Current events

Game Releases

June 2009 Game Releases

• Alabaster (John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, Kazuki Mishima, Sarah Morayati, Mark Musante, Emily Short, Adam Thornton, and Ziv Wities; 05-Jun; Glulx). Illustrated by Daniel Allington-Krzysztofiak.

May 2009 Game Releases

• 11 ADRIFT games were released on May 31, 2009:
  • Apokalupsis (James Webb as "revgiblet").
  • Dead Race (Justahack).
  • Dish Duty (Duncan Bowsman).
  • Donuts (The Dominant Species as "Mr. TDS").
  • Dung Beetles Are Aliens (Duncan Bowsman).
  • Existence (Abbi Park).
  • The Magician’s Niece (Hensman Int'l).
  • The Merlin Bird of Prey (Mark Sarul).
  • Through Time (Finn Rosenløv).
  • To end all wars (Duncan Bowsman).
  • Ye Intro for Yon Astounding Castle! of Some Sort (Tiberius Thingamus).
• Shelter from the Storm (Eric Eve; 31-May; TADS 3).
• The Equivocal Ingredient (James Dingle; 18-May; Glulx).
• Sam Fortune - Private Investigator (Steve Blanding; 17-May; Glulx).
• AbilityComp released one game on May 11th:
  • Prison Break (Parham Doustdar; JACL).
• Inside Woman (Andy Phillips; 07-May; Z-code).
• Game Developers Conference 2009 (Jim Munroe; 05-May; Z-code 8).

April 2009 Game Releases

• Ghost Town (Finn Rosenløv; 22-Apr; ADRIFT 4).
• A View to a Home (Anjan Chakrabarti; 20-Apr; ADRIFT 4).
• Make It Good (Jon Ingold; 13-Apr; Z-code 8).
• Spring ting released 4 ADRIFT games on or shortly after April 1st:
  • ESS Chance: Reactor 1 (Justahack).
  • Homeless Harry (Burblesnot).
  • Mr. Fluffykin's Most Harrowing Misadventure (Justahack).
  • Sandy's Lost Doll (Sandy).
• The Bryant Collection (Gregory Weir; 01-Apr; Z-code).

March 2009 Game Releases

• Spring Thing 2009 released four games on March 31:
  • A Flustered Duck (Jim Aikin; Glulx).
  • The Milk of Paradise (Josh Graboff; Z-Code).
  • Realm of Obsidian (Amy Kerns; T.A.B.).
  • Vague (Richard Otter; ADRIFT).
• MetaFilter Interactive Fiction Contest released 8 games during March:
  • Bunt (Diocletian and Maximian; 31-Mar; Z-code).
  • Down and Out at the Big Creepy House on the Poison Lake (Shii; 28-Mar; Z-code).
  • Down with the Underpig (R Monty as 'run"monty'; 31-Mar; Z-code).
  • Eric's Bender (uncleozzy; 30-Mar; Z-code).
  • Jeffrey the Homicidal Mimic (Deathalicious; 26-Mar; Z-code).
  • Let Us Burn Down Science (Mike Martens as "pokermonk"; 31-Mar; Z-code).
  • The Questionable Substitute (Izner Myletze; 31-Mar; Glulx).
  • Rockrider (David Mear as "Lucidium"; 31-Mar; Z-code).
• Squoufy (SIM54; 24-Mar; Z-code; French).
• EnvComp released two games on March 23rd:
  • Dead Like Ants (C.E.J. Pacian; TADS 3).
  • La Seine (Derek Sutcliffe; Z-Code).
• 69,105 Keys (David Welbourn; 02-Mar; Z-code).

January 2009 Game Releases

• Room 206 (Byron Alexander Campbell; 29-Jan; ALAN 3).
• A Very Hairy Fish-Mess (Byron Alexander Campbell; 29-Jan; ALAN 3).
• Blue Lacuna (full version) (Aaron A. Reed; 26-Jan; Glulx).
• The Mysterious Case of the Acrobat and His Peers (Amanda Tien; 11-Jan; Z-code).
• Stink or Swim (Renee Choba; 05-Jan; Z-code).

(See also Games Released in 2009.)

News and Reviews

News and Reviews in June 2009

• There was an editorial about interactive fiction in the newspaper The Guardian (4 June 2009).
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 6 (June 2009) in pdf and text formats.
• The seventh PDF issue of SPAC 2.0, the Spanish IF newsletter, has been published.

News and Reviews in May 2009

• RuleFive '09 forum is a forum for people who intend to enter the IF Comp 2009. See RAIF thread.
• if.game-testing.org is a new IF betatesting site (which includes an RSS feed) created by Juhana Leinonen.
• Rule-Based Programming in Interactive Fiction - article by Andrew Plotkin. (See also: RAIF thread.)
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 5 (May 2009) in pdf and text formats.

