Winners of the 2025 IFComp

Explore the remains of the derelict ship. From fragmented memories, discover what became of the crew and piece together the events that led to the disaster. Find codes, hack keypads, and make your way past biometric locks in order to get the engines back online.

The ship is filled with debris – make use of it to help you survive. Perhaps you'll find the truth you’re searching for among the detritus.

The game features: multiple difficulty levels, three different endings, optional in-game hints, and a complete walkthrough.

And in the small farming village of Nahhanta, one very clever dog tries its best to save its human from a life-threatening curse.

This is a piece of historical fantasy set in the late Bronze Age, featuring canine antics, footnotes on the actual culture and history involved, and reconstructed Bronze Age music performed by Michael Levy. Can the hunter find his runaway puppy? Can the village’s taxes get paid before Imperial soldiers get involved? Can the copper merchant get his comeuppance for lying about the quality of his goods? And when the village wise-woman is laid low by sorcery, can her familiar find a way to save her? It will take luck, ingenuity, and more than a bit of magic...but it just might work.

Plot your course, manage supplies, study apocalypse biota, and don't lose your mind. You'll find out why the world was ruined, or die trying.

Play as yourself, play as me, play as spaghetti, play as sauce. Find closure in the end. Or don't.

You will be aided in your journey by the gardens' keepers: a gardener, a botanist, a librarian, and an enigmatic hermit. Form bonds of friendship or pursue a slow-burn romance as you roleplay, helping these companions with quests that draw you deeper into their individual stories.

The Secrets of Sylvan Gardens will transport you into an original cozy fantasy setting inspired by Italian Renaissance gardens and Greek mythology.

• A story shaped by your decisions, with over 260 unique variations on the ending.

• Illustrated with 19 original watercolor paintings.

• Scored with nine original pieces of music by an award-winning classical composer.

• LGBTQ+ representation and four romance options with diverse genders.

You're a private investigator who has been hired to ensure the show goes off without a hitch. Will you uncover the devious plot that threatens opening night? You must, or you won't get the chance to dance with someone special at the masquerade ball!

This humorous, character-driven roleplaying game evokes the atmosphere of 17th century Venice in a queer-positive, original cozy fantasy setting populated by elves, tieflings, bugbears, and gnomes.

• A mystery-solving game with (optional) romance scenes at the end.

• RPG-style mechanics with stats, die rolls, and skill checks.

• Illustrated with 13 original pastel drawings.

Not a sequel, but a side-story of the original Galaxy Jones from Spring Thing 2023.

NOTE: This story is not screen-reader-friendly.

The account I am writing to-day, however, is not of a criminal nature, and will not be sent out for mass publication as my past ones have been. Instead I have endeavoured to give trusted acquaintances such as yourself a glimpse into the daily lives of myself and my dear friend—an exercise in reminiscence which has brought me no small amount of joy, and which I hope will also entertain the reader.

Overcome natural hazards and mischievous pixies in your path. Form bonds of friendship or pursue a slow-burn romance with a traveling party of four travel companions — two half-orcs, a halfling, and an elf — each with their own stories to tell.

Play as a pilgrim, adventurer, or astronomer in this cozy fantasy adventure inspired by the landscapes and folklore of the Dartmoor and the Southwest of England.

• Three roleplaying backgrounds and four romance routes, each with unique endings.

• Illustrated with original watercolor paintings.

• Player character customization, including fully customizable personal pronouns.

• LGBTQ+ representation and romance options with diverse genders.

...who whacked Jimmy Piñata?

Thanks to Zed Lopez for reviewing the game's code, and Robert Eggleston, Gamefic, kirihearts, Tabitha, and WindySilver for playtesting.

As job applications go, it's still better than writing another cover letter.

CW: graphic violence, sexually suggestive content, toxic academia, denial of agency, hunger, death.

Years later, you emerge from your bunker to investigate the ailing Substation Arcadia, ascertain the whereabouts of its crew and restart its purification reactor. Succeed, and humanity may still fulfil the promises of Mars.

Write a poem, compete to become the official court poet, possibly uncover a plot to usurp the throne, and try not to offend anyone... unless?

For optimal gameplay, please run on desktop using Google Chrome!

• Discover lighthearted, sometimes insightful conversation.

• Interact with a diverse cast of characters connected in various ways.

• Delve into a mysterious throughline. Can you decipher your fate?

• 20 different endings. Which ones will you choose?

NOTES:

- Vorple requires a web server to run offline. It's simpler to play online!

- For the best gaming experience, play on a device with a keyboard!

