Lists and Lists

From time to time, Andrew Plotkin has written works that are more about demonstrating what is possible from a technology standpoint than they are about delivering great stories. Lists and Lists is one of this type, and it certainly makes a deep impression when one finds oneself interacting with a Scheme interpreter instead of a normal command prompt.

The provided plot is the flimsiest excuse for presenting a test of programming skill in a language that few people are likely to be familiar with. The difficulty curve of the challenges is not linear, and it increases sharply toward the end of the series.

I don't normally recommend IF that is purely about the logic puzzles, but this piece is such a unique achievement that I think it's a must-see for anyone interested in IF as a whole. Arguably, at its core it is not so much IF as it is INF (Interactive Non-Fiction). Equally arguably, it is a stand-out example of puzzle design featuring a consistent, discoverable logical framework with very fair hinting and considerable challenge -- though I think any such argument would be disingenuous because none of Plotkin's genuine games are so derivative of the work of others. In any case, it is worth reviewing as a notable experiment, and as a bonus you'll learn something about an historically-significant programming language!

(Note: My scoring rubric implies that this work should earn a five-star score on the basis of its introduction an entirely new technique. However, although it was enjoyable and remarkable, I can't honestly say that it feels like a proper game to me, nor do I think it was truly intended to be thought of as one.)

Fun and challenging! Took me several hours, but I made it all the way through to the end. At which point I was rewarded with a tongue twister of truly epic proportions! I've downloaded Racket and will continue to fool around with LISP/Scheme. Thanks for this game/tutorial!

Programming tutorials tend to be boring, but not this time. First, play a few rounds of classic IF to wake a genie, and then he will decide to play the role of a teacher.

Internally, there isn't much to this piece, which is why the file size is relatively small. But trying your hand at introductory LisP programming and then having an NPC check the results each step of the way makes it surprisingly fun.