The Interactive Fiction Competition (also known as IFComp) is one of several annual competitions for works of
interactive fiction
Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...
. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours playing a game before deciding how many points to award it, but longer games are allowed entry. The competition has been described as the "
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
" of interactive fiction.
Since 2016 it is operated by the
Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation
The Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in June 30, 2016 working to maintain, improve, and preserve the tools and services used in the creation and distribution of interactive fiction.
...
(IFTF).
Organization
In 2016, operation of the competition was taken over by the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation.
The lead organizer 2014–2017 was Jason McIntosh, and in 2018 it was Jacqueline Ashwell.
Categories
Although the first competition had separate sections for
Inform
Inform is a programming language and design system for interactive fiction originally created in 1993 by Graham Nelson. Inform can generate programs designed for the Z-machine, Z-code or Glulx virtual machines. Versions 1 through 5 were released ...
and
TADS
Text Adventure Development System (TADS) is a prototype-based domain-specific programming language and set of standard libraries for creating interactive fiction (IF) games.
History
The original TADS 1 was released by High Energy Software ...
games, subsequent competitions have not been divided into sections and are open to games produced by any method, provided that the software used to play the game is freely available.
In addition to the main competition, the entries take part in the Miss Congeniality contest, where the participating authors vote for three games (not including their own). This was started in 1998 to distribute that year's surplus prizes; this additional contest has remained unchanged since then, even without the original reason for its existence.
There is also a 'Golden Banana of Discord' side contest; the distinction is given to the entry with scores with the highest standard deviation.
Eligibility
The competition differs from the
XYZZY Awards
The XYZZY Awards are the annual awards given to works of interactive fiction, serving a similar role to the Academy Awards for film. The awards were inaugurated in 1997 by Eileen Mullin, the editor of ''XYZZYnews''. Any game released during the y ...
, as authors must specifically submit games to the Interactive Fiction Competition, but all games released in the past year are eligible for the XYZZY Awards. Many games win awards in both competitions.
Judging
Anyone can judge the games. Because anyone can judge and participate in the competition, there is a rule that "All entries must cost nothing for judges to play".
[Rules for the Competition – Rules for Authors]
(archived), ifcomp.org.
Rules
The competition has rules for judges, authors and everyone to ensure that everyone agrees on the purpose, scope, and spirit of the competition.
Prizes
Anyone can donate a prize. Almost always, there are enough prizes donated that anyone who enters will get one.
Winners
The following is a list of first place winners to date:
*1995: Tie: ''
A Change in the Weather
''A Change in the Weather'' is a 1995 interactive fiction (IF) video game.
Developed by Andrew Plotkin, the game is written in version five of the Inform programming language, and compiled for the Z-machine, a virtual machine that allows interac ...
'' by
Andrew Plotkin
Andrew Plotkin (born May 15, 1970), also known as Zarf, is an American programmer and writer. He is a central figure in the modern interactive fiction (IF) community. Having both written a number of award-winning games and developed a range of ne ...
and ''Uncle Zebulon's Will'' by Magnus Olsson
*1996: ''
The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet
''The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet'' is a 1996 work of interactive fiction by Graham Nelson, distributed in z-code format as freeware. It won the 1996 Interactive Fiction Competition after being entered pseudonymously under the ...
'' by
Graham Nelson
Graham A. Nelson (born 1968) is a British mathematician, poet, and the creator of the Inform, Inform design system for creating interactive fiction (IF) games. He has authored several IF games, including ''Curses (computer game), Curses'' (1993) ...
*1997: ''
The Edifice'' by Lucian P. Smith
*1998: ''
Photopia
''Photopia'' is a piece of literature by Adam Cadre rendered in the form of interactive fiction, and written in Inform. It has received both praise and criticism for its heavy focus on fiction rather than on interactivity. It won first place in ...
'' by
Adam Cadre
Adam Cadre (born February 5, 1974, in Silver Spring, Maryland) is an American writer active in a number of forms—novels, screenplays, webcomics, essays—but best known for his work in interactive fiction.
Biography
Cadre's 1998 piece '' Photo ...
*1999: ''
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himb ...
'' by Laura A. Knauth
*2000: ''
Kaged'' by Ian Finley
*2001: ''
All Roads'' by
Jon Ingold
Jon Ingold (born 1981) is a British author of interactive fiction and co-founder of inkle, where he co-directed and co-wrote '' 80 Days'', and wrote ''Heaven's Vault'' and ''Overboard!''.
His interactive fiction has frequently been nominated f ...
