Golden Banana of Discord

The Annual IF Competition
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Features	Golden Banana of Discord • Miss Congeniality • Rising Star • Non-English • Prizes • Statistics • T-shirts • Two hour rule
See also	CompXX • IF Comp works

The original golden banana prize, created by Andrew Plotkin.

The 2016 version of the Golden Banana of Discord, created by Hanon Ondricek.

Paperwork accompanying the 2016 version of the Golden Banana of Discord.

The Golden Banana of Discord is a special prize awarded to the IF Comp game whose scores have the highest standard deviation.

Physically, it is a crescent of gold cloth stuffed with cotton. You can see a picture of the original banana here. Andrew Plotkin created the first 'teddy banana' and donated it to the 6th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2000).

The banana was originally just a normal prize, and in 2000 it was chosen by Brendan Barnwell, author of The Big Mama. Brendan redonated the banana back to the IF Comp in 2001 with the standard deviation stipulation. Winners of the banana are expected to re-donate it back to the competition in the following year.

In 2005, a new banana—The Golden Banana of Discord, Mark II—was donated to the competition by Daphne Brinkerhoff and Greg Boettcher. This banana had a website (archive) (sadly the pictures seem lost).

In August of 2016, author Hanon Ondricek received a mysterious package in the mail with postmarks from all over the world containing what is purported to be the actual Golden Banana, which is a traveling exhibit from the "GUE Museum of Everything". You can see pictures here and here. The artifact was apparently mailed after his GBD win in 2013, but only recently reached its destination. It has been offered THE BANANA DECIDED TO TAKE A WELL-DESERVED VACATION as a prize in the 2016 IFComp (IFComp blog announcement).

After that banana's escape, latterly Bananagrams has reportedly been awarded.

Winners of the Golden Banana of Discord

The Gostak (Carl Muckenhoupt; 2001; Z-code). IF Comp 2001: 21st place. Standard deviation: 3.05.
Constraints (Martin Bays; 2002; Z-code). IF Comp 2002: 19th place. Standard deviation: 2.48.
Sweet Dreams (Papillon; 2003; MS-Windows). IF Comp 2003: 20th place. Standard deviation: 2.26.
Gamlet (Tomasz Pudlo; 2004; Z-code). IF Comp 2004: 9th place. Standard deviation: 2.51. (Tomasz claims to have donated it to the tsunami victims; nothing excites him more than putting a smile on a child's face.)
On Optimism (Zach Flynn as "Tim Lane"; 2005; Z-code). IF Comp 2005: 24th place. Standard deviation: 2.30.
MANALIVE, A Mystery of Madness - I (Bill Powell; 2006; Z-code). IF Comp 2006: 24th place. Standard deviation: 2.34.
Deadline Enchanter (Alan DeNiro; 2007; Z-code). IF Comp 2007: 12th place. Standard deviation: 2.45.
Berrost's Challenge (Mark Hatfield; 2008; TADS 2). IF Comp 2008: 10th place. Standard deviation: 2.05.
Condemned (Mark Jones; 2009; Z-code). IF Comp 2009: 12th place. Standard deviation: 2.22.
Leadlight (Wade Clarke; 2010; Web browser). IF Comp 2010: 14th place. Standard deviation: 2.29.
The Life (and Deaths) of Doctor M (Michael D. Hilborn; 2011; Glulx.) IF Comp 2011: 6th place. Standard deviation: 2.24.
howling dogs (Porpentine; 2012; Twine; Web browser). IF Comp 2012: 11th place. Standard deviation: 2.37.
Final Girl (Hanon Ondricek; 2013; Storynexus; Web browser). IF Comp 2013: 13th place. Standard deviation: 2.83.
With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine and Brenda Neotenomie; 2014; Twine; Web browser). IF Comp 2014: 5th place. Standard deviation 2.65.
SPY INTRIGUE (furkle; 2015; Twine). IF Comp 2015: 29th place. Standard deviation: 2.75.
A Time of Tungsten (Devin Raposo; 2016; Twine). IF Comp 2016: 23rd place. Standard deviation: 2.47.
Queer In Public: A Brief Essay (Naomi Z as "Norbez"; 2017; Twine). IF Comp 2017: 70th place. Standard deviation: 2.60.
Tohu wa Bohu (Alex Wesley Moore; 2018; Web browser). IF Comp 2018: 58th place. Standard deviation: 2.64.
Skybreak! (William Dooling; 2019; Web browser). IF Comp 2019: 12th place (tie). Standard deviation: 2.37.
Little Girl In Monsterland (Mike Stallone; 2020; Web browser). IF Comp 2020: 28th place. Standard deviation: 2.39.
A Paradox Between Worlds (Autumn Chen; 2021; ChoiceScript). IF Comp 2021: 10th place. Tied with
I Contain Multitudes (Wonaglot; Quest). IF Comp 2021: 38th place. Standard deviation: 2.23.
One Final Pitbull Song (at the End of the World) (StamblerRambler as Paige Morgan; 2022; Twine). IF Comp 2022: 54th place. Standard deviation: 2.30.
DICK MCBUTTS GETS KICKED IN THE NUTS (Damon L. Wakes as Hubert Janus; 2023; Twine). IF Comp 2023: 45th place. Standard deviation: 2.73. (Prize was 'a neon lamp shaped like a banana'.)
LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST (THE BODY & THE BLOOD; 2024; Ink). IF Comp 2024: 11th place. Standard deviation: 2.59.

Game appearances

Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis (Adam Thornton as "One of the Bruces" and Drunken Bastard; 2010 and 2011; Glulx). The Golden Banana of Discord is the MacGuffin of the story.