Text Adventure Tuesdays

Recommendations by hecuba

Doug and Julia dork it out.

1. Anchorhead
by Michael Gentry
(1998)
Average member rating: (399 ratings)

hecuba says:

Stone cold classic Lovecraftian puzzly parser that I have never actually won. Extremely spoopy

2. Slouching Towards Bedlam
by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
(2003)
Average member rating: (214 ratings)

hecuba says:

Bit more recent, but superb setting/puzzles

3. Varicella
by Adam Cadre
(1999)
Average member rating: (128 ratings)

hecuba says:

Machiavellian social manipulation. Expects multiple playthroughs for "optimal" end

4. Savoir-Faire
by Emily Short
(2002)
Average member rating: (131 ratings)

hecuba says:

Another all-time banger from ES. Super interesting worldbuilding + puzzles. Built around a custom magic system instead of "find/get/use the object"

5. Spider and Web
by Andrew Plotkin
(1998)
Average member rating: (314 ratings)

hecuba says:

Never played but supposed to be excellent; Plotkin is a major figure in IF history

6. Shade
by Andrew Plotkin
(2000)
Average member rating: (416 ratings)

hecuba says:

Another influential Plotkin joint

7. 9:05
by Adam Cadre
(2000)
Average member rating: (541 ratings)

hecuba says:

Short, but oh so worth it.

8. Ad Verbum
by Nick Montfort
(2000)
Average member rating: (134 ratings)

hecuba says:

Plotless wordplay game. I haven't tried this but I feel like it would be fun to play out loud.

9. Lost New York, by Neil deMause (1996)
Average member rating: (19 ratings)
hecuba says:

Never played this, looks fun but reviews say puzzles are pretty tough

10. First Things First
by J. Robinson Wheeler
(2001)
Average member rating: (23 ratings)

hecuba says:

More time travel, looks slightly fairer than Lost New York

11. Photopia
by Adam Cadre
(1998)
Average member rating: (563 ratings)

hecuba says:

Arguably the first “IF as art" piece. Hugely influential/canonical text, but more straightforward narrative than puzzler

12. Galatea
by Emily Short
(2000)
Average member rating: (343 ratings)

hecuba says:

Pioneering leap in NPC interaction and dialoguecraft by intellectual heroine/forever bae Emily Short

13. Aisle
by Sam Barlow
(1999)
Average member rating: (325 ratings)

hecuba says:

Experimental single-turn jawn with no win state. Major catalyst for "IF as art"