3 ms·

> Modern interactive fiction is pretty amazing. Got any recommendations? Like you, I was never able to get into Zork. I really enjoyed it, until I inevitably

> Modern interactive fiction is pretty amazing. Got any recommendations? Like you, I was never able to get into Zork. I really enjoyed it, until I inevitably became stuck. Hearing you say this could be permanent really seals it. It's one of those games that's more fun to recollect than to actually play.

Eric_WVGG 2y ago
Adam Cadre’s games are excellent. https://adamcadre.ac/if/ https://adamcadre.ac/if/
fenomas 2y ago
My canonical answer is "Violet" by Jeremy Freese: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=4glrrfh7wrp9zz7b https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=4glrrfh7wrp9zz7b
failrate 2y ago
CEJ Pacian makes excellent modern IF. I recommend checking out Gunmute and Red Prince.
7thaccount 2y ago
Anything by Emily Short has really good writing and prose. They vary greatly by length too. I think she mainly writes for commercial projects these days, so I haven't seen a release in awhile of just something for fun. https://ifdb.org/search?searchfor=author%3AEmily+Short https://ifdb.org/search?searchfor=author%3AEmily+Short Alabaster, Bronze, and City of Secrets were all excellent. Check out the really short Galatea to see how much parser improvement has occurred since the old Infocom days.
- agnishom 2y ago
  I also recommend Andrew Plotkin
spencerflem 2y ago
If your looking for a puzzley experience, Emily Short's "Counterfeit Monkey" is consistently top rated and I found it wonderful
bluGill 2y ago
there is always the save restore so it is never permanent. However you can wonder around for a long time seeming to make progress only to discover it isn't possible to solve the game because of something not obvious you did a while back.
astrange 2y ago
My favorite short IF is Glowgrass: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b1xy3s75cjlty973 https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b1xy3s75cjlty973 The best regarded long one I know is Anchorhead, basically a Lovecraft story: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 …these are both from 1998 so clearly I haven't been paying attention to what anyone is up to lately.
snickerer 2y ago
I like IF that is not about puzzles but about adventure stories and social relationships. There opened a new IF universe for me. I recommend the games of "Choice of Games" for that.
alberto-m 2y ago
Since each person has their own taste, I suggest to browse IFDB's recommendations (https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=played%3Ano+willplay%3Ano+wontplay%3Ano+reviewed%3Ano+rated%3Ano https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=played%3Ano+willplay%3Ano+...) and choosing something that piques your interest. Personally I found Violet excellent as first-time adventure. The puzzles are hard but fair, and no mapping is involved.

Eric_WVGG 2y ago

Adam Cadre’s games are excellent. https://adamcadre.ac/if/ https://adamcadre.ac/if/

fenomas 2y ago

My canonical answer is "Violet" by Jeremy Freese: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=4glrrfh7wrp9zz7b https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=4glrrfh7wrp9zz7b

failrate 2y ago

CEJ Pacian makes excellent modern IF. I recommend checking out Gunmute and Red Prince.

7thaccount 2y ago

Anything by Emily Short has really good writing and prose. They vary greatly by length too. I think she mainly writes for commercial projects these days, so I haven't seen a release in awhile of just something for fun. https://ifdb.org/search?searchfor=author%3AEmily+Short https://ifdb.org/search?searchfor=author%3AEmily+Short Alabaster, Bronze, and City of Secrets were all excellent. Check out the really short Galatea to see how much parser improvement has occurred since the old Infocom days.

agnishom 2y ago
I also recommend Andrew Plotkin

spencerflem 2y ago

If your looking for a puzzley experience, Emily Short's "Counterfeit Monkey" is consistently top rated and I found it wonderful

bluGill 2y ago

there is always the save restore so it is never permanent. However you can wonder around for a long time seeming to make progress only to discover it isn't possible to solve the game because of something not obvious you did a while back.

astrange 2y ago

My favorite short IF is Glowgrass: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b1xy3s75cjlty973 https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=b1xy3s75cjlty973 The best regarded long one I know is Anchorhead, basically a Lovecraft story: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 …these are both from 1998 so clearly I haven't been paying attention to what anyone is up to lately.

snickerer 2y ago

I like IF that is not about puzzles but about adventure stories and social relationships. There opened a new IF universe for me. I recommend the games of "Choice of Games" for that.

alberto-m 2y ago

Since each person has their own taste, I suggest to browse IFDB's recommendations (https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=played%3Ano+willplay%3Ano+wontplay%3Ano+reviewed%3Ano+rated%3Ano https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=played%3Ano+willplay%3Ano+...) and choosing something that piques your interest. Personally I found Violet excellent as first-time adventure. The puzzles are hard but fair, and no mapping is involved.