# The Games of the 2017 IFComp

# Welcome

This document lists all the entries of the 2017 Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, with their cover art, blurbs, and other author-supplied information exactly as they stood when the competition opened for public judging on October 1, 2017.

You may also wish to read some further notes about the 2017 IFComp, including a list of the volunteers who helped make it possible.

# The games

To play these games, please find and explore the folder labeled “Games” that accompanied your download of this document. It contains a complete collection of all the listed work.

For a brief guide to all the different file formats you'll find among the games, please see A player's guide to IFComp file formats.

The online version of this page features controls and links that can help you download and play these games individually.

## 10pm

litrouke

10pm, and dinner is still sitting in the oven.

The TV is droning. The front door is closed.

You look at the clock.

You look at the door.

You wait.

Content warning: Profanity, allusions to sex and violence, unhealthy parenting.

## 1958: Dancing With Fear

Victor Ojuel

"Dancing with Fear" (1958, directed by Víctor Ojuel). In this forgotten classic of Golden Age Hollywood, a vedette fallen on hard times (Salomé Vélez) finds herself enmeshed in a tangle of political intrigue, romance and betrayal in a Caribbean republic. Torn between her love for a smuggler, the lust of a corrupt policeman and the machinations of a Soviet intelligence operative, the protagonist navigates the dangers of a high-society party on the eve of revolution. As she tries to survive through that fateful night, the memories of her past will come to haunt her. Controversial at the time for its depiction of Cold War politics and morally ambiguous protagonist. (120 minutes, Technicolor, in-game hint system).

## 8 Shoes on the Shelves

Marc Duane

An account of one soldier's unfortunate attempt to locate a secret buried beneath the war-torn Flemish countryside.

Content warning: violence, war, self-harm

## A Beauty Cold and Austere

Mike Spivey

That survey course in conceptual mathematics seemed like a good idea at the start of the term - no graded homework, no midterm exams - just an oral final at the end.

But now that final is tomorrow morning. After months of procrastination you've got one night left to learn enough to pass the course.

You might even be desperate enough to try one of your roommate's sketchy memory pills.

Estimated playtime: longer than two hours

## A Castle of Thread

Marshal Tenner Winter

Your family is known to be expert language keepers in your village . Your specialty is an ancient, dead language called Ixteesh. You never thought it would be useful for much of anything, but then you are summoned to the city many days away. Something has been found and someone who knows Ixteesh is needed.

Now, you have been sent on this errand and you'll soon learn there is danger in this task.

Content warning: fantasy violence

Estimated playtime: two hours

## A common enemy

David de Torres Huerta

A forgotten spacial project will cause millions of victims and there is nothing that anyone can do, but you are the only one that can save the rest of the world from the first nuclear world in history. Will you be able to create a plan that will save the humanity from the nuclear armaggedon?

Content warning: Mild swearing.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## a partial list of things for which i am grateful

Devon Guinn

i hope that this list will never be finished

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## A Walk In The Park
Fresh Air / Green Hair

Extra Mayonnaise

You're a punk in the park and you've no place to go. Meet some interesting people. Enjoy a bird's company. Don't get lost. And avoid authority.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Absence of Law

mathbrush

Excuse me, can you help me? Yes, you, browsing IFcomp games! I need your assistance, but I don't have long. There's so much going on: remote surveillance, unauthorized cloning, forgotten languages, robots playing poker. It's time to take control!

Absence of Law is a science fiction comedy from the author of Ether and Color the Truth. This game is designed to be accessible to those who have never played parser games, while keeping a few surprises for parser experts.

The online version of this game uses non-standard colors and fonts, and has a complete musical soundtrack that can be enabled from the first menu. The download zip contains both a full offline web version (index.html) and a gblorb file with no colors or sound.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Alice Aforethought

Hanon Ondricek

I need your help. I mean, you're the one who is supposed to talk me out of things before I do anything stupid.

Time has stopped moving, and that might turn out to have been my fault. I didn't mean to do it. You must believe me. I'll prove it to you if you help me fix this. There are other people who might be able to help us.

Unfortunately, they are all mad.

Content warning: Madness. Mayhem. Mushrooms. Other things that begin with M.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## AND WHEN I SQUINT IT LOOKS LIKE CHRISTMAS
An all-ages Twine adventure game!

