enjoy seeing people trying to mix poetry and puzzles. Even if it doesn't work, it still is fun to see people try, and quite bluntly, it's brave to attempt at all. I'd like to remove works like Phenomena or 100000 years from..."
by Yukabacera - No votes; created on April 8, 2022
"I'm looking for a specific game which I believe I played around or before 2010. It might have been a TADS game. It had graphics. It begins with the protagonist's car breaking down on a road in a wintery, snowy landscape. The protagonist..."
by dollweiss - 5 votes for 5 games, last vote on May 17, 2022; created on April 7, 2022
"i'm looking for horror games with no paranormal/supernatural/non-human antagonists or enemies. no lovecraftian stuff. basically: stalkers, serial killers, that kinda thing. "
by Rovarsson - 22 votes for 18 games, last vote on June 24, 2023; created on March 23, 2022
"I found the BBC Micro archive a little while ago and I'm overwhelmed. (http://bbcmicro.co.uk/index.php?search=Text+Adventure&on_S=on) Any recommendations? I've put two games in myself from both sides of the spectrum: a 1984 old-school..."
by penguincascadia - 9 votes for 8 games, last vote on April 2, 2024; created on March 18, 2022
"Hello everyone, I'm looking for IF games that are mergers of other IF games or parts of other IF games together. Bonus points if the various games can interact with each other, like objects on one game section being usable in another..."
by CJ - 5 votes for 4 games, last vote on April 25, 2022; created on March 17, 2022
"I want some of the best selections (just a few, 10-20 tops) of the greatest and most imaginative IF out there. I recently downloaded an IF app, and I want a bit more variety so I can learn a bit more. Stuff like 9:05 is great, I just..."
by strivenword - 11 votes for 6 games, last vote on January 1, 2023; created on March 6, 2022
"Time goes on, vibes change, people change, historical thresholds are crossed. I always loved the unique kind of abstract/surreal genre in IF. I don't want to give a grocery list of the games that I liked it in, because I don't want it to..."
by Andrew Schultz - 10 votes for 10 games, last vote on September 30, 2025; created on December 14, 2021
"While we want to put something like Trump behind us, it's not easy. Humor can help. So can comparing him to a historical villain. I'm interested in other efforts that have a clearly Trump-ish character in them, whether skewering his..."
by OverThinking - 11 votes for 8 games, last vote on January 1, 2023; created on November 30, 2021
"I'm looking for games with complex NPCs who are able to have in-depth conversations, especially if conversation options change based on other events in the game. The Ur-example is, of course, Galatea, but I'd also like to see games where..."
by Malasana - 14 votes for 11 games, last vote on September 15, 2024; created on November 26, 2021
""The archetypal IF setting will always be Your Crazy Friend/Relative's Crazy House. It's the perfect way to work through all the classic IF tropes - plenty of puzzles to solve for no other reason than to see what's beyond, sealed-off..."
by Cryptic Puffin - 42 votes for 22 games, last vote on June 7, 2025; created on November 14, 2021
"I'm looking for games with effective use of location, language, etc. to really immerse you in the locale and the story, no matter the genre-- any game which you felt really taken with the atmosphere would be great. Thank you!"
by Sobol - 7 votes for 7 games, last vote on September 22, 2021; created on September 17, 2021
"This is for suggesting games released in 2020 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual PUzzle in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by Marco Innocenti - 20 votes for 12 games, last vote on March 10, 2022; created on September 17, 2021
"I'm looking for any parser game (modern or vintage) that is set in an English, rural, Victorian overall ambient, both indoor and outdoor. As an example, something in the mood of The Hound of the Baskervilles, with moors, villages,..."
by Karl Ove Hufthammer - 13 votes for 7 games, last vote on May 1, 2023; created on August 17, 2021
"As a contrast to games with impossible-to-film moments, which games do you think would work well if they were adapted to the big screen, either as a feature film or a short film (live action or animation)? A game might work well because..."
by Rovarsson - 13 votes for 12 games, last vote on March 14, 2023; created on June 23, 2021
"I had a lot of fun with the underground trolley puzzle in Axe of Kolt by Larry Horsfield. Any other games that feature cool mechanical devices, Rube Goldberg machines or solutions that rely on using the laws of physics (gravity of..."
by Lyon - 13 votes for 12 games, last vote on January 9, 2024; created on June 19, 2021
"I'm looking for game recommendations for a 13-year-old. They have an adult reading level, so vocabulary isn't a challenge, but don't take that as a restriction: I think they would be content reading a less mature work as well. Ideally, a..."
by Rovarsson - 8 votes for 4 games, last vote on December 16, 2021; created on May 7, 2021
"I've recently started playing Cliff Diver 1 and I quit because I got impossibly stuck. I don't want to give u^p on a potential treasure trove though. Recommendations for AGT games?"
by J. J. Guest - 10 votes for 9 games, last vote on February 3, 2024; created on April 18, 2021
"After playing a couple of the Fabled Lands gamebooks, I noticed they use a Spoke and Hub structure. I'm interested in choice-based IF games which use a similar structure. Sam Kabo Ashwell's blog post "Standard Patterns in Choice-Based..."
