Innovative Interactive Fiction
by Victor Gijsbers - 7 games
"Much Interactive Fiction, and some of the best, quite obviously descends from Zork and other early Infocom text adventures. But some of it departs from that terrain, and attempts to take the medium to new and unexplored areas. I here..."
Delron Recommended ADRIFT Games
by Richard Otter - 9 games
"This is a list of my favourite ADRIFT games, which I consider are well worth a look."
IF For Libraries
by pwaak - 11 games
"I have examined the licensing and reviews for these games. They all conform to the selection policy of a typical public library in Texas. Your mileage may vary. Academic libraries may consider this list conservative while school..."
Games with a strong PC
by Tiny Clanger - 5 games
"In some games you mustn't just act, but act in character. In most games, Captain Kirk won't be allowed to shoot Mr Spock, and obviously nonsensical acts are disallowed. But in others, the whole world and its descriptions are filtered..."
Favorite ALAN games
by Anya Johanna DeNiro - 6 games
"These are some of my favorite games written in the ALAN IF-development language. With a lower learning curve and a more natural-language programming environment, ALAN v2 definitely filled an important role in IF before the advent of..."
My Top 10 List (Not In Order)
by Sami Preuninger - 10 games
Distinctive Puzzle Style
by Sam Kabo Ashwell - 10 games
"One of the most powerful techniques for rendering a game memorable is to build it around a unusual, interesting and consistent way of handling significant world interaction (or puzzles, if you prefer). It's also a difficult technique to..."
Highly polished gameplay
by Emily Short - 10 games
"Games that are exceptionally well-tested and smooth to play. They may not always be the most original works, but the implementation is strong, offering minimal frustration with guess-the-verb and other common flaws."
Enduring Games
by AmberShards - 6 games
"These are games with memorable stories, whose characters live long after the window has closed, and in which the puzzles are an integral part of the game. "
IF that's a pleasure to READ
by Maureen - 10 games
"I have a soft spot for "literary" IF. Good writing can draw me into a story that doesn't really have much game to it, and amateur writing can wreck an otherwise good game. That's not to say I like puzzle-less IF or text dumps. I enjoy..."
Commercial Shouldabeens
by GameDesigner - 23 games
"Games that most likely should have been commercial rather than free."
Fun Games
by AmberShards - 6 games
"These are games which are entertaining but not enduring. Play them to enjoy a spot of diversion. "
Games that are super awesome
by Personman - 2 games
"These are the IF games that I happen to think are incredibly amazing, fantastically wonderful, supremely terrific, and really great."
My top 10 games
by Quintin Stone - 10 games
Mind-benders
by Juhana - 5 games
"Games that make you think or have a surprising twist."
Best of SpeedIF
by David Welbourn - 12 games
"SpeedIF games are often overlooked or denigrated, and usually with good reason: with only two hours to code a game, the results can be rather shoddy. Buggy. Plagued with read-author's-mind problems. But not always. Here are a few SpeedIF..."
Easy, fun, short.
by Michael R. Bacon - 10 games
"Easy to get into and complete while remaining very entertaining."
IF Romances
by Emily Short - 13 games
"IF in the romance genre is rare; here are a few I thought worked well."