Norbez

Oh no! Young Polly has been transported to a strange, magical land by an evil wizard. Help her get back home in this Twine adventure! This game was designed as a young player's first introduction to hypertext interactive fiction, but has a story that's sure to charm readers of all ages. It's around 40,000 words, but is split up into good-sized chapters, and a save feature to mark your place when you need to stop reading. Enjoy!

Content warning: While this is a children's game, it does loosely explore some more mature topics. Not whole-heartedly recommended for super young kids (3 and under).

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Antiquest

Anton Lastochkin

Are you tired of fighting an annoying parser and unraveling strange puzzles? Come along, and you and the parser will fight together against logic and common sense! You won't be bored with this game's cheerful atmosphere and freedom of action. The goal of the game is to collect all possible endings. Don't be discouraged if you suddenly get stuck, because there is a built-in mini-game that can give you a hint on how to find the remaining endings. To enable it, you just need to find old endings again and hope for luck.

Note: This game was designed for the HTML TADS Player Kit (http://www.tads.org/tads3.htm). Another interpreter that appears to support the game is QTads (http://qtads.sourceforge.net/downloads.shtml). You can use universal interpreters, including Zoom, Spatterlight, and Gargoyle, but no you'll see no graphics and get no music.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Behind the Door

eejitlikeme

It all started around a month ago, when you received the first postcard with imprinted exotic flowers and beautiful butterflies. The postcards continued to arrive in your mailbox - without any text apart from the address, which was not so far from your house. Finally, you decided to come over and find out about the sender...

{Credits for testing: Andreas Bayr, Anna Bulina, Klemens Jahrmann}

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Black Marker

Michael Kielstra

Hidden in the shadows, the Agency works for the safety of the citizens. If your goals or beliefs do not appear to align with those of the Agency, you are liable to find yourself in trouble. There are those who believe that it is a menace and must be shut down. There are also those who find it far too useful to destroy. After all, it's good to know what terrorists are planning before they carry it out. You have worked with the Agency for years. What will you think?

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Bookmoss

Devon Guinn

While researching for a novel, a bookworm dad brings his teenage daughter to Houghton Library, Harvard College’s primary repository of rare books and manuscripts. When they meet a strange set of twin librarians, the two quickly realize that Houghton is full of otherworldly secrets.

Created with support of the Houghton Library 75th Anniversary Fellowship.

## Charlie The Robot

Fernando Contreras

Earth is overpopulated and low on resources: the puppies, the kitties, and the fishies are all gone. There are not enough jobs, yet Hiremy & Hirschl has employed robots as middle management staff, which causes much friction. According to the employees, Charlie the robot is malfunctioning. But it could be that Charlie is being bullied. And what is a Shrimp Shake?

Meanwhile, you are being tested by the ISG, and if you make the Elite® ranks, you'll be able to live on Mars and start a new civilization with people who are as intelligent as you. But the exam questions are suspect at best.

This is only the plot. Your job, really, is to find out the value of human existence.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Day of the Djinn

paperyowl

As you're forced out of the comfort of your home by an ancient curse, you'll discover new things about old places, and perhaps even yourself. Meet a smattering of figures with more to them than meets the eye, learn about your homeland's dubious past, and open new doors. Defy your fate.

Day of the Djinn is a medium-length game with a few puzzles that should take 1-2 hours. Seven endings- but what matters is the journey and the path you choose to walk.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Deshaun Steven's Ship Log

Marie L. Vibbert

Deshaun has spent his adult years - all five of them - working on a space cruise ship, setting light and sound cues for untalented Lido deck performers. Waking up hung-over on New Year's Day, he vows that this year his life will change. He doesn't know how correct he will be.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Domestic Elementalism

fireisnormal

The plants that grow out of your bedroom walls are associated with Earth. The fairy lights strung across your kitchen are associated with Fire. Change an object's element, and the object will turn into something else.

As a research witch, elemental transformation is second nature to you. And that's just as well, because your house is malfunctioning, and you'll need to use everything you know to put it right.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Eat Me

Chandler Groover

In this castle, you'll eat or be eaten.

