A Bear's Night Out

Fantasy Home IF Comp 1997 5th of 34 XYZZY Awards 1997 Best Setting

As a teddy bear, explore your owner's home and find a way to get to the teddy bear's picnic.

A Bear's Night Out
Author(s)	David Dyte
Publisher(s)	n/a
Release date(s)	1997
Authoring system	Inform
Platform(s)	Z-code
Language(s)	English
License(s)
Multimedia
Color effects	none
Graphics	none
Sound/Music	none
Ratings
Cruelty scale	Merciful

How It Begins

The game begins with a quote from "The Lost Teddy" by Helen McKay.

You are a furry brown teddy bear wearing your night shirt. You are on the big bed in the bedroom. Your owner, David, lies next to you, fast asleep.

It's a timeless time at night. If you explore the house, you may discover a flyer for a teddy bear picnic which you'd like your owner to take you to.

Trivia and Comments

• This game is sometimes referred to by the abbreviation ABNO.
• Several subsequent games used variations of the title. In chronological order:
  • King Arthur's Night Out (Mikko Vuorinen; 1999; Alan). IF Comp 1999.
  • A Dino's Night Out (Aris Katsaris; 2000; Z-code). DinoComp.
  • A Stegosaur's Night Out (Ravi Rajkumar; 2000; Z-code). DinoComp.
  • A Gummi Bear's Night Out (Roger Carbol; 2002; TADS 2). Speed-IF Halloween 2002.

Versions

Competition release (Version 2)

• A Bear's Night Out (David Dyte; 1997; Z-code 5).
  • Release 2 / Serial number 971011 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/7
  • IFID: ZCODE-2-971011-2B80
    IFID links: IFDB
  • IF Comp 1997: 5th place of 34 games.
  • XYZZY Awards 1997: Won Best Setting. Finalist for Best Individual PC (the teddy bear), and Best Game.
  • Download bear.z5 from the IF Archive
  • Play it online at ifiction.org.

Post-comp release

• A Bear's Night Out (David Dyte; 1999; Z-code 5).
  • Release 5 / Serial number 990224 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/7
  • IFID: ZCODE-5-990224-DE58
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Download bear.z5 from the IF Archive
  • Play it online at ifiction.org.

German translation

• Ein Bär Geht Aus (translator: Gunther Schmidl; 2000; Z-code 5; German).
  • Release 4 / Serial number 000326 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10
  • IFID: ZCODE-4-000326-BB30
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Play it online at ifiction.org.
  • Download bearg.z5 from the IF Archive

Spanish translation

• La Intrépida Noche del Osito (translator: José Luis Díaz as "Zak"; 2002; Z-code 5; Spanish).
  • Release 4 / Serial number 021002 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10
  • IFID: ZCODE-4-021002-69D1
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Premios Hispanos 2002: Nominated for 'Mejor Aventura' (Best Adventure).
  • Download osito.z5 from the IF Archive

Links

General info

• A Bear's Night Out (archived) - at Baf's Guide
• A Bear's Night Out - at IFDB.
• A Bear's Night Out - at ifwizz interactive fiction (in German).
• Feelies "coming soon!" at Feelies.org. (Link is a Wayback Machine copy; the original feelies.org site disappeared in early 2008.)

Reviews

• Review - by Paul O'Brian.
• Review - by Duncan Stevens for SPAG 13.
• Spanish review - by Akbarr for SPAC 21.
• A Bear's Night Out - at IF Ratings
• A Bear's Night Out - at IFReviews.org

Spoilers

• Download bear.sol from the IF Archive - Solution for the competition release.
• Download bear.sol from the IF Archive - Solution for the post-comp release.
• ClubFloyd transcript.