*2002: ''
Another Earth, Another Sky
''Earth and Sky'' is an interactive fiction trilogy written and produced by American author Paul O'Brian about the adventures of a brother and sister who gain superpowers while searching for their lost parents. Games in the series have won awards ...
'' by Paul O'Brian
*2003: ''
Slouching Towards Bedlam
''Slouching Towards Bedlam'' is an interactive fiction game that won the first place in the 2003 Interactive Fiction Competition. It is a collaboration between American authors Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster. ''Slouching Towards Bedlam'' was fi ...
'' by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
*2004: ''
Luminous Horizon
''Earth and Sky'' is an interactive fiction trilogy written and produced by American author Paul O'Brian about the adventures of a brother and sister who gain superpowers while searching for their lost parents. Games in the series have won awards ...
'' by Paul O'Brian
*2005: ''
Vespers
Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...
'' by Jason Devlin
*2006: ''
Floatpoint
''Floatpoint'' is a 2006 work of interactive fiction written by Emily Short about a diplomat sent to an endangered colony to discuss evacuation options and terms of cohabitation. It is written in Inform 7 and won the 2006 annual Interactive Fict ...
'' by
Emily Short
Emily Short is an interactive fiction (IF) writer. From 2020 to 2023, she was creative director of Failbetter Games, the studio behind ''Fallen London'' and its spinoffs.
She is known for her debut game ''Galatea (computer game), Galatea'' (200 ...
*2007: ''
Lost Pig
''Lost Pig'' is a comedic work of interactive fiction about an orc retrieving an escaped pig. It was created by Admiral Jota and released as freeware.
It took first place in the 2007 Interactive Fiction Competition with an average score of 8.2 ...
'' by Admiral Jota (writing as Grunk)
*2008: ''
Violet
Violet may refer to:
Common meanings
* Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue
* One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly:
** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
Places United States
* Vi ...
'' by
Jeremy Freese
Jeremy Jay Freese (born March 15, 1971) is an American sociologist and author.
Work life
Freese is a professor of sociology at Stanford University, where he is also the co-leader of the Health Disparities Working Group in the Stanford Center fo ...
*2009: ''Rover's Day Out'' by Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman
*2010: ''Aotearoa'' by Matt Wigdahl
*2011: ''Taco Fiction'' by Ryan Veeder
*2012: ''Andromeda Apocalypse'' by Marco Innocenti
*2013: ''Coloratura'' by Lynnea Glasser
*2014: ''Hunger Daemon'' by Sean M. Shore
*2015: ''Brain Guzzlers from Beyond!'' by Steph Cherrywell
*2016: ''Detectiveland'' by Robin Johnson
*2017: ''
The Wizard Sniffer
Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of Interactiv ...
'' by Buster Hudson
*2018: ''Alias "The Magpie"'' by J. J. Guest
*2019: ''Zozzled'' by Steph Cherrywell
*2020: Tie: ''The Impossible Bottle'' by Linus Åkesson and ''Tavern Crawler'' by Josh Labelle
*2021: ''And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One'' by B.J. Best
*2022: ''The Grown-Up Detective Agency'' by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
*2023: ''Dr Ludwig and the Devil'' by SV Linwood
*2024: ''The Bat'' by Chandler Groover
Only two competitors have won more than once: Paul O'Brian, winning in 2002 and 2004, and Steph Cherrywell, winning in 2015 and 2019.
Reception
A reviewer for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' said of the 2008 competition, "Once again, the IF Competition delivers some of the best writing in games."
The 2008 competition was described as containing "some real standouts both in quality of puzzles and a willingness to stretch the definition of text adventures/interactive fiction."
See also
*
Spring Thing
Spring Thing is an annual competition highlighting text adventure games and other works of electronic literature, also known as Interactive Fiction, or IF.
Adam Cadre, author of several works of Interactive Fiction, including '' Photopia'' and '' ...
*
XYZZY Awards
The XYZZY Awards are the annual awards given to works of interactive fiction, serving a similar role to the Academy Awards for film. The awards were inaugurated in 1997 by Eileen Mullin, the editor of ''XYZZYnews''. Any game released during the y ...
References
[{{cite web, last1=Caldwell, first1=Brendan, title=IF Comp 2017 opens for scribes and crowdfunds prizes, url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/07/03/if-comp-2017-opens-for-scribes-and-crowdfunds-prizes/, website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun, date=July 3, 2017]
External links
Official website
Interactive fiction
Video game development competitions
Writing contests