Interactive Fiction (IF) has been a thing for quite some time now. In fact, I’m sure some of you are more than a little familiar with the likes of Zork, Adventure, and other text-based classics. While the XYZZY Awards isn’t quite as old, this particular celebration of all things IF has still been around for almost 20 years. So what say we help keep the momentum going by throwing votes at this year’s finalists, eh?
Now, while games made with everything from ChoiceScript to Twine are represented here, this competition isn’t just about the stories. I mean, sure, puzzles, setting, NPC(s) and so on are all given their own category – as they well should – we mustn’t forget about the engines driving these interactive tales. As such, Inform 7 6L02, Texture and Twine 2 have all made the final(ist) cut for “Best Technological Development”. The victor? Honestly, my money’s on Twine 2, but we’ll see. There’s still plenty of time left, as the voting doesn’t close until April 25th.
As far as the actual tales go, tall and not, there are quite a few interesting ones here: inkle’s steampunk take on a classic, 80 Days, and Weird City Interloper by C.E.J. Pacian, which has you potentially rewriting history, to name but a few. Or how about a trip back to ancient Rome, in Blood & Laurels? So darn groovy.
A grand total of 21 projects are currently awaiting votes, so might I recommend you get to it? Either create a new IFComp account or log in with your existing one to vote… over here. For convenience’s sake, every single finalist has been listed below, taken straight from the XYZZY Awards site. Best of luck to all participants.
Best Game
- 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Choice of Robots (Kevin Gold)
- Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Hunger Daemon (Sean M. Shore)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Writing
- Eidolon (A.D. Jansen)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Story
- 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Eidolon (A.D. Jansen)
- the uncle who works for nintendo (michael lutz)
- Venus Meets Venus (kaleidofish)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Setting
- 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Invisible Parties (Sam Kabo Ashwell)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Puzzles
- Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Jacqueline, Jungle Queen! (Steph Cherrywell)
Best NPCs
- 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Blood & Laurels (Emily Short)
- Choice of Robots (Kevin Gold)
- Creatures Such As We (Lynnea Glasser)
- Weird City Interloper (C.E.J. Pacian)
Best Individual Puzzle
- Finding the treasure in More (Jason Dyer)
- Sequence of time-travel in Fifteen Minutes (Ade McT)
Best Individual NPC
- The Empress in With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
- Macy in Venus Meets Venus (kaleidofish)
- The monkey in Monkey and Bear (Carolyn VanEseltine)
- Your robot in Choice of Robots (Kevin Gold)
Best Individual PC
- Lynn in Venus Meets Venus (kaleidofish)
- Marcus in Blood & Laurels (Emily Short)
- the PC in the uncle who works for nintendo (michael lutz)
- Protagonist in Creatures Such As We (Lynnea Glasser)
Best Implementation
- Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Hunger Daemon (Sean M. Shore)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Use of Innovation
- AlethiCorp (Simon Christiansen)
- An Earth Turning Slowly (Mæja Stefánsson)
- Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
Best Technological Development
Best Use of Multimedia
- 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Coming Out Simulator 2014 (Nicky Case)
- Krypteia (Kateri)
- the uncle who works for nintendo (michael lutz)
- With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
