Home
The Baron
Mar 1, 2006 (0:00)

Ostensibly, The Baron (in Dutch De Baron) is the story of a father who sets out to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Moving through a fairytale land of dark woods and crumbling castles, he is forced to make difficult choices until he finally stands before the evil baron himself. But all is not as it seems.

The Baron is a puzzleless piece of interactive fiction of short to medium length and high replayability. Among the innovative design features are the fact that it is left to the reader to decide which of the possible endings are the better or truer ones (thus, one cannot win or lose in any traditional sense); that there are moments when the player decides not just what action she will take, but also for what moral reason; and that highly non-linear menus are used for both conversations and some actions.

Read the full entry

Fate
Mar 1, 2007 (0:00)

In Fate, the player takes on the role of young queen Catherine. In the last stages of pregnancy, powerless and surrounded by enemies, her only hope of saving her unborn son's life is through magical rituals. But when using magic, everything comes at a price. What are you willing to sacrifice?

Fate has short to medium length, and contains several puzzles. It also has an integrated hint system that will walk you through the puzzles if necessary. From a design perspective, the main innovations are that you can, at any point of the game, see the future that your previous actions have prepared for you; and that the central question of the piece is whether that future is good enough for you, or whether further sacrifices are worth making.

Read the full entry

Figaro
Apr 30, 2007 (23:00)

Figaro is a very short example game, created to accompany the essay "Co-Authorship and Community" which my entry for Innovation Comp. (It was also the only entry, and therefore it automatically won.) The player takes on the role of Figaro, as he hides himself in order to spy on his wife Suzanna, whom he suspects of adultery.

This game gives the player a kind of freedom that is not seen in any other interactive fiction: the freedom to determine what the state of the world is at the beginning of the game. For instance, the player is allowed to choose what Figaro has in his inventory as soon as they take inventory.

Read the full entry

Kerkerkruip
May 11, 2013 (12:23)

What is Kerkerkruip?

Kerkerkruip is a dungeon crawling game that brings together the interactive fiction medium with the roguelike genre. You take on the role of an adventurer in a randomly generated dungeon, whose only hope of escape is to destroy the mighty wizard Malygris. The game has been designed to offer a diverse array of meaningful tactical and strategical options, and combines the thrill of random combat with the skill of complex puzzle solving.

Where do I get Kerkerkruip?

Read the full entry