May contain dairy, carnage, puzzles, nuts.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Escape from Terra
An Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Adventure

Mike Gerwat

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Étude Circulár

Adam Black

@fakeAdamBlack

Content warning: Profanity, Violence

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Fake News

Mike Sousa

I had enough fake news clouding my head even before remembering the words of Zobra the Seer, that today I would encounter great peril, end up in the news, and discover the fate of my great-grandparents. Get out, Zobra. I just want to head to the Algarve for some R&R.

----------------

Please Note: Online play has been enabled and tested on multiple browsers. If you choose to play locally, this story requires the HTML TADS interpreter (http://www.tads.org/tads3.htm) or the QTads interpreter (http://qtads.sourceforge.net/downloads.shtml). Universal interpreters such as Zoom, Spatterlight and Gargoyle do not support HTML TADS. You can find the stand-alone version in the zip file.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## Future Threads

Xavid

You see it.

Today is the day they will come.

Their ship will crash, but the resulting explosion will trouble them not at all.

They will emerge, wrapped in shadows and smoke, from the wreckage.

Their senses will lead them unerringly to Kayla, wherever she hides.

She is but a girl. She is not at all ready.

And you will not be here to protect her, for they know your weakness: you must return to the obelisk before midday, or the poison of this world will kill you.

And Kayla will be alone.

You blink, and the vision fades, but it is no less true. You still see the traces of the future around you. The traces will last until the noon sun, and it is well that they will do so, for you will need them.

You can see the future. But is that enough to let you change it?

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Goodbye Cruel Squirrel
Really, They're Just Cute Rats

Extra Mayonnaise

You are a gray squirrel in a suburban neighborhood. Your mission is to save your tribe from starvation. Enjoy the characters you meet, and be creative in solving puzzles.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## Grue.
It is pitch black. You are a grue.

Charles Mangin

It is pitch black. You are a grue.

Can you catch your next meal, or will you succumb to starvation and worse?

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Guttersnipe:St. Hesper's Asylum for the Criminally Mischievous
All the latest treatments for good little children

Bitter Karella

The year is 1929. You are Lil' Ragamuffin, the roughest toughest urchin in all of Garbagetown DC and the surrounding wastes of Montgomery County, but somehow the constabulary has managed to capture you and commit you to the city's highest security asylum. You don't aim to stay long.

Guttersnipe: St. Hesper's Asylum for the Criminally Mischievous is a humorously grotesque (or grotesquely humorous) game about a street urchin and her pet sewer rat escaping a sanitarium full of tinctures, brines, and other misbegotten 1920s health remedies.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## Harbinger

Kenna

A week ago a horrible thing emerged and killed the wizard of the tower. You were there; you saw it happen. You are the only one who knows what's coming, and on your own you have no means to stop it. That's not going to stop you from trying.

## Harmonia

Liza Daly

Fuller, A. (b. 1966, d.?) 12 chapters, edited by E. Merchant.

091 Manuscripts—096 Illustrated—098 Prohibited works, forgeries, and hoaxes

Signed permission from the Dean required for viewing. No exceptions.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Haunted P
A very spooky story about science.....

Chad Rocketman

Discover fascinating minature worlds.... interact with an intricately modeled NPC.... discover the secret of the magical substance, P, and how it became to be haunted....

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Hexteria Skaxis Qiameth

Gabriel Floriano

A dinner with your friend. Strange words. Stranger books.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Inevitable
A tiny one-room escape-your-fate adventure

Matthew Pfeiffer

It's hard being an unsuccessful mad scientist. You're spending valuable time making ends meet when you should be bossing around henchmen.

Now that your latest invention, the TIME SCRYER, is complete, nothing can stop your rise to glory.

Inevitable is a tiny one-room escape-your-fate adventure.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Insignificant Little Vermin
A sword & sorcery simulation rendered in text

Filip Hracek

Escape slavery in Mount Bloodrock, an underground enclave of orcs and goblins preparing for war. What will you discover in these dark caves? What mayhem can you wreak on your way out? And how will your former captors remember you?

Explore a simulated living (and dying) world inhabited by AI actors, rendered through text.

Content warning: Violence

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Into The Dark
A dark fantasy adventure in medieval times, following the monster hunter Jacobi Kozlov.

