Ah, IntroComp. The place where incomplete interactive fiction is given room to breathe, providing their creators with invaluable feedback going forward. Following a bit of a delay caused by technical issues, submissions are now open, and everything working as it should, so… here’s what’s what for IntroComp 2021.
I hope you’re ready to submit your work-in-progress tale of interactive fiction because the submission period is about to end! Nah, just kidding. Several weeks left. Plenty of time to sort through your projects and pick which one is could do with some feedback. Hosted by Xalavier Nelson Jr., Jacqueline Ashwell, and Dan Shiovitz, this year doesn’t seem to differ much from past iterations, so as always for these things, I’ll at least try to be brief.
So, most importantly, each submission must be an excerpt of a new, never-before-seen incomplete piece of playable interactive fiction. Which portion you submit is entirely up to you. There are a few other important tidbits on the website, but you’ll have to go over those yourself as it’s time to answer a question: why enter?
Want direct, polite feedback on how you might improve an aspect of your game? Worried about how an experimental portion of your title might be received? Want to know whether folks would even want to pursue your story to its end?
Well, feedback, as mentioned multiple times already, and you better not underestimate the value of this. Doesn’t matter if you’re working on your first interactive tale or your hundredth – feedback is feedback. Need further incentive? I suppose… cash prizes might be favourable to some. There’s a catch though.
See, while IntroComp is all about judging excerpts of unfinished works, eligibility for a cash prize requires you to actually finish your game within a year of the competition’s close (by September 15, 2022), and of course, inform the organizers. With that in mind, let’s wrap this one up with the IntroComp 2021 schedule.
(So much for brief.)
- Intents to Enter Accepted: June 1, 2021
- Intent to Enter Deadline: June 30, 2021
- Excerpt Submission Deadline: July 31, 2021
- Voting Deadline: August 31, 2021
- Result Post Deadline: September 5, 2021
