In the spirit of What’s New In IF?, which I quite miss, I’m going to try out doing a weekly roundup of IF news here! Thinking of including things like:
Competition- and other event-related announcements (opening/closing dates, results released, etc.)
IF-specific and IF-friendly jams on Itch.io (for now, I’m not including VN-only jams—see the FAQ below for an explanation)
IF-related publications (new Rosebush articles, Choicebeat issues, etc.)
Open to suggestions for other kinds of things too! And while I keep up pretty well with the comps etc. that get announced here, I certainly don’t see all the IF news in every corner of every community. So if you see something that you think is worth including, please DM me and I’ll add it to the week’s post (and give you credit if you’d like).
First weekly roundup post to come tomorrow!
FAQ
Q: I released a new game this week, can you include it in the roundup?
A: No, that’s outside the scope of this project. But feel free to announce it yourself in a new forum thread and/or make an entry for it on IFDB!
Q: Why won’t you include AI-related projects?
A: I have an ethical stance against generative AI due to its reliance on work stolen from human creators and its massive negative environmental effects. I therefore have chosen not to platform projects that use these tools. If you notice that something has slipped past me (e.g., an AI-friendly jam), please let me know and I’ll remove it.
Q: Why don’t you include VN-only jams?
While I have no desire to exclude VNs from the IF scene or from this space, since the VN development sphere is not one I’m involved in at all, I simply don’t feel able to keep up with or adequately cover those events. This is a choice I may revisit in the future!
Update: The Weekly Roundup now has a home on Neocities as well! Issues will be posted both here and on that site.
Hi David—thanks for sharing this. However, I have an ethical stance against generative AI due to its reliance on work stolen from human creators and its massive negative environmental effects, so I personally will not be platforming projects that use it. (To anyone who disagrees with me, please do not take this as an opportunity to argue. That’s been done to death elsewhere on this forum.)
Also a reminder, I’d prefer people DM me tips on things to include rather than posting them here, in order to keep the thread from getting cluttered.
(Jams that aren’t IF-specific, but are IF-friendly)
Note: I’m including a bunch of these since this is the first issue, but in future issues I’ll only announce ongoing jams that are new to the Roundup or previously featured ones that have closed.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
Updated to add another jam! This one is for games made with Narrat, which is “a beginner-friendly game engine for making narrative games with RPG features, visual novels, interactive fiction, and more.”
Several IntroComp participants have shared what kind of feedback they’re looking for in this thread.
Voting for IntroComp closes September 7th.
The 2025 IF Review-a-thon (organized by yours truly) ends in one week! We’re currently at 88 reviews, all of which you can find linked here. It’s not too late to join in and write some of your own!
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
A section for things that aren’t necessarily new, but are worth calling attention to!
Ink Resources
Ink is a “narrative scripting language for games” that can be plugged into non-IF works, but you can also just use it on its own to write IF! Here are some handy tools for writing IF with Ink:
The Ink IF Story Template by Rémy Vim is a Twine-like Ink template that lets you add multiple save slots, static pages, media, and more to your Ink games.
The Basic Ink Template by alyshkalia (that’s me!) includes commented CSS so you can easily customize the look of your Ink IF works.
The Inkberry previewer tool by Daniel Wittgenstein lets you see how your changes will look in your finished game as you make them. (I’ve tested it out and it works great!)
The Simple Ink Tester by Daniel Wittgenstein will run through your game picking choices at random so you can make sure there aren’t any dead ends or other issues.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
Book published by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI): ACMI Guide: Zork
Other
nuel has released “speak”, a typewriter-effect library that can be plugged into Twine games.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
The 2025 edition of ECTOCOMP has been announced. The submission window begins on October 1 and runs through 2025-10-31T08:00:00Z.
IF Jams
The 2025 edition of InkJam begins on September 26 and runs through 2025-10-05T22:00:00Z, followed by a one-week voting period. The theme will be announced at the start of the jam.
Other Jams
Jams that aren’t IF-specific, but are IF-friendly
The 2025 Yaoi Game Jam has ended, with many VN entries.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
The 2025 Bare Bones Jam begins on October 1 and runs through 2025-11-01T06:59:00Z.
Other Jams
Jams that aren’t IF-specific, but are IF-friendly
Yuri Game Jam 2025 is for any media, not just games, that focus on “queer relationships between women or the queer female experience.” Opens October 1 and runs for two months.
Bara Jam 2025 invites submissions of games of all types that fit into the bara genre. Opens October 1 and runs for two months.
Unpolished Jam #4 is “a space to make something you want to make… even if it’s not perfect.” Opens October 4, runs through 2025-10-12T03:59:00Z.
Two more videos from Narrascope 2025 have been posted to the IFTF YouTube channel.
InternetJanitor has shared a mockup demonstrating the implementation of a parser system in the engine Decker.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
The deadline for InkJam 2025 has been extended through 2025-10-06T21:59:00Z. Voting will then be open for one week. Edit: I believe in the past InkJam has been open to public voting, but this year only those who submitted an entry can vote.
Other Jams
The 2025 Once Upon A Time VN Jam is for visual novels, interactive fiction, and other narrative-focused games. Submissions opened today and will close on January 31.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
Update: I’m taking a week off from the Weekly Roundup due to both having a busy weekend and not having much news for this week! Everyone’s probably already aware that voting for IFComp ends on Wednesday the 15th. The awards ceremony will be livestreamed on Twitch on 2025-10-18T20:00:00Z.
The Secret Boss podcast published an episode about the work of Victor Gijsbers.
New post by Drew Cook at Top Expert: more repeats.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
That’s what I’ve got for now! If you have any corrections or want to share anything relevant from this past week that I missed, please DM me! And as always, feel free to DM tips/suggestions for next week.
What? No mention of the formal announcement of The BDB Project and it’s first six games? This is gaining a huge amount of interest outside this community.