Byron Kiernan

Play as Jacobi Kozlov, a renowned Monster Hunter and war veteran, in a dark fantasy medieval world as you try to seek out a peaceful future. Faced with the dark intentions of man and beast, prepare to see what a man will truly do to protect what he loves.

Content warning: Dark themes, murder, suicide and betrayal

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Just Get the Treasure v0.9.1

Ray B.

The Chalice of Destiny shines before you. Claim it and you will liberate your people from "the evil" wizard Malvox. It's really a pretty straightforward affair. You can jump in, save the world, and get on with your other business pretty quick. Oh, wait! The goblin! I almost forgot to mention the goblin. He guards the Chalice of Destiny. You are going to have to decide how deal with him. That might slow things down a bit depending on how you decisive you are. Aaaaand, I should probably add that there are over 60 possible outcomes. Most of them are not very pleasant. I'm rooting for you, though!

Content warning: Some depictions of violence may not be appropriate for younger players. One path presents an option for self-harm.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Land of the Mountain King

Kenneth Pedersen

You, the mighty Viking warrior Kral, are walking in the woods looking for prey, when you are suddenly shrouded in a cloud of white smoke. The smoke is too dense to see through, but eventually the smoke clears and you find yourself on a barren plain.

As you turn around, you see an old witch stand before you. "Listen carefully, Kral!" the witch whispers with a hoarse voice.

"I have summoned you here to help me clear this land from the evil mountain king, who lives in his castle up north. The mountain king terrorizes this land, and must die so that peace can be restored around here. If you succeed you will be significantly rewarded.

"You will meet various of his evil guardians on your quest, so take care. Unfortunately I could not bring you here with your weapons, so you will have to make do with what you find around here.

"Good luck!"

With those words, the witch disappears in a puff of white smoke.

Contains random combat and puzzle elements. NOTE: To play, you either need to download ADRIFT 5 from www.adrift.co/downloads or you can run the windows executable game included in the download below.

Content warning: Contains random combat

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Measureless to Man

Ivan R.

You're on your way home from Cairo, with nothing but a rumpled suit and an apple for lunch. But the plane passes through dark air, over a fathomless sea. Past the heavens, under the deep, there are secrets hidden in the crevices of the world. Something is in you, longing to seek them out. And why not?

Either way, you're doomed.

Content warning: Airplane danger of the kind that can exacerbate a fear of flying. Thrills and fantasy peril.

## Mikayla's Phone

Mikayla Corolik

Content warning: Anxiety and Depression subject matter

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Moon Base

Andrew Brown

This is a sci fi/horror game... I hope you enjoy/are scared by it!!! You'll need to run this using FIREFOX

Content warning: bloody violence

Estimated playtime: one hour

## My night

Ivsaez

You pick up a coach and you go with your best friends and the guy you like to your town house. You buy food, alcohol and tobacco. You are planning to have a party alone all weekend. Can there be a better plan for an 18-year-old girl? What can go wrong ...? Well, everything. "My night" is a story that delves into the worst fears of a teenager from Spain in the 90's. Carla will have to confront her problems with her friends, her past, her childhood fears and worst of all, see how a perfect plan is coming down without she can do anything to avoid it.

Content warning: This is a +18 game.

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## NIGHTBOUND

ProP

You've just arrived in a new land. You've left your past where it belongs--hundreds of leagues across the sea--and you hope to start fresh. But all is not well in this new country, and you soon find yourself in the thick of it. Will you end the growing threat here?

Given the opportunity to start over, what kind of person will you become?

NIGHTBOUND is a text-based RPG. It includes an inventory system, turn-based combat, and class and leveling systems. A full guide/walkthrough is included.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Nyna Lives

Sarah Rhiannon Nowack

The life of a witch's cat is no stroll in the park. It's more like a stroll through monster-infested woods, over temperamental streams, and across festering swamps. But you can handle it, right?

Hurry home, your mistress awaits...

Content warning: death and mild violence

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Off the Rails

Katie Benson

You're on your way to your parents for a very ordinary weekend. But you wish it wouldn't be so ordinary. What secrets are hidden in a mundane magazine? Where will the night take you? How far will you go to reuinite your splintered family?

Your journey starts here.