A whole day lost in the jungle! You’re bruised, dirty, and thirsty. But now you’re out. Finally! You’ve found your Jeep and you’re ready to leave this whole experience behind you. Except… Are those monkeys climbing through your car?

And where are your car keys?

An old-school, parser-based puzzler, set deep in the jungle. Here, you explore the overgrown edges of a lost, ancient city while trying to recover your keys from a troop of mischievous primates. Includes intermediate level puzzles with a built-in hint system for beginners.

Navigate a cyberpunk reimagining of L.M. Montgomery's beloved story of friendship and creative rebellion. Take on a looming corporate conspiracy as Anne remakes her new life at Green Cables*.

(* Cables with a C)

"There's always more to it than meets the eye..." To others, a tired cliché. To you, the cardinal principle that has successfully guided you in all your cases as The Sleuth.

And you, Detective Pearce, are not about to let this one go cold.

NAME

whoami -- display effective user id

SYNOPSIS

whoami

DESCRIPTION

The whoami utility displays your effective user ID as a name.

This is your life. Don't let them down.

(Content warning: Body horror, Gore, Derealization)

A powerful urge draws you southward towards what you know is your destiny, but before you can grasp it you must reclaim your identity. Follow your fragments through your own past and discover what happened to the world—and to you alongside it.

Memories are mutable. The future is unwritten. But can you ever truly change who you are?

The following is an excerpt from an op-ed titled "The Recent Rise of TO-Induced Explosions Shows We Need to Ban Handshakes" by Caroline Stuart in the New Terra Times:

"I don't enjoy saying, 'I told you so,' but ever since the Sensible Party refused to follow our advice, more and more people have been injured by that l*wd activity known as handshaking. Imagine: two people secretly meeting in an alley, away from our respectable surveillance cameras and the police, to engage in this egregious activity involving skin-to-skin contact. They must have revolting, despicable, and shameful thoughts!

"I once met a child who shook hands with an adult, and after that, she became a handshaking addict. She was only 38, poor girl. So much to live for, yet she must now spend the rest of her childhood and perhaps a bit of her adulthood in rehab. She told me, 'I can't stop shaking hands. It hurts too much if I don't.' I cry for her soul. Will the Sensible Party listen to her cries and realize that people will lose everything when their hands touch other hands?"

Will you find a better world for the children, or will you let it fall into decay?

“Frankenfingers” is an homage to gothic horror. A standard text-adventure, it is unique in that it is a parser game written mainly in verse. There is some implied violence and very mild (brief) gore. No AI was used in any way in the writing or packaging of the game but several online rhyming dictionaries and thesauri were left in tatters.

For optimal gameplay, please run on desktop using Google Chrome!

NOTE: Not optimized for mobile browsers.

Wait, no.

*OVER* a piece of interactive fiction about losing your mind in an amusement park.

Hm, not quite right either.

Welcome to *OVER*, 66,000-ish words set sometime in the mid-90s at an All-American-Theme Park. It's a pick-your-path adventure, with three distinct endings, that is more novel than it is video game.

And, yet, who can confidently say where that line gets drawn anyway?

In the era of vacations with no cell phones, the revolution of cheap walkie-talkies was a short-lived, golden opportunity for interpersonal chaos. There's only so many channels, after all, you were bound to hear things that were certainly not meant for your ears.

What's the worst that could happen?

NOTES:

- Vorple requires a web server to run offline. It's simpler to play online!

- For the best gaming experience, play on a device with a keyboard!

Experience the latest in Artificial Incompetence technology right in your browser! This game has it all: treasure, monsters to attack or bargain with, items to pick up or drop, and doors to open as you enter abandoned properties at your leisure.

The game features our latest UI technology! Experience fully automated customization of font shapes and sizes. No more fiddling with game settings, the game takes care of it all! Now, you only need to get to the treasure before our advanced Mobile Support kicks in.

NOTE: My game uses a canvas element to draw the "parser game input/output" on the screen. It also makes use of timed text to emulate the "terminal I/O" and occasionally for dramatic effect. All of this won't work with screen readers. If you rely on screen reader technology, you may want to look at other IFComp entries instead.

I do try to be inclusive and I have therefore added a screen reader support toggle (currently in beta) in the options dialog reachable from the main menu. When screen reader support is enabled, the parser game text will be merged with the commentary by Roger and Wilco, and all timers will be disabled, thus producing a single page which can be read out by a screen reader. Feel free to try it out, and let me know how it works out for you.

There is a village, isolated and buried deep within the foothills of the mountain's shadow. A place where there is no hunger or sickness. But such bounty comes at a cost. A cost that everyone knows, but fears to speak aloud.

