IFComp 2014

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Hipolito
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IFComp 2014

Post by Hipolito »

This is the 20th anniversary of the Interactive Fiction Competition. More importantly, it's my 10th straight year of playing and judging the entries for your delight and annoyance!

There are 42 games this year, most of them of the linear or multiple-choice Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) format rather than the traditional type-in-commands text parser format.

The move toward CYOA is good because:
  • CYOA games are easier to make, so more authors can get their ideas out there
  • CYOA games are easier to play, and most of the entries work in your web browser
  • Games that would just be clunky and bloated as text parser games become more playable as CYOA games
It's bad because
  • The increased accessibility means that there are about 10 more bad games for every good one.
  • The delicious gameplay complexity one can get in text parser games is generally lost in CYOA games. Some CYOA games don't even offer meaningful choices. (Then again, neither do some text parser games, including a few very good ones.)
Most of the CYOA authors are inexperienced and still trying to figure out what works, while the old warponies who use text parsers are less active. It'll take a while for the CYOA authors to write games that are as good as the best text parser games. But the standout CYOA games are already tackling narrative themes and styles rarely attempted by text parser games.

I'm sort of agnostic between text parsers and CYOA. I prefer a good text parser over a good CYOA, but I'll enjoy any good story whatever the format.

This year sees a rise in quantity but decrease in quality, probably because of the influx of new authors. Of the 42 entries, I found only 2 games I liked enough to rate higher than 6 on the 1-to-10 scale. Rather than write pithy reviews of all 42 games, I'll just talk about the two.

Venus Meets Venus: A tale about a young, angsty lesbian who is entering her first meaningful relationship. The symbol-laden story delves deeply into sex and gender identity, the conflict between being supportive and being selfish, and much more. It's a linear hypertext with some tangential observations, but it's one of the best love stories I've ever read, provocative and suspenseful but sometimes just as ordinary and comforting as any relationship. Intelligent, profound stuff. Rating: 8/10.

Creatures Such As We: The winner of last year's contest may win again with this. You're a space tour guide whose only relief from the boring, lonely work is obsessively playing a popular zombie RPG shooter. But you get the surprise of your life when you meet your next tour group. This CYOA has lots of ethical and dialogue choices and remembers what you said to whom, providing replay value. It explores game design, the conflicting perspectives of artist and observer, and even, if only briefly, the awful gamergate controversy. The characters have distinct personalities and I was rather fond of some of them. This game's a little long and wordy, but I enjoyed it a lot. Rating: 8/10.

The judging period ends on November 15, with results to be posted afterward. There's still plenty of time for you to play and rate some of these games if you're so inclined. (You have to rate at least 5 games for your scores to be counted.) When the results are posted, I'll go public, in this very thread, with my reaction to them, so stay tOOned, and sorry for the all the comma splicing, amigos!

My previous IFComp stomps: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
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MonkeyFinger
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Re: IFComp 2014

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Hipolito wrote:Rather than write pithy reviews of all 42 games, I'll just talk about the two.
Hey... we likes your pithy reviews. :(
-mf
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Hipolito
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Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: IFComp 2014

Post by Hipolito »

MonkeyFinger wrote:
Hipolito wrote:Rather than write pithy reviews of all 42 games, I'll just talk about the two.
Hey... we likes your pithy reviews. :(
Thanks! I was planning to write them all at first, but grew too tired to do so just from playing the games. All that weird impressionistic text and purple prose just kinda fogs up the noggin.
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Hipolito
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Re: IFComp 2014

Post by Hipolito »

The Winners!

Yeah, Hunger Daemon was a pretty good game. I only gave it a 6 because some of the navigation annoyed me and one puzzle seemed buggy, compelling me to reload a save. But it's a witty and clever tale about sneaking away from your uncle's interminable Cthulhu cult ritual. You like Cthulhu stuff, right? Give the game a try!

Second place was taken by the excellent Creatures Such as We.

Third place was Jacqueline, Jungle Queen! I gave this game very short shrift; the writing style just annoyed me for some reason. But apparently it's a pretty good take on pulp adventure stories.

Venus Meets Venus got 13th place, which is a little harsh.

As a nice gesture, the competition organizer dedicated this year's comp to the late R. A. Montgomery, who helped start the Choose Your Own Adventure craze that was so influential to this year's entries. This page turn's for you, Monty!

The End
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