Twenty-one consecutive years. That’s one helluva track record for this interactive fiction competition, and you better believe that it’s still going strong. The same can be said about the genre itself, as choose-your-own-adventure games are possibly more popular than ever. Possibly. Probably not quite, but popular nonetheless. Either way, it’s time to kick off The 2015 IFComp!
Now, seeing how not a lot has changed since last year, for some, this is gonna be more of a recap than anything else. Not that there are a lot of rules and such to remember, but still – rules are rules. The competition – like so many others – does have a code-of-conduct policy, however, which basically reads that harassment will not be tolerated at all, and could very well result in the offender(s) getting banned. Plain and simple.
On top of that, the rules state that submissions must be 100% free, without prior distribution (outside the hands of a proofreader and such). Oh, and pre-existing works may be used for inspiration only, as opposed to copy-paste jobs. Why? Well, IFComp is about creating your own stuff, so… be creative! Get inspired! But don’t steal (from) other people’s hard work.
Last but not least, there don’t appear to be any restrictions as far as theme or choice of tools/engine goes, so flex those creative muscles with Twine, Inform, TADS, Alan IF, inklewriter or something else entirely. Just remember that while you can submit up to three games, I’d highly recommend making one great instead of three lesser. Also, intent to enter has to be registered by September 1, while the submission deadline is September 28. All set? Great. Get to writing then!