Content warning: Contains infrequent strong language and violence

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## One way out

Story by Steffen Görzig, Cover by Oliver Lindau

On the left side, a man with his heart full of tears.

On the right side, a woman with her head full of fears.

On both sides, desperate beings seek to break out of spheres.

Content warning: The story may contain material inappropriate for young children

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## Queer In Public: A Brief Essay
A hypertext essay about the Christian & LGBT community

Norbez

A discussion on how the Christian community talks about LGBTQ+ issues and people, and how thing can improve in the future.

Content warning: Just a head up: This is a nonfiction essay that discusses sex, gender, LGBTQ+ rights, conversion therapy, the AIDS crisis, personal trauma, misconceptions of LGBTQ+ people, and much more.

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Rage Quest: Disciple of Peace

John Ayliff

When Valtash the War God created orcs he gave them an inner rage that constantly urged them towards violence. A few orcs learned to use meditation to control this rage, and founded a remote monastery where they could live free of the War God's influence. But when the monastery is destroyed by human raiders, the last surviving Disciple of Peace must decide whether to give in to their rage and seek blood-soaked revenge, or resist and choose another path.

Content warning: Violence, cannibalism, suicide

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Rainbow Bridge

John Demeter

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Redstone

Fred

A VIP's been murdered at the reservation casino. As the deputy on call, it's up to you to find the killer. You have until morning before the FBI turns up the heat.

Redstone is a parser/choice hybrid designed for desktop and mobile browsers.

Playtesters: George Haley, Javri, Brian Rushton, and JKJ Yuio

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Run of the place
a political gauntlet of exactly two hours

WD\x{1F479}K

*** CONTENT WARNING *** Game output may contain vile racist language and who knows what else.

Note that you may need to download a Floo interpreter for your system.

side Beta, "Hot to Trot" edition

Content warning: Unpredictable output, may produce offensive language

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Salt

Gareth Damian Martin

The beach is a strip of heat.

You stand knee deep in the water, facing out to sea.

Familiar voices shimmer behind your head.

You take a breath, and then begin.

-

A game about swimming, thinking and the distant possibility of escape.

Salt is best experienced with headphones and a keyboard.

Music by Paws Menu.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Something

Linus Lekander

A washing dilemma.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## Swigian

Rainbus North

I don't like talking. Let's build a fire.

Swigian is a minimalist game. It is long, but quickly finished, with few words and few complications.

Content warning: Moderate violence. Mead-halls.

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Temperamentum

Matthew Sawchuk

It's been a rough year for Dolores Worth. She doesn't like to talk about it. But lately her dreams have been getting more and more intense. They keep her up at night. If she doesn't conquer the trauma of her past, her marriage, her life, even her very sanity could be in danger. She must find balance. She must find peace. She must. Keep. Going.

This game is made with ADRIFT and contains optional music.

Content warning: The author would rate this game as PG 13.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## TextCraft: Alpha Island

Fabrizio Polo

You talked big. Now prove it. Survive for a week on Alpha Island with no equipment save a pair of khaki shorts and a cell phone. Bear witness to escalating physical surreality as you come to understand your altered course. Brave dehydration, hunger, and intense weather in a daily struggle to make use of your environment. Build and customize Alpha Island into your home in this real-time, crafting-based, sci-fi adventure game.

To play you may need to right click and select "open" or "open with Java". You also might need to install/update Java. Visit the wiki: www.fabriziopolo.com/textcraft/wiki (contains separate spoiler-free and spoiler sections)

Estimated playtime: longer than two hours

## The Adventure of Esmeralda and Ruby on the Magical Island

Marco "Erik108" Anastasio

A story about two brothers looking for their missing friend, set in a special place. Who or what will they find on their adventure?

## The Castle of Vourtram

Alexandre Torres

The Kingdom of Gwalinad is in its last days of existence. The evil wizard Vourtram, aided by an army of demoniac creatures, razed most of the old cities, spreading terror everywhere. When the capital Linwynne fell, the loyal forces of the old King fled to the hidden city of Chuma Huppic, an old stronghold defended by a magical maze that prevents enemy forces from entering. However, Princess Grardobeth was captured, and many died in the hands of the evil wizard. The princess is kept as a hostage in the high tower of the Castle of Vourtram. Vourtram demands a marriage with the princess followed by the King's abdication, thus making him the new King over Gwalinad.

