A cold wind is blowing and the temperature is barely creeping through single digits in my neck of the woods, and oddly enough, sub-zero temps are not uncommon. Even so, in a way, spring is approaching; as in, this year’s Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction. Definitely not the weather, that’s for sure. Anyway, what’s it all about? Oh, I am so glad you asked: interactive tales of textual entertainment!
Textual. As in, entirely text-based games that are played using a parser. This likely means you won’t find any use for that fancy gamepad or super-expensive new mouse you just got, as these are – far as I can tell – all affairs that only move things along whenever the player performs an action, whether it be a dialogue selection or otherwise. Basically… interactive fiction. Right. Anyway, it’s time to play no less than forty-seven submissions (a lovely increase from 2021’s thirty-eight, I might add). Once that’s done with, you’re all set for nominating one or more titles – as soon as that part of Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2022 begins, anyway – either for a Best In Show ribbon, or the ‘make up your own ribbon’ Audience Awards.
Best In Show
- Abate: Hide Behind the Curtains, by Rohan – Online Only
- Another Cabin In The Woods, by Quain Holtey – Twine
- Baby on Board, by Eric Zinda – Perplexity
- Beneath the Stones, by Kieran Green – Twine
- Bigfoot Bluff, by P.B. Parjeter – Inform/Glulx
- The Bones of Rosalinda, by Agnieszka Trzaska – Twine
- The Box, by Paul Michael Winters – Kreate
- The Bright Blue Ball, by Clary C – Inform/Glulx
- Computerfriend, by Kit Riemer – Twine
- Crow Quest, by rookerie – Twine
- Custard & Mustard’s Big Adventure, by Christopher Merriner – Adventuron
- Digit, by Joey Acrimonious – Inform/Glulx
- externoon, by nune – Squiffy
- Fairest, by Amanda Walker – Inform/Glulx
- The Fall of Asemia, by B.J. Best – Twine
- Filthy Aunt Mildred, by Guðni Líndal Benediktsson – Twine
- fix it, by Lily Boughton – Twine
- George and the Dragon, by Pete Chown – Online Only
- Good Grub!, by Damon L. Wakes – Twinemicro
- Graveyard Shift at the Riverview Motel, by Seb Pines – Twine
- Half-Alive, by Bellamy Briks – Twine
- Hinterlands: Marooned, by Cody Gaisser – Inform/Glulx
- The Hole Man, by E. Z. Poschman – Twine
- Hypercubic Time-Warp All-go-rhythmic Synchrony, by Ben Kidwell and Maevele Straw – Inform/Z
- Lady Thalia and the Rose of Rocroi, by E. Joyce and N. Cormier – Twine
- The Legend of Horse Girl, by Bitter Karella – Inform/Glulx
- Let’s Talk Alex, by Stephanie Smith – Twine
- The Light in the Forest, by Emily worm – Twine
- Ma Tiger’s Terrible Trip, by Travis Moy – Twine
- New Year’s Eve, 2019, by Autumn Chen – Dendry
- Orbital Decay, by Kayvan Sarikhani – Twine
- The Prairie House, by Chris Hay and Kelsen Hadder – Adventuron
- Roger’s Day Off, by Sia See & Jkj Yuio – Strand
- A Single Ouroboros Scale, by Naomi Norbez – Twine
- Super Mega Tournament Arc!, by groggydog – Twine
- Sweetpea, by Sophia de Augustine – Twine
- Thief of the Thousand Suns, by Dom Kaye – Twine
- Thin Walls, by Wynter – Twine
- Tours Roust Torus, by Andrew Schultz – Inform/Z
- Wry, by Olaf Nowacki – Inform/Glulx
- You, Me and Coffee, by Florencia Minuzzi – Bitsy
Back Garden
- 5e Arena, by Seth Jones – Twine
- Confessing to a Witch, by HeckinRobin – Twine
- A D R I F T, by Pinkunz – Inform/Glulx
- Manifest No, by Kaemi Velatet – Twine
- Phenomena, by Dawn Sueoka – Twine
- The Wolf and Wheel, by Jason Ebblewhite, Angus Barker and Milo van Mesdag – Ren’Py
(Source)
