I may sound like a broken record at this point, but… this marks the 23rd year for IFComp, a competition focused entirely on the wonderful world of interactive fiction. Twenty-three years. Man, that’s a lot of choose-your-own-adventure style tales! Oh, and this year will be adding to an already ridiculously large library, as IFComp 2017 recently opened its doors.
Now, for those who weren’t around in 2014, 2015 or even 2016 (both of you), here’s a quick rundown: write an interactive story, submit it, and pray to whichever deity you prefer. Done. Alright, so there’s obviously more to it than that, even if the rules aren’t super strict. Not even when it comes to choice of engine, as you’re free to use whatever your heart desires, including Twine, Inform, TADS, Alan IF, inklewriter as well as something built from the ground up (which I suspect most won’t be doing).
You should still read them rules though, as it would be terrible to have wasted so much time writing something… only to find it won’t be eligible, ya know? The ‘no copyright infringement’ bit may be rather obvious, but something that’ll likely surprise some is that all submissions must be free. Completely free. No ads or similar hoops to jump through before the judges can get to reading. Simple stuff, but even so – do keep it in mind.
Still with me? Great! Time to wrap this up with one last thing then: intent to enter has to be registered by September 1 (like years prior), while the submission deadline is September 28 (again, just like years prior).
(Source: IFComp 2017 open for intents)