by Paxton - 26 votes for 14 games, last vote on July 18, 2022; created on March 29, 2021
"Ideally these are games whose puzzles/challenges involve the map in some way (hidden connections, layout analysis, &c.) and aren't just games which could be mapped. I'm especially interested in games which use the action of drawing the..."
by Greg Frost - 31 votes for 20 games, last vote on October 10, 2024; created on March 22, 2021
"I am looking for games which use the literary technique of ekphrasis: "a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined" (Wikipedia)."
by ChrisM - 45 votes for 31 games, last vote on January 21, 2024; created on February 24, 2021
"I'm interested in games that are straightforward adaptations of conventional books (probably novels, but I'd be interested to know if there are any non-fiction book adaptations). The ones that I know of are The Famous Five and The..."
by jlvp1998 - 28 votes for 14 games, last vote on December 30, 2023; created on February 13, 2021
"I'm looking for games with cooking. ever since I have played gourmet and, gourmet version1, wich is the same, I have also played you got a stew going. does anyone have any recommendations other than these on wich I have just mentioned?"
by Rovarsson - 6 votes for 4 games, last vote on February 3, 2022; created on February 12, 2021
"Over on the IF-Forum, there was a post recommending a number of Eamon games that are not hardcore RPG. So, can you suggest Eamon or other RPG-style games that lean towards IF? (Big on puzzles, low on kicking monster's bums and stats.)"
by MarkyJez - 32 votes for 21 games, last vote on March 16, 2025; created on January 11, 2021
"I'm interested in trying out games that are more relaxed than a lot of IFs are. Though I do like the adventure and excitement of those particular IFs, I also want to try out other stuff that is more quiet and understated, the kind of..."
by Lance Campbell - 30 votes for 14 games, last vote on January 1, 2023; created on December 16, 2020
"Looking for any games that feature a core puzzle mechanism that the player masters and expands upon throughout the game. The puzzle mechanism should start out simple, and evolve and expand in an organic way, supporting the game and story..."
by autumnc - 17 votes for 8 games, last vote on January 4, 2023; created on December 10, 2020
"Visual novels are a form of interactive fiction whose community is almost entirely distinct from the interactive fiction community based around IFDB/IFComp. There are plenty of visual novels that can easily be recast as CYOA text-based..."
by Denk - 44 votes for 35 games, last vote on May 26, 2023; created on November 15, 2020
"More than 1000 games were made with the British tools "The Quill", "PAW" and "GAC" through the 80s and early 90s. Some bad, others worth playing today. I would like to know which are the best. Those with the most votes are probably among..."
by Rovarsson - 114 votes for 46 games, last vote on March 27, 2025; created on November 9, 2020
"When browsing for good recent games, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of Twine and Choice games. Add to that a great number of games with five stars and only one rating, many of which are also, yes, Twine and Choice games, it gets difficult..."
by C4rd1n4l - 17 votes for 10 games, last vote on July 10, 2022; created on October 19, 2020
"I'm looking for games that really push you to closely examine every nook and cranny of a setting. Maybe an escape-room game of some kind where the player has to "solve" all the puzzles in a room before progressing."
by Rovarsson - 14 votes for 10 games, last vote on April 13, 2022; created on September 22, 2020
"I loved "Slouching towards Bedlam". Does anyone know of any other games that have that "the-future-as-it-might-have-been-imagined-long-ago"-feel? Anything steampunk qualifies, I'm also thinking of Jules Verne's novels and even the world..."
by morganthegirl - 28 votes for 21 games, last vote on January 9, 2024; created on September 2, 2020
"I'm somewhat new to IF and was wondering if Easter Eggs are ever hidden in these games as they are in others? If so, which games have them? If there a lot of them, then which ones are the "best"?"
by MathBrush - 10 votes for 10 games, last vote on June 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Use of Multimedia in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 9 votes for 9 games, last vote on August 1, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Innovation in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 7 votes for 6 games, last vote on July 2, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Implementation in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 9 votes for 8 games, last vote on July 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual PC in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 15 votes for 13 games, last vote on July 2, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual NPC in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 9 votes for 8 games, last vote on June 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual PUzzle in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 14 votes for 14 games, last vote on June 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best NPCs in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by MathBrush - 14 votes for 14 games, last vote on July 2, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Setting in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 10 votes for 10 games, last vote on June 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Puzzles in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 14 votes for 14 games, last vote on June 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 13 votes for 13 games, last vote on July 22, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2019 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 12 votes for 11 games, last vote on July 23, 2020; created on June 22, 2020
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Game in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by Mikalye - 15 votes for 14 games, last vote on February 3, 2022; created on May 27, 2020
"There were a bunch of commercial games released in the 1980's and early 90's. In the UK, Magnetic Scrolls release 9 games between 1984-1990 Level 9 released 24 games and a port of Colossal Cave between 1981-1991, Delta 4 released 9ish..."