But surprise—your ratty backpack is a portal to medieval times! Armed with everyday wonders from the modern world (like, wow, a laser pointer), your power fantasies might have a new kingdom to call home.

What will you pack (besides anger management issues) to win an audience with the King? Can you make life rule again… or will your selfish instincts lead to very medieval consequences?

Grab your belongings and get out of there. If only you didn't have that old Talking Heads song stuck in your ear all the time...

(A formative sapphic relationship and a whole lot of ambition; what could go wrong?)

This Twine game, which is based on the bonkers personality tests some employers are using to evaluate job candidates (for a taste, see this Reddit thread at https://tinyurl.com/2s489wzc), was made with zero AI input. Still, expect responses to your answers that border on the hallucinatory! Possible endings include cooking up a "Corporate Sellout Burger," a "Dodged That Bullet Burger," a "Ships Passing Burger," or a "Love Connection Burger": if you don't crash and burn beforehand. But you can always reapply!

If you'd like to reach out about anything, please use the contact form on my webpage: https://hernandooney.com/contact/

˖ choose your path for the sheer joy of it as everything has been said and made and sold ˖ make words make love to one another, like that time in days of yore, before they were sand, when a sewing machine and an umbrella had their rendez-vous on an operating table ˖ they also used to say to "believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak" if that's of any consolation?

“Just Two Wishes” is a politically themed short story in three parts.

Break into prohibited spaces, appease the demands of bizarre tunnel dwellers, and most importantly, snap “forbidden” photos to uncover hidden clues and attempt to win the contest!

An IF adaptation of a Franz Kafka short story.

Or, at least it was, until yesterday.

For centuries, The Tempest Council has watched helplessly as the threads of fate coalesced into a portent of destruction. Even with all their wit and might bent against it, they failed to rewrite the course of history. And now, the final strands have fallen into place. There are no other possible futures - this world is doomed, and the end is upon them all.

The scope of their failure fractured their alliance - for why keep working together when it has all been for nothing in the end? Each of the four Winds cast off their title, took up a new moniker, and retreated to their strongholds to devise a plan. For, even if this world is doomed, there still might be something to do about it.

And now, we come back to you. The alliance that you fought tooth-and-nail to join has dissolved, and you are left with only one decision to make. What are you going to do about the end of everything?

---

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE Mooncrash! PLAYTESTERS:

3 Anonymous individuals

Bodhi M-K

R. P. Thompson

Dryhavich

Anya Logan

Alex

Yerba

Nathan Showell

ProfessorG

Special thanks to the Portland State University Interactive Fiction class members and instructors!

For optimal gameplay, please run on desktop using Google Chrome!

(Previously released in 2023 only in Spanish, the game is submitted in English as a new work.)

Dive into a delectable noir-tinted parser adventure featuring a smooth blend of situational comedy, amazing multimedia effects, and intense fights with culinary llamas.

Download the feelies here: https://intfiction.org/uploads/short-url/45lJfz934H9eQ7YHj5ulhiqRxvC.zip

A sequel to Yancy At The End Of The World. Knowledge of that game isn't required to understand this one. Please play on Edge or Firefox if you can.

P.S. Replay the game when you reach the end. Yancy is asking you to, after all.

At least, not until you receive an absolutely nasty mission. A celebrity bomber? A renegade Corpodarling?

What could possibly go wrong?

You're sitting across from a man in an unfamiliar place. It's dark. You don't know his name.

A choice-based interactive story that happens mostly in one room.

(& my first submission to IF!!! happy to be here)

You're a producer for the TV show Celebrity Houses. You want to get Willy, the founder of a world famous novelty company, to agree to be in an episode. He agrees to let the show feature his extravagant manor if one person comes and completes his "test." Not knowing what it entails, you are sent alone with a map and a lamp to his house.

Experience this puzzling parser adventure in a bizarre house, where not everything is as it seems.

Your papers say you cannot leave the Pale of Settlement.

[To play, you need to download and install a ZX Spectrum emulator such as FUSE or ZX Spin.]

Features:

This parser-based interactive fiction uses standard commands (you can find a list in the HELP menu). If you get stuck, there’s an integrated hints menu, or you can read the walkthrough. The walkthrough also includes six artworks and a guide to all the footnotes. The game has multiple endings: two game overs, one main ending, an alternative path to the main ending, and one side ending.

