Parser poetics in Portrait With Wolf
Drew Cook's Portrait with Wolf bears the tagline “a different kind of IF art show.” It is part parser, part poem; while at the same time being neither parser nor poem. It is something completely original.
The Rosebush
Interactive Fiction Theory and Criticism
Latest posts
Interview with SV Linwood
SV Linwood is an interactive fiction author, known for their award winning games, A Long Way to the Nearest Star, Dr Ludwig and the Devil, and most recently, winning Best in Show at the SpringThing, Cut the Sky.
Studies of ZIL, Part 2: How Does ZIL Work Anyway?
The basics of coding in Infocom's ZIL: Zork Implementation Language
An Interview with Chandler Groover
Chandler Groover is an interactive fiction author, known for his influential games such as Eat Me, Toby’s Nose and Midnight. Swordfight., as well as his contribution in Fallen London’s storylines. He recently released The Bat, which won the 2024 IFComp.
Studies of ZIL, Part 1
The Z-machine is the interpreter that Infocom created to allow them to write a game once and run it on a wide variety of different computers.
Game Design Lessons Learned Trying To Write A Cento
What if you wrote a parser game using only sentences taken verbatim from other parser games? Like a cento for text adventures?
Game Jams’ Influence on Interactive Fiction
Sophia and Manon chat about running game jams to foster creativity and experimentation, and to build bridges between different IF communities and forms.
On Making Trauma Legible: How Interactive Fiction Identifies Trauma
Trauma resists definitions. Nevertheless, people will try to write about it, even within interactive fiction.
Behind “The Bloody Wallpaper”
In “The Bloody Wallpaper” the player is conscripted to work in a luxury hotel for a single evening. But menial labor isn’t famous for being fun, and “The Bloody Wallpaper” is premium DLC for an online game: it needs to be fun, doesn’t it?
“Hampstead” and Interactive Fiction in the UK in the 1980s
Ian Greener recalls the vibrant early hobbyist IF scene in the UK, briefly discussing The Hobbit, The Philosopher's Quest, and interactive fiction creation tool The Quill, before turning to a long discussion of the 1984 game Hampstead.