You are the hero, an orphan born under the sign of the Phoenix who, according to the prophecies, is destined to defeat Vourtram and his evil forces. Pick your class between warrior, wizard, and thief, each with an exclusive path to solve the puzzles. The warrior has easier puzzles, but requires some luck; wizards and thieves only require brains. It is up to you to first develop your skills as a hero, and afterwards depart in the quest to rescue the princess and destroy the evil of ... The Castle of Vourtram.

Estimated playtime: longer than two hours

## The Cube in the Cavern

Andrew Schultz

A round world is scientifically ridiculous, of course, but a cube floating in air? You just might find a great scientific secret. Don't be too square to give it a try!

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## The Dragon Will Tell You Your Future Now

Newsreparter

The things they say about dragons can't really be true right? Maybe it was a bad idea to come here, maybe the only future the dragon holds is the one that ends with you in it's jaws tonight! Ridiculous, speciest thoughts; dragons have been part of our society for years. The dragon is a renowned fortunist running an entirely legitimate business. It's perfectly reasonable that you were only allowed to come here alone, in the dead of night. It's just nerves, you're excited to see the dragon. This will be fun. It's going to be fun.

Estimated playtime: 15 minutes or less

## The Dream Self

Florencia Minuzzi

'I want to get to know you'.

It's just another year of your normal London life – work, eat, sleep. However, in your dreams you keep meeting a translucent stranger, a person cloaked in clouds. Who are they, and how do they know so much about you? The way you approach your everyday life will change how your dreams unfold.

The Dream Self was made with Unity and Ink. The file below contains the Windows build, as well as an HTML file linking to the Mac build.

Content warning: Mild Violence

Estimated playtime: one hour

## The Fifth Sunday

Tom Broccoli

This cover image ramains property of its original owner.

## The Living Puppet

Liu Zian

This cover image ramains property of its original owner.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## The Murder in the Fog

Xiao Ru

This cover image ramains property of its original owner.

## The Owl Consults
Aboard the Airship "Mephistopheles"

Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney Hamilton

Once you've established yourself as the ruler of the crime world (and, eventually, the literal world), the only challenge left is helping out the next generation of supervillains---for a suitable fee, of course.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## The Richard Mines

Evan Wright

Czechoslovakia, 1949. Though World War Two has been over for several years, rumors of underground German factories still persist. No one has found found yet, until now...

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## The Silver Gauntlets
Reclaim what is yours

Jean-Paul Peschard

Ambrosine has lost her arms while saving her father from attempted murder. All is not without hope as there is legend of a far away kingdom where a magical fruit resides that may yet restore her missing limbs. Travel the lands while avoiding deadly traps and battling nightmarish creatures. You may just discover who you are meant to become.

Content warning: Some thematic content and imagery may be inappropriate for young children.

Estimated playtime: longer than two hours

## The skinny one.

Annie Z.

You take up too much room. You are so heavy and solid and real, and you don't want to be. You wish you could be like a child's balloon at a fair, drifting, attached only be a thin string. And you wish the child would let you slip from their hands, and you'd float off into the atmosphere.

Even if everyone would shout below for you to come back, you want to let go. And be free.

Content warning: Depiction of mental illness, explicit language, some adult situations

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## The Traveller

Kaelan Doyle Myerscough

Earth has fallen; the remains of humanity float adrift in space. To them, you are the savior of humanity... but on a routine scouting mission, you are lost, presumed dead. Alone in the vast expanse of space, you are a traveller with no home - and a mother who may never see her daughter again.

Explore five unique planets across time; encounter alien societies and make difficult moral choices; experience radically different themes, narrative trajectories and outcomes with every playthrough.

Played in-browser. Chrome recommended; also compatible with Firefox. Headphones recommended for best experience.

Content warning: Described violence; suicide.

Estimated playtime: longer than two hours

## The Unofficial Sea-Monkey(R) Simulation

B.J. Best

Sometime during 1987, your father comes home from work--late, as usual. He tosses a small box onto the kitchen counter. "Here," he says, "you wanted fish. You get these. Let's see how you do first, and then maybe we'll get a real tank."

