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A Mind Forever Voyaging for the story and setting.
I doubt anyone would get a quarter of quality from genAI though.
I'm shocked nobody's mentioned the Interactive Fiction Database, which is loaded up with tons of these available for free as abandonware or FOSS, depending on when it was created. Here's my favorite, Conterfeit Monkey: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl It takes unique advantage of the text-based format by allowing the player to add and remove letters from words to transform any noun into any other noun if…
If anybody wants a quick intro to the game that works on mobile, here’s a demo I made that works in the browser and lets you tap links instead of learn parser syntax:
Text adventure games are fun and I enjoy them a few times per year.
I need to mention "Eaten By a Grue" podcast. Kay Savitz (sp?) and Kerrington Vanston play all the INFOCOM games and review them. It is an excellent library of text game commentary and insight.
Very highly recommended. They do produce a new episode from time to time as of 2024.
The very best games combine witty writing, bonkers puzzles and premises and enough freedom to let you the player actually adventure some without feeling like you are on a ride with rails.
Gen AI may well come up with prose, but how well will it do character, puzzles and link game history into the thing like we see in the better titles?
That said, my mind is open. Let us see some productions!
We do have a IF game compo every year. "Eaten By a Grue" has reviewed a few games and basically listeners come away with the idea there are great new games every year.
I see others mention "lost pig" and 'nuff said.
I welcome a production to play and review.
We are going through something of a golden age of text-based games. There are still plenty of parser-based games being created but choice-based games have been growing in popularity and complexity over the last few years. And yes, people have been experimenting with generative AI. There are several competitions each year for new text based games and an active community. https://intfiction.org Tooting my own horn, if…
Hi Andrew, just wanted to me and my family really enjoyed Voyage of the Marigold! It's such an excellent little game. We played through it a couple of time, each time discovering new things. Thank you for writing it. I've played Star Trek: Resurgence a couple of months ago, and I must say I enjoyed your game much more than Resurgence, which is incredible considering that it was written just by you. IMO your game stay…
https://ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Tangle.z5
https://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/qski30iszearnimjkrzv...
I played all 4 games in series and still occasionally think about the story and world they built.
Wishbringer is more of a gentle dip into that world, and the events in it have no bearing on the rest of the series, but if you like Wishbringer or find it too easy then you will really like or maybe even love Enchanter, Sorcerer, and Spellbreaker.
This isn't my "favorite" but if you're going to mention generative AI and text adventure games and you don't know about AI Dungeon, well, now you do: https://play.aidungeon.com/ I was always terrible at text adventure games because my brain does not run on the style of logic that they do. I mean that without any particular judgment. I observe that it at least sometimes makes sense to other people. But I have sometime…
I don’t play it much any more, but it brings me joy to know that it is still online. The world is expansive and multiplayer. Best text based game I’ve played.