1. Lost Pig by Admiral Jota (2007) Average member rating: (493 ratings)
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An orc searches for a lost pig. Very cute, very funny. A good intro game.
2. 9:05 by Adam Cadre (2000) Average member rating: (541 ratings)
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This is a game so short that it's kind of pointless to describe, but worth a playthrough (or two). Very easy.
3. Glowgrass, by Nate Cull (1997) Average member rating: (97 ratings) insufficient data says:
Short and sweet sci-fi game where you've crash-landed on an alien planet.
4. Augmented Fourth by Brian Uri! (2000) Average member rating: (66 ratings)
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A fun and funny fantasy puzzler.
5. Shade by Andrew Plotkin (2000) Average member rating: (416 ratings)
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Shade is sort of less of a game and more of an experience. There aren't any puzzles; it's more atmospheric. I can't decide whether it's deep or pretentious, but it creeps me out whenever I play it so that's something. And it's another game that's easy so it's a good starter.
6. A Day for Soft Food by Tod Levi (1999) Average member rating: (28 ratings)
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I like this one because you play as a kitty!
7. Suveh Nux by David Fisher (2007) Average member rating: (228 ratings)
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You are a magician trapped in your master's basement. Fun magic system.
8. Slouching Towards Bedlam by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (2003) Average member rating: (214 ratings)
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Another one of my favorites. I would say there's also kind of a Lovecraftian feel to it- not in the sense of tentacled monsters, of which there are none, but in the sense of a crawling, incomprehensible madness.
9. The Edifice by Lucian P. Smith (1997) Average member rating: (82 ratings)
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You are a simple ancient humanoid who finds a strange, tall, black... hmm, what would you call it? Mono something? Edifice. Right. Some puzzles, not too hard.
10. Aisle by Sam Barlow (1999) Average member rating: (325 ratings)
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This is, again, less a game, more a... something, IDK. It's just one move, and the point is basically to try things and see what happens.
11. The Dreamhold by Andrew Plotkin (2004) Average member rating: (176 ratings)
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This is actually meant to be a game for beginners, but I still found it fairly challenging. Has an adjustable difficulty. Very puzzly.
12. Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin (1999) Average member rating: (121 ratings) insufficient data says:
A cave crawl based on the game Hunt the Wumpus (which I never actually played). This again is more atmospheric than puzzly, although there is some puzzling to be done.
13. Babel by Ian Finley (1997) Average member rating: (152 ratings)
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A classic "you wake up in a strange place with amnesia" game. (also, you might notice where I got some inspiration for our most recent Dread game)
A homage to Zork. You've got your cave crawl, your magic... there's probably a maze in there, I don't remember. I remember it being good, though!
15. Anchorhead by Michael Gentry (1998) Average member rating: (399 ratings)
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A Lovecraftian horror tale. (You could probably run this as a Call of Cthulu plot, actually.) This game is very long, pretty difficult, and you will probably die a lot. That said, it's one of my favorites.
16. A Matter of Importance, by Valentine Kopteltsev (2007) Average member rating: (8 ratings) insufficient data says:
This is probably one of those games that makes a lot more sense after you've played a lot of other IF, because it plays on a lot of those tropes. But it has one of my favorite ever puzzles.
17. Rematch, by Andrew D. Pontious (2000) Average member rating: (92 ratings) insufficient data says:
This is a one-move game that actually is a game- you have to figure out the one move that will win by playing over and over again, seeing how it affects the scenario.
18. The Mulldoon Legacy, by Jon Ingold (1999) Average member rating: (42 ratings) insufficient data says:
This is 100% pure puzzles with a framing device. It's also long and difficult (I actually haven't beaten it yet). But sometimes banging your head against puzzles is the sort of distraction you want, and there are enough that if you get stuck on one you can go work on something else.
19. The Gostak by Carl Muckenhoupt (2001) Average member rating: (92 ratings)
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So this is a weird one- set in an alien world where you don't just have to figure out the puzzles- you have to figure out what the words themselves mean. It's difficult- you can't really die/lose, but you can get stuck because you don't know what the heck a glaud is and whether you should distunk them. Definitely not one to start with.