by MathBrush - 34 votes for 23 games, last vote on March 31, 2024; created on April 23, 2020
"I love to review games. Let me know if you've made a game that needs more reviews, or can suggest someone else's! I might not be personally able to review every game due to time, content, or platform, but I'll try!"
by beecadee - 31 votes for 23 games, last vote on February 14, 2024; created on April 6, 2020
"Anyone wanting to write IF has to start somewhere. Looking for games that were authors' first attempts... First attempts in a given development system count!"
by loudcat - 6 votes for 5 games, last vote on January 2, 2024; created on March 31, 2020
"I've been thinking about games with game-breaking bugs (or games that repeatedly crash and are hard to get through) that are otherwise really solid games. Do you have any games like this?"
by Denk - 19 votes for 13 games, last vote on June 15, 2026; created on March 14, 2020
"There are more than 600 Quest games on IFDB. Surely there must be a lot of bad Quest games, but there are certainly good ones too. It would be interesting to know, which ones are worth playing."
by thecanvasrose - 13 votes for 7 games, last vote on September 13, 2022; created on December 8, 2019
"I've run into some cool ones. Let's hear it! 》 Choicescript games are often (but not always) titled "Choice of ____." Games like "Choice of Robots" and "Creatures Such as We" are Choicescript games. "
by Rovarsson - 20 votes for 14 games, last vote on December 31, 2023; created on November 29, 2019
"This can apply to the setting of the games; prairies, deserts, icecaps come to mind. It can also apply to the feel of a game, the impression that the player is free to roam far and wide. Open game-worlds."
by Rovarsson - 15 votes for 12 games, last vote on January 11, 2023; created on November 28, 2019
"I love historical novels, no matter what time period they're set in. They do have to be accurate though. Can you suggest IF-games that are also like that? (In short: no magic.)"
by thecanvasrose - 27 votes for 15 games, last vote on December 16, 2020; created on November 3, 2019
"1. Please leave a description with your vote and tell me what the game is/why you like it/etc. 2. Free to play games preferred. 3. I'm interested to see what's new or less well known."
by thecanvasrose - 43 votes for 35 games, last vote on November 25, 2023; created on October 20, 2019
"I'm making a list based on this poll as I play the elected games and can write snippets about them. See here: https://ifdb.org/viewlist?id=3n6rheokfkcsntf - - - - - - - - - I'm looking for games which are: 》Neither parser nor gamebook..."
by grimperfect - 116 votes for 79 games, last vote on August 10, 2026; created on September 23, 2019
"Specifically, works where the main mechanic is either exploring a in-game digital interface(ala Secret Little Haven) or communicating using a type of chat/text messenger system(think Emily is Away). "
by thecanvasrose - 24 votes for 16 games, last vote on August 27, 2024; created on August 26, 2019
"I've recently reached an intermediate level of French speaking at my university. I can easily read relatively straightforward sentences, that is, but writing which is highly poetic or archaic I will not understand. I think I know French..."
by thecanvasrose - 33 votes for 22 games, last vote on October 27, 2025; created on August 20, 2019
"I'm a sucker for horror, psychological suspense, adventure, the paranormal and supernatural, monsters and mystery. Please suggest scary games to me - even those which lie outside of the genre of horror, like sci-fi, crime or fantasy, if..."
by baf - 14 votes for 11 games, last vote on October 10, 2023; created on July 17, 2019
"Recently, a representative of Ubisoft attracted some attention by saying, about an upcoming game with a grandmother as a protagonist, "Nobody has dared to do anything with a granny before, I think." Obviously he was only really speaking..."
by Spike - 44 votes for 25 games, last vote on March 19, 2023; created on July 7, 2019
"Several of us are interested in using IF for education, both in the classroom as well as more broadly. The purpose of this poll is to collect examples of IF with an educational focus."
by MathBrush - 13 votes for 10 games, last vote on July 28, 2022; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Use of Multimedia in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 8 votes for 7 games, last vote on June 17, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Innovation in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 16 votes for 14 games, last vote on June 17, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Implementation in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to..."
by MathBrush - 10 votes for 7 games, last vote on June 17, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting puzzles in games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual PC in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is..."
by MathBrush - 10 votes for 9 games, last vote on June 17, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting puzzles in games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual NPC in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is..."
by MathBrush - 11 votes for 9 games, last vote on July 15, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting puzzles in games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Individual Puzzle in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is..."
by MathBrush - 11 votes for 11 games, last vote on July 6, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best NPCs in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by MathBrush - 18 votes for 16 games, last vote on July 15, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Setting in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 7 votes for 7 games, last vote on April 19, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Puzzles in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."
by MathBrush - 14 votes for 13 games, last vote on July 15, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Story in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest games..."
by MathBrush - 16 votes for 14 games, last vote on June 17, 2019; created on April 15, 2019
"This is for suggesting games released in 2018 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination.This is not an official list. The point of poll is partly to suggest..."