AI:

As you may know, English isn’t my native language, and in my previous works that was sometimes a drawback. For this project I focused on a smaller location and used ChatGPT as a writing assistant. I ran almost every sentence through it several times to correct grammar, smooth out phrasing, and find the most context-appropriate terms. It often suggested multiple options, and that really helped me tell my story the way I meant it, even in a language I’m not yet fluent in.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy playing this game and, to quote ChatGPT punning me: ‘Break a lock—uh, leg!’ ⛈️

Zeno August 2025.

Think of someone whose love once meant the world to you.

Take a deep breath, and enter.

---

Play as yourself and share your pain with a Faceless Voice. Let it listen to you. You would be wise to listen to it in turn.

There are 90+ achievements, but unlocking them all is not the point. The point is to play in the way that is personal to you. Only you.

Once you've finished your journey, if you'd like to leave your mark on this place - you'll know what to do. I'll be waiting. Goodluck.

uncountable noun

a set of right-wing political beliefs that includes strong control of society and the economy by the state, a powerful role for the armed forces, and the stopping of political opposition

To see supporting graphics and info, check out https://dmarymac.itch.io/seawinds

You will be armed with only one tool: a spear, a hatchet, or a pistol. With that, you must survive the island's dangers and uncover its secrets.

Every choice you make will have a lasting effect. Thus, your fate lies solely in your hands.

Will you make it?

A few months ago, after your check-up, your doctor told you: «We need to keep your blood pressure under control. I'm prescribing a medication for you to take every morning, but I also recommend exercising and taking a nice walk every day if you can. Start gradually and try to build up to about ten thousand steps a day, but don't overdo it.»

You are fortunate to live in a coastal city. The beach, especially out of season, is an excellent place to enjoy a free and easy walk and breathe in the fresh air.

Inspired by the famous ZX Spectrum text adventure "The Hobbit", Hobbiton Recall is a retro-inspired point-and-click adventure that fuses the mind-bending sci-fi of Total Recall with the whimsical fantasy of The Hobbit, all wrapped in the pixelated charm of the text adventures of yester-year.

Play as Dave Crowe, an ordinary factory worker with an extraordinary dream—to live the life of a Hobbit. When he visits Rekall, a company specializing in memory implants, things quickly spiral out of control. Soon finding himself in the mythical land of Hobbiton (after a run in with his wife), Dave is greeted by the enigmatic wizard Randalf, who thrusts him into an epic quest filled with goblins, elves, dark riders, cryptic riddles, and a lingering question: Is this real, or just the dream he paid for?

Navigate treacherous landscapes, solve intricate puzzles, and uncover the truth behind Dave’s unexpected adventure in a world where reality and fantasy collide.

Yes - it's every bit as terrible as it sounds!

The story being quite linear, I've made it possible to achieve different scores based on choices. You can let certain characters suffer unspeakable fates, or work out how to save them - and there are multiple ways of approaching different puzzles.

I've bug tested it as much as I can - but I'm sure I have probably missed a whole bunch of bugs - (bug testing your own game is exhausting! You begin to go 'bug blind' and sick of the whole damn thing!). The game is completable, but if you notice anything that isn't quite right (which is easier said than done due to my warped sense of humour) - then give me a poke!

A big shout out to Robin Johnson - who devised the "Gruescript" engine I used to create this game. Without his brilliant work, this game wouldn't have been possible. I recommended searching out Gruescript - it's free to use, but I encourage you to tip Robin generously!

Overall, enjoy! This game is not meant to offend any purists - it's just meant to be a good laugh. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

- All images created using Sora on chatgpt.com -

A trailer about how human agency fades and freedom of choice erodes; choice is a muscle, when unused, it weakens — actually, it happens every moment.

This is a social manipulation game, written in a strange and silly style in emulation of 12 Oz. Mouse, Achewood, and hard boiled crime novels.

BE FOREWARENED! As of 8/28, this release is the untested alpha build. If you can wait until 9/1 to play it, that would be swell but I expect no favors! This is my first IF game and the scope got away from me. And plus I moved across the country this month lol.

Anyway, I am excited to share this game with you and grateful for any and all feedback or time spent playing it.

May the horse be with you,

This adventure has been fine tuned and optimized to permit a player to paste the prompt into either the free version of Claude.Ai or ChatGPT and have a play and entire adventure.

Instead of pre-selected "choices", players tell the GM "Investigate the smoking cabinet" or "Consult the legal department on ...". The GM, within the well known limitations of AI, will improvise a response and move the story along.

To play: past the contents of the attached file into either Claude.ai or ChatGPT. Feel free to try it out on other LLM platforms, but your mileage will vary.

Note: No artificial intelligence was used to create the text or art in this game. Be aware, nonetheless, that this game will use generative artificial intelligence if you play it. See readme.