Interactive Fiction - Notable Works

Notable Works

  • Colossal Cave Adventure, by Will Crowther and Don Woods, was the first text adventure ever made.
  • Adventureland, by Scott Adams, is considered one of the defining works of interactive fiction.
  • The Zork series by Infocom (1979 onwards) was the first text adventure to see widespread commercial release.
  • Softporn Adventure, by Chuck Benton, a popular adult game that inspired the Leisure Suit Larry series.
  • The Hobbit, by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler of Beam Software (1982) was an early reinterpretation of an existing novel into interactive fiction, with several independent non-player characters.
  • Planetfall, by Steve Meretzky of Infocom (1983), featured Floyd the robot, which Allen Varney claimed to be the first game character who evoked a strong emotional commitment from players.
  • Suspended by Michael Berlyn was an Infocom game notable for a large vocabulary and unique character personalities.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky of Infocom (1984), was notable in that the author of the original work was involved in the reinterpretation.
  • A Mind Forever Voyaging, by Steve Meretzky of Infocom (1985), a story-heavy, puzzle-light game often touted as Infocom's first serious work of science fiction.
  • Leather Goddesses of Phobos by Steve Meretzky, a risqué sci-fi parody from Infocom.
  • Amnesia (1987), by Hugo Award and Nebula Award winning science fiction and fantasy author Thomas M. Disch, a purely text-only adventure published by Electronic Arts.
  • Curses, by Graham Nelson (1993), the first game ever written in the Inform programming language. Considered one of the first "modern" games to meet the high standards set by Infocom's best titles.
  • So Far, by Andrew Plotkin (1996), the first XYZZY Award for Best Game winner in 1996.
  • Anchorhead, by Michael S. Gentry (1998) is a highly rated horror story inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
  • Photopia, by Adam Cadre (1998), one of the first almost entirely puzzle-free games. It won the annual Interactive Fiction Competition in 1998.
  • Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin (1998), an award-winning espionage story with many twists and turns.
  • Varicella by Adam Cadre (1999). It won four XYZZY Awards in 1999 including the XYZZY Award for Best Game, and had a scholarly essay written about it.
  • Galatea, by Emily Short (2000). Galatea is focused entirely on interaction with the animated statue of the same name. Galatea has one of the most complex interaction systems for a non-player character in an interactive fiction game. Adam Cadre called Galatea "the best NPC ever".
  • Slouching Towards Bedlam, by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (2003). Set in a steampunk setting, the game integrates meta-game functionality (saving, restoring, restarting) into the game world itself. The game won four XYZZY Awards.

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