I’m about to introduce interactive fiction in my “New Media Projects” course. I’m glad to find further evidence that the genre continues to be discovered and shared.
If you start playing IF and search for people with the same interests to chat with, good resources, and help of any kind, the intfiction forum is the perfect starting point. This website is the first and best resource for all things IF. Whether you’re stuck in a game and need help for a solution of the next puzzle, or you need tips to start writing your own IF game, intfiction.org is the place to go. There are threads about more or less everything and you will soon get to know many cool people to chat with.
If you search for new games to play, visit IFDb (the Interactive Fiction Database). Many IF writers publish their work on this website as free downloads. You can take part in the community not just by uploading your own games, but also by playing, rating, and reviewing your favorite ones using an account on IFDb.
Annual awards and competitions like the XYZZY awards and the IFComp keep developers active making new games. There are wikis, even dissertations about IF, available for free. The most impressive theory work is the “IF Theory Reader” (available as a free PDF download) edited by Kevin Jackson-Mead and J. Robinson, featuring essays written by the Who-Is-Who of Interactive Fiction; the book is also sold as a paperback version. Especially in the U.S., many IF gamers meet in real life through local organizations to chat and play the newest games together. To dive in deeper into the multiple ways to take part in the Interactive Fiction community (both online and in real life), go and check out this extensive post from Emily Short.[2]
This was a rough overview of how Interactive Fiction came to life as a vibrant genre of computer games, how it has changed throughout history, and what its community’s current state looks like. The genre is based on a very active community with many enthusiasts and other interesting people to meet, play, and chat with.
Let’s now move on to the part of this story many of you likely have waited for: how can you play these games on Apple devices?via Interactive Fiction In The iOS Age: A Text-Based Love Story.
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