I may sound like a broken record at this point, but… this marks the 29th year for the Interactive Fiction Competition (aka. IFComp), a competition focused entirely on the wonderful world of interactive fiction. Twenty-nine years. Man, that’s a lot of choose-your-own-adventure tales! Oh, and this year will be adding to an already ridiculously large library, as IFComp 2023 recently opened its doors.
Now, for those who weren’t around in 2020, 2021 or even 2022 (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 actually more to it than that, even if the rules aren’t super strict. Not even when it comes to the choice of engine, as you’re free to use whatever your heart desires: Twine, Inform, TADS, Alan IF, inklewriter, or even something built from the ground up (which I suspect most will not be opting for).
You should still read the rules though, as it would be terrible to have wasted time creating something… only to find it won’t be eligible. The ‘no copyright infringement’ bit is rather obvious, but something that could trip potential attendees up is the fact that all submissions must be free. No ads or hoops to jump through before the judges can get to reading. Simple enough, but even so – do keep it in mind.
Still with me? Great! Time to wrap this up with one last thing: intent to enter has to be registered by September 1 (like years prior), while the submission deadline is September 28 (again, like years prior).
