Text adventures are commercially dead… or are they? A quarter of a century after game companies stopped making text adventures, Bob Bates of Infocom fame is crowdfunding his game “Thaumistry: in charm’s way.”
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While I accepted that getting to Hogwarts, Narnia, or Middle Earth may prove impossible, the next best thing would be to get a little agency as a character in said story and get to influence the course of events. Enter interactive fiction, which places the player firmly in the middle of the story.
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Twine is an interactive fiction game creator, and this book is going to help you write your stories.
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In ‘Machinations,’ you play as a robot, created by an inventor of your choosing, who is serving the merchant-king (or queen!) and doing his/her bidding. It’s a kingdom tottering on the edge of war, and your actions will either help or hinder the people of the land. Sneak into a neighboring ruler’s castle, diffuse a tense situation amongst workers at the docks, and chase a shopkeeper who is holding answers to a puzzle across the rooftops.
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I grew up in the ’80s when computers were just finding their way into homes and schools, and I have fond memories of playing all sorts of computer games. This includes interactive fiction, especially Infocom games.
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Time spent with tablets, TV, and smartphones can easily outnumber time spent reading, which may only be 30-60 minutes. Augmented Reality book ‘The Adventures of the Time Twins’ aims to engage children using an Android or iOS app in combination with the children’s book. Margara Padilla, co-founder and CEO at Dara Technologies, answers some of our questions.
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Fall has brought a fresh harvest of interactive fiction. The annual IFComp (Interactive Fiction Competition) offers 54 games (parser-based as well as hypertext-based) for your consideration, many of them ready to play directly in your browser. If, on the other hand, you are more into chose-your-own-adventure books, there is the 2015 Windhammer Prize for short game-book fiction, offering 16 PDFs for download.
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Though I’m partial to Welcome to ‘Night Vale’ or the ‘Nerdist’ podcast, I’ve been listening instead to Adam Cadre’s new ‘Radio K’ podcast, an hour discussion about interactive fiction. My only complaint is that there are only two episodes currently in the queue, so I’m anxiously awaiting for Cadre to make more.
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I don’t really want to tell you any part of the story because part of the joy is finding each clue on your own, but I can tell you that if you can’t get to the beach, spending a half hour with ‘A Sailor’s Dream’ is the next best thing. It will make your heart ache while it simultaneously makes you hopeful that there are still gorgeous, unique games to be made.
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I chose this game because I was immediately struck by its nod to the early text adventures, especially bringing in the sense of humor that permeated games such as Zork. I also realized on my first play-through that the map was very very easy to draw. This isn’t always the case. As someone who has been spoiled by Infocom’s maps, being able to draw the map easily is very important to me.
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So I want to start a monthly computer club where we all play the same game at the same time. Bookmark the post at the beginning of the month and then start talking in the comment thread. What do you like about the game? What do you dislike? Where are you stuck? Has anyone figured out how to get the dart out of the bar? What about kill the troll? Get the shield?
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If there’s one thing geeks love to do, it’s digging into a beloved hobby. And one great way to do that is through documentaries. Here are four films that I’ve watched in the past year, which shed light on various types of gaming.
Continue ReadingSouth By South West (SXSW) is now a week over. Imagine, 20000 people at a 5 day party in a two mile radius around the Austin Convention Center. Oh, and there are a few hundred panels, discussions and speaker sessions …
Continue ReadingStaple of the American chiptune scene and HipTrax regular Doctor Octoroc has once again partnered with famed YouTubers The Station to create another phenomenal 8-bit interactive game. This one is based on popular Fox musical dramedy Glee and, like its …
Continue ReadingYou’re sitting at your desk at work. It’s another typical Monday: the kids overslept, you spilled your coffee and had to rush home for a change of clothes, and your e-mail inbox is going to take an hour to slog …
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