Content warning: This story contains depictions of emotional abuse and alcoholism, as well as occasional strong language.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## The Very Old Witch and the Turnip Girl

Megan Stevens

The witch on the hill outside of town is retired. She threw in the towel long ago, when it became obvious that the humans don't need her help blighting and smiting each other. But the world isn't quite done with the very old witch. She has yet to face her three biggest obstacles: fear, apathy.... and motherhood.

## The Wand

Arthur DiBianca

Explore the wizard Bartholloco's castle with the help of a versatile magic wand. Can you overcome his challenge? Can you levitate a rock? Can you slice a baltavakia?

(Puzzle-oriented and family friendly.)

## The Wizard Sniffer

Buster Hudson

You were recently acquired by the brave Ser Leonhart and his squire to sniff out the evil shapeshifting wizard. Unfortunately, you are not a wizard sniffer (if such a thing even exists). As far as you can tell, you are an ordinary pig.

A comedy of errors experienced through a parser with a limited verb set. Also, puzzles.

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Transient Skies

dgtziea

You are heading back to your ship, your navvisor blinking hard data at you as you look around planetside -- mineral deposits, heat signatures, distant planets -- when you decide, for a moment, to turn it all off, and pause to look up instead at the glittering expanse of starry sky above.

It's disconcerting, all of this: the surface, the stars, and the vast spaces between. But out there, a speck in the sky, is your objective: the center of the galaxy.

(A Twine game about space exploration. Estimated playtime around 50 minutes.)

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Tuuli
An interactive ritual.

Daurmith and Ruber Eaglenest

"The old witch, your teacher Mákke, is dead. If you want to save your village you'll have to destroy the raiding fleet that's coming. Can you do it, young Lenne-who-would-be-the-witch?"

Cover photo by Benjamin Sloth Lindgreen.

Made during June 2017 for the JAM "Canciones del desierto, la tormenta y el mar". The game is inspired by the song "Tuuli" from the Swedish/Finnish group Hedningarna.

Polished, extended and translated for the 2017 IF Comp.

Content warning: Tuuli is a short work of fantasy with horror elements: graphic imagery and witchcraft. The game has around thirty minutes of play. There no need to make a map, but saving your progress is wise.

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## Ultimate Escape Room: IF City

Mark Stahl

You and your friends have fallen into the escape room craze that has swept the country in recent years. You love the feeling of living out a real life adventure game. You've made plans with your friends to try out a local escape room that has recently opened, but your friends have all stood you up. You've decided to attempt to escape the room on your own.

Prepare yourself for a somewhat surreal "escape the room" type experience. Do you have the wits necessary to find your way to the end of "The Wizard's Rainbow"? You have two hours to make your escape...

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Unit 322 (Disambiguation)

Jonny Muir

A mystery told entirely through the pages of an online encyclopedia.

Estimated playtime: half an hour

## VR Gambler

Robert DeFord

You start at the entrance to the Gold Coast Casino's new Virtual Reality Gaming Room. There is a neon sign over the doorway that says: GO ON A VR ADVENTURE! WIN BIG!

This parser-based game features puzzles, turn-based combat, leveling up, treasure, loot, weapons, armor, and classic adventuring. There is an integral non-spoiler hint system, and an in-game, contextual walkthrough for each puzzle and location. The player kit contains a map, a Windows interpreter, and instructions for setting up a Mac to run the game.

Estimated playtime: an hour and a half

## What Once Was

Luke A. Jones

You are in the final year of your PhD, your research topic is theoretical temporal mechanics (Time-Travel to the layman), your thesis conclusion is that it is possible in theory but impossible in practice.

You are in your office when you receive an urgent email from your supervisor Professor Weck asking for you to meet him in the laboratory.

Travel through time, navigate the perils of academia and solve the mystery of your missing supervisor.

Content warning: Occasional swearing by some NPCs

Estimated playtime: two hours

## Will Not Let Me Go

Stephen Granade

Dallas, Texas. 1996. Fred Strickland has Alzheimer's.

Estimated playtime: one hour

## Word of the Day

Richard Otter

You are the very first Outer Worlder to gain an appointment on a Bio-Drive vessel, let alone as part of the engineering team. Looking to gain enough credits to procreate could this be your first and last journey?

Estimated playtime: two hours