Denk

Top 25 Reviewer
Member since February 19, 2016
Last visited October 9, 2025
Profile ID (TUID): hhr6snabjoyxgej8

I have written Grandpa's Ranch, The Dragon Diamond, The Way Home, Stone of Wisdom and several other small parser games.

A note on my ratings: On IFDB I rate games by how much I enjoy them, not for how long I am enjoying them. Thus short games can get 5 stars if I am highly entertained as long as it lasts. This is in contrast to how I rate games in competitions, where the longer games get higher ratings if I am equally entertained.

Interactive Fiction by Denk

Cragne Manor, by Ryan Veeder, Jenni Polodna et al.
Show other authorsAdam Whybray, Adri, Andrew Plotkin, Andy Holloway, Austin Auclair, Baldur Brückner, Ben Collins-Sussman, Bill Maya, Brian Rushton, Buster Hudson, Caleb Wilson, Carl Muckenhoupt, Chandler Groover, Chris Jones, Christopher Conley, Damon L. Wakes, Daniel Ravipinto, Daniel Stelzer, David Jose, David Petrocco, David Sturgis, Drew Mochak, Edward B, Emily Short, Erica Newman, Feneric, Finn Rosenløv, Gary Butterfield, Gavin Inglis, Greg Frost, Hanon Ondricek, Harkness Munt, Harrison Gerard, Ian Holmes, Ivan Roth, Jack Welch, Jacqueline Ashwell, James Eagle, Jason Dyer, Jason Lautzenheiser, Jason Love, Jeremy Freese, Joey Jones, Joshua Porch, Justin de Vesine, Justin Melvin, Katherine Morayati, Kenneth Pedersen, Lane Puetz, Llew Mason, Lucian Smith, Marco Innocenti, Marius Müller, Mark Britton, Mark Sample, Marshal Tenner Winter, Matt Schneider, Matt Weiner, Matthew Korson, Michael Fessler, Michael Gentry, Michael Hilborn, Michael Lin, Mike Spivey, Molly Ying, Monique Padelis, Naomi Hinchen, Nate Edwards, Petter Sjölund, Q Pheevr, Rachel Spitler, Reed Lockwood, Reina Adair, Riff Conner, Roberto Colnaghi, Rowan Lipkovits, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Scott Hammack, Sean M. Shore, Shin, Wade Clarke, Zach Hodgens, Zack Johnson
(2018)
(28 ratings)
A tribute to Anchorhead.

Museum Heist, by Kenneth Pedersen (2020)
(6 ratings)
Music by Eric Matyas www.soundimage.org Play as the elegant art thief Gentleman Finn as he robs the finest art museum in the world. An interactive fiction optimization game made for AdventureJam...

Grandpa's Ranch, by Kenneth Pedersen (2021)
(6 ratings)
Grandpa's Ranch is a two-word parser game for beginners and kids. By default, a tutorial mode is enabled but can be disabled by typing TUTORIAL OFF. If you are an experienced parser player, I...

The Dragon Diamond [modern versions], by Kenneth Pedersen (2016)
(4 ratings)
PLOT Your name is Bash, a famous warrior, ordered by the evil Queen Drana to obtain the fabled Dragon Diamond from the Forest of Fear. The queens chauffeur Leon drives you to the outskirts of the...

Stone of Wisdom, by Kenneth Pedersen (2018)
(4 ratings)
Once again queen Drana has a task for you. Can you obtain the Stone of Wisdom and will you ever be free? Play as the warrior Bash on your quest to obtain the Stone of Wisdom. You will start out...

See all 17 games by Denk

Recommended Lists by Denk

2025 Alternative Top 25 - 25 items   May 16, 2025
(Created 16-May-2025) This is a snapshot of the 25 games on IFDB with the highest average star rating, though excluding games with less...

2024 Alternative Top 25 (formerly 100) - 25 items   February 3, 2024
(Created 03-Feb-2024) This is a snapshot of the 25 games on IFDB with the highest average star rating, though excluding games with less...

2023 Alternative Top 100 - 100 items   September 18, 2023
(18sep2023) This is an alternative to other rating based lists with pros and cons in that it allows for games with fewer ratings (5...

Older Frankendrift compatible games - 16 items   July 8, 2023
Frankendrift was first published in 2021, which made Adrift 5 games playable on Mac and Linux and provides a lighter Runner for Windows...

Best criminal investigations - 12 items   May 20, 2023
Usually whodunits but any criminal investigation fits on this list. These are my favorites.

See all 14 lists by Denk

Polls by Denk

Recovered games - 16 votes for 13 games; created August 13, 2023
Any game which has been practically unavailable for a long time for most players but is now again available to play, though there might...

Games with "recipe puzzles" - 14 votes for 11 games; created March 19, 2023
Any game where "recipe puzzles" are a big part of the game, whether it is alchemy, potion brewing, cooking etc. I came to think of this...

Best of The Quill, PAW and GAC - 44 votes for 35 games; created 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...

Best of Quest - 18 votes for 13 games; created 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...

Games you would like to see finished - 20 votes for 15 games; created July 27, 2018
Unfinished games, e.g. IntroComp games, which you would like to see finished. Hopefully, this will encourage authors to finish their...

See all 6 polls by Denk

Reviews by Denk

Untitled Magic Escape Room, by Luna Anzaldo   October 4, 2025
"In this Quest game you are trapped in a room, remembering a few spell names. You have to escape somehow. This game has a lot of good..." - See the full review

Thrall, by Kanderwund   October 4, 2025
"Thanks to Tabitha's poll on games with few ratings, I gave this short game a try. I haven't played many games about vampires but such..." - See the full review

Not so Happy Easter 2025, by Petr Kain   September 28, 2025 (edited: October 1, 2025)
"This game requires an ZX Spectrum emulator like Fuse, which I used. EDIT: Be aware that this game uses a few stereotypes which could feel..." - See the full review

A Visit to the Human Resources Administration, by Jesse   September 27, 2025
"Being an alien disguised as a human isn't always easy. In this game you must study humans. You get a few choices where I recommend to do..." - See the full review

The Enigma of Solaris, by jkj yuio   December 20, 2023
"Ok, I am obviously an outlier here, though five people gave this game 8 or 9 during IFComp. However, I did not play this game during..." - See the full review

See all 112 reviews by Denk
See all ratings and reviews by Denk

Denk's Play Lists

Played Games

For Gregg, by Leon Barillaro
Scarlet Portrait Parlor, by MathBrush (as Prismatik)
Cicatrix, by Amanda Walker
Untitled Magic Escape Room, by Luna Anzaldo
Thrall, by Kanderwund

See all 905 entries in the Played List

Wish List

Crown of Ashes and Flames, by Cœur
Allein mit Kai, by Ingo Scharmann and Joana Markus
Little Boxes, by lavieenmeow
hanging & wiving goes by destiny, by KA Tan
Nihilist Syndrome, by crotovane

See all 1544 entries in the Wish List