Choose Your Own Text Adventure!

But also, ancient treasure!?

GREETINGS, ADVENTURER!

Today’s Quest: Navigate the twisty passages of this year’s IFComp, then judge the competition and make your impact on the world of interactive fiction. It’s like voting in elections, but fun instead of super important.

First time here? Adventure Snack is a game series I email to subscribers. Play quests for free, twice a month, and turn your inbox into an adventure!

ENTER THE CAVE OF A THOUSAND 75 GAMES!

Your quest for this week is to play and judge this year’s IFComp! The competition ends on Wednesday, November 15. There are tons of fun, thoughtful, and inventive games to experience.

• “What’s an IFComp?” Go to 4.

• “Wait, I can judge IFComp? Little ol’ me?” Go to 6.

• “What games should I play?” Go to 7.

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1

You take the lamp from the dirty cave ground. Now you can see a pathway to the north, which is surely where the treasure you’re searching for lies.

• “Go North” Go to 5.

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2

Fix Your Mother’s Printer has gotten many great reviews from players in the IF community, which I’m thrilled about! Here are a few quotes…

“Seamless and attractive implementation. Bonus point for cutting new ground [in IF] and just nailing its conceit in a stunningly accurate, pitch perfect simulation.” –JJ McC

“This was really heart warming… I instantly felt at home as the player character.” –Viv

“Gave me a lot to think about and made me want to text my grandma!” –Brian

Of course, great public reviews don’t always mean high scores from judges. So I hope this year’s judges will appreciate Fix Your Mother’s Printer, and remember if they don’t give the mom game high scores, it opens them up to future guilt trips!

• “What games should I play?” Go to 7.

• “Take Lamp” Go to 1.

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3

You come to the light… actually, many lights! Many glowing orbs, floating in the air like enormous fireflies! Each orb is a magical gateway into a world of independently-produced interactive fiction, the greatest treasure of them all!

• “Which orb portals should I enter?” Go to 7.

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4

IFComp is a nearly 30 year old worldwide competition between text-based game designers. A lot of designers make short games, like Adventure Snack quests.

Last year, I entered Use Your Psychic Powers at Applebee’s, which was the highest ranked short game in IFComp that year. This year, I entered Fix Your Mother’s Printer, which I developed based on the results of a vote by Adventure Snack players.

• “So I can judge IFComp and control the fate of interactive fiction?” Go to 6.

• “How’s Fix Your Mother’s Printer doing?” Go to 2.

• “Take Lamp.” Go to 1.

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5

You take the northern path deeper into the dark, dank cave. Suddenly, you spy a light up ahead, further north! Could it be the legendary treasure?

• “Go North” Go to 3.

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6

Yes! Anyone can be a judge for the competition. As a savvy Adventure Snack player, I think you’d be a terrific judge. All you have to do is play at least five games and rate them from 1 to 10. Here’s more information on judging.

• “What games should I play?” Go to 7.

• “How’s the game you made about tech support for moms doing?” Go to 2.

• “Take Lamp.” Go to 1.

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7

Here are 10 games (or “orbs,” depending on which path you took to get here) I recommend playing in this year’s IFComp. Some of them I recommended in the last newsletter, others I played recently and wanted to share.

Fix Your Mother’s Printer – Geoffrey Golden – I’m guessing you know about this one by now, lol. But have you played the current version of FYMP? It’s got quite a bit of new content, which I added after the round of playtesting we did a few months ago. There’s a new opening sequence, mom gives you crucial life advice, and a furry friend crashes your call. 🐶

Lonehouse – Ayu Sekarlangit Mokoginta – My favorite game of the comp so far. Lonehouse is a contemplative, heartfelt game where the player goes to the apartment of her recently deceased sister to sort through her belongings. The player chooses how to think about their sister and process their memories of her. A lovely and memorable experience (and a quick play-through).

Dysfluent – Allyson Gray – This is another short gem in the competition. The player has a lot to do today, like attend a birthday lunch and go on a job interview, but the complication is their stutter, which makes speaking difficult at inopportune times. Dysfluent is a relatable, empathetic look at disability, with a bit of humor and unique choice mechanics.

Dick McButts Gets Kicked in the Nuts – Hubert Janus – This game has a title that makes you wonder, “Are video games art?” There are two versions of DMBGKitN. When you load the page, you’ll either be randomly taken to a cleverly designed game that very much lives up to its punchy (kicky?) title, or a ridiculous Web 1.0, uh, something. It’s funny and unique, but a heads up that Hitler’s a character in the story. (The game is very much anti-Hitler.)

The Whale’s Keeper – Ben Parzybok – You’ve been swallowed by a whale! There’s lots of variability, weirdness, and mystery in this well-written and illustrated graphical text adventure, which was designed to be played on the mobile app Telegram, but also works in browser. It’s fast paced and kept me guessing.

Help! I Can’t Find My Glasses! – Lacey Green – This is a high school mystery romcom about a girl trying to find her missing glasses. (Yes, I do have a thing for descriptive titles.) It’s cute and charming with plenty of humor and surprises.

The Sculptor – Yakoub Mousil – As a skilled sculptor with medical debt, you have to make some crucial decisions at the intersection of art and commerce. There’s a strong, relatable, and well-paced story here with meaningful choices. I loved the sculptor’s friend Ricky. Very good guy, that Ricky!

Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head - Hungry Reader - This is a horror adventure in which you rescue living puppet creatures from a soon-to-be-demolished studio where monsters lurk. As a Muppet fan, I absolutely love the Jim Henson inspired world and you can choose to play a quick run or invest more time in it. Lots of fun! (And another great title, this one referencing an old They Might Be Giants song.)

Citizen Makane – The Reverend – This is a weird one! Citizen Makane is a parody of vintage, sexually-explicit, poorly-designed text adventures. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but if you stick with it, the game offers strong worldbuilding and unique mechanics. It’s a parser game, but I was able to play it for a solid half hour and only wanted to break my keyboard once, which is saying something!

Assembly – Ben Kirwin – I loved the opening of this game, which begins with the task of assembling a piece of furniture. It’s very clever and memorable. Since Assembly uses a parser interface, I didn’t get much further than the opening sequence, but I really enjoyed what I was able to figure out. Maybe you’ll do better, adventurer.

Looking for even more recommended games? I love your ravenous thirst for quests!

Adventure Snack player

Jonah White 🎲🎮🧩

picked out four additional IFComp games in his excellent review of the competition below. He’s planning to release a part two on his Substack Game, Play, Gather. I’m looking forward to reading it!

Five Novel Games From IF Comp 2023