I want to try KerKerKruip. I tried running the installer from the website, but I don’t know what other dependencies I may need, where the installer put the files, or whether the game installed in the first place. How can I successfully run KerKerKruip, and are there any given materials on how to do so?
Welcome. You didn’t mention what OS you’re using. When you say ‘the website’, I’m assuming you mean the game’s home website? (https://kerkerkruip.org/) Admittedly it looks like that site may not have been updated for a few years. Which is potentially okay if the game hasn’t been updated for a few years, either 
The idea of having an installer for it is mostly to help people who are coming to the game not from interactive fiction circles avoid being intimidated about getting it going. Ironically this can backfire, as it seems to have in your case, when really, you only need two things… In general, launching an IF game requires the game file, and the interpreter app that plays that flavour of game file. In modern times, there aren’t that many flavours.
So while I can’t speak to your specific experience with the Kerkerkruip installer, I can point you towards the two bits you need.
On that Kerkerkruip download files page, click the one that says ‘Glulx Story File’. That’s the game file.
Next you need the interpreter. Gargoyle is preferred for Kerkerkruip, but you can use Wingit, too. So if you’re using Windows or a Mac, I’ve made a simplified download page for the Gargoyle and Wingit interpreters on a webpage for a game of mine (unrelated to Kerkerkruip). I’ll point you there because that’s easier than you wading around in github or similar sites.
So if you’re on Windows or Mac, go the following page, look at options 1 and 2 and download Gargoyle or Wingit for your OS:
https://six.wadeclarke.com/downloadsix/
(If you’re using Linux, someone else may need to chime in to this topic with more guidance)
Once you’ve got Gargoyle / Wingit, you can probably drag and drop Kerkerkruip on it, or you can open the app and then ‘Open’ the Kerkerkruip file from it. That should do it.
-Wade
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You can also view KerkerKruip on the IFDB website.
https://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=f7zdhxmiraht53d1
That page also has an online interpreter to play it in a browser. The direct link to it is here.
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Thank you for the instruction. I’m at least marginally familiar with the concept of interactive fiction (coming from the adventure flash game, twine, and Visual Novel spheres of gaming), and am at least somewhat tech literate. At least, I can follow instructions and improvise based on online guides. I used the windows installer because that appeared to be the option for those who don’t want to compile code at home, and the download page implied that the gargoyle/glulx pack would be for people who want to play around with the source code or have a non mainstream OS.
Thank you.
If you use the windows installer then it will add the game to your start menu. Does that not happen for you?
BTW, I think this is based on “interpreters” having a different role for Inform games (and those in other similar languages) than they do in lots of other programming contexts.
When making a game in Inform, you compile the source code to a “story file” in a format like .glulx or .z8. An interpreter is then a program that allows you to play the story file. The interpreter won’t let you do anything with the source code–you would need the Inform app to be able to mess with the source code.
As wade (severedhand) said, if you don’t want to go the installer route, you really only need two things to play it offline–the story file and an interpreter program to open it with. Then you can play it by using the interpreter to open the file (like opening a document in an app)–no code compilation or messing with the source required!
Maybe it’s just the circles I run in, but I’ve always found it easiest to compare Inform games and interpreters to roms and emulators. The games are the roms and the interpreter is the emulator. The relationship and function of each are identical. Usually people understand right away.
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I got it running almost immediately after the first response.