News and Reviews in April 2009

• Inform 7 now has a new website with a new section of resources for education users, a news blog, a screencast for new users, and many other new features. A new Inform 7 build (5Z71), with many changes, and a new design document were released. Also: the Inform 6 compiler is now under an open-source license. (See this RAIF thread for more details.)
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 4 (April 2009) in pdf and text formats.

News and Reviews in March 2009

• Issue #54 of SPAG (March 31, 2009) - Includes an article and reviews about Blue Lacuna, an article by Nate B. Dovel, interviews with Jim Munroe, Eric Eve, Jeremy Freese, and Stephen Granade, and reviews of A Bear's Night Out, Phantom of the Arcade, Ungodly Earth: The Desert of Dreams, Waiting for the Process (Horse Needed!), and all the games in English from One Room Game Competition 2008.
• The sixth PDF issue of SPAC 2.0, the Spanish IF newsletter, has been published.
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 3 (March 2009) in pdf and text formats.

News and Reviews in February 2009

• Interactive Fiction Writing Month is, according to its website, "a loosely-organized set of tasks assigned one per week for four weeks, from February 15 to March 15, 2009, hopefully coupled with a few informal live discussion sessions (location-dependent, of course). The goal is to get a group of participants familiar enough with the Inform language to produce some simple games, and to promote discourse on game design in general through the medium of IF." Links: website, forum, blog, RAIF threads: 1 and 2.
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 2 (February 2009) in pdf and text formats.
• The Room as Metaphor in Interactive Fiction - article by Nathan Jerpe.

News and Reviews in January 2009

• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 5 Number 1 (January 2009) in pdf and text formats.
• Jim Munroe started a world map in which every IF fan can add their name and where they live.

(See also: News in 2009, Reviews, Category:Publications, and Category:Websites.)

Competitions & Contest News

What's Hot

• ADRIFT IntroComp 2009. Competition for ADRIFT games which are just introductions. Deadline: Sunday 14th June 2009, 5 PM BST. Organizer: Ken Franklin.
• Bogus Comp, "an IF competition without any IF". Deadline: TBD. Organizer: Conrad Cook.
• 2009 AIF Mini-comp. Voting due by Tuesday, June 23rd. Organizer: Purple Dragon.

Results of Recent Competitions

(Most recent comps are listed first.)

• Meta-Comp. Cancelled for lack of participation. Organizer: Conrad Cook.
• AbilityComp. 1 game: Prison Break (Parham Doustdar; JACL). Organizer: David Fisher.
• Spring Thing 2009. Four games. Winner: A Flustered Duck (Jim Aikin; Glulx). Organizer: Greg Boettcher.
• EnvComp for games with an unusual setting. Winner: Dead Like Ants (C.E.J. Pacian; TADS 3). Organizer: David Fisher.
• Spring ting. ADRIFT competition, for non-registered users of ADRIFT only. Organizer: Cowboy. Winner: Ess Chance Reactor (Justahack).
• MetaFilter Interactive Fiction Contest. Eight games were entered. The winner was Rockrider (David Mear as "Lucidium"; Z-code) with an average score of 3.73 from 11 votes.
• XYZZY Awards 2008. Best Game was awarded to Violet (Jeremy Freese; Z-code). Congrats to all the winners! Cheers to all the finalists!
• Premios Hispanos 2008. Winner (Best Game): El Espíritu de la Sidra (Radin; Glulx).
• The IF Archive CSS Competition. A very informal comp where you can redesign the look of the IF Archive using CSS. Winner: Chartist (Chris Klimas). Organizer: Andrew Plotkin.
• SimComp (formerly RoFLComp) for games involving physical simulation. There were no entries. Organizer: David Fisher.
• BBBen's 2009 AIF Threesome Comp. There was only one entry (by Rip CPU), so the competition was cancelled. Organizer: BBBen.

Upcoming Competitions

Authors should be working on their entries for:

• RetroComp 2009. Spanish IF minicomp dedicated to remakes, translations, sequels, prequels, etc. of older text adventures. Submit by May 18, 2009. Organizer: Jenesis.
• NPCComp for games with convincing NPCs. Submissions deadline: June 15, 2009. Organizer: David Fisher.
• BreadComp. A minicomp about bread. Submission deadline: August 1, 2009. Organizer: James Wilson.
• SenseComp for games with a PC whose primary sense is not sight. Submissions deadline: August 1, 2009. Organizer: David Fisher.
• GunchoComp for multiplayer IF realms written in Inform 7 for Guncho. Realms will be judged for Best Use of Multiplayer and Best Replay Value. GunchoComp rules at GunchoWiki. Submission deadline: August 6, 2009. Organizer: Jesse McGrew.
• GameplayComp for games with a non-traditional form of gameplay while still remaining IF. Submissions deadline: September 15, 2009. Organizer: David Fisher.

(See also: Category:Competitions, Category:Minicomp, and the Competition Calendar.)