(This went out by email a couple of weeks ago. We’re going to get better at posting here, honest…)
This time of year is normally—for those of us in the northern hemisphere anyway—a time of rest and recuperation. For those of you furiously working to complete your IFComp 2021 entries, we salute your efforts and look forward to playing your games in October!
Welcome new IFTF board members!
On May 1, 2021, IFTF’s board of directors more than doubled its size with the election of five new members. This fulfills the task the board gave itself at the start of the year to grow and redefine its role within the organization. As the executive body that provides strategic oversight to IFTF and its various programs, the board today aims to keep a broader, more diverse, and more regularly rotating membership than it held over the organization’s first five years.
Have a look at our updated board page, and meet the new directors! They include Hugo Labrande, Jan DeLozier, Jedidjah Julia Noomen, Kofi Oduro, and Lydia Pauly. The five represent a broad swath of personal and professional backgrounds, representing many different approaches to the study and creation of interactive narrative, plus a refreshing international perspective.
IFComp is open for intents to enter
The 27th annual Interactive Fiction Competition (https://ifcomp.org) is nearly upon us! Intents to enter are accepted through September 1, 2021. Changes this year include expanded registration options for describing authors and authoring systems, and a significant shift in judging rules. From the IFComp blog:
We’re also going to try a big experiment this year! Many members of our community have expressed concern about the increasingly smaller author-to-judge ratio, as more and more of you have been entering as authors these past few years. In 2021, we will allow authors to also be judges. Yep, you read right: everyone can vote on (almost) all the games. Authors won’t be able to cast a vote for their own games, but they’ll be able to vote on everything else, and the Miss Congeniality side contest will be unchanged. This rule will be reviewed after the 2021 competition, with feedback sought from the community, prior to permanent adoption.
IFTF and IFComp receive the bulk of our annual revenue via the Colossal Fund. This year’s drive will formally kick off in mid-August, but you can always support IFTF’s general fund through donations: Donate now.
Seeking skilled Communications outreach
Help us bring the joy of playing IF to more people! The IFComp Committee is looking for an individual with a background in Communications and strong contacts in the player-focused games community to help reach a wider audience of players and judges for IFComp 2021. You could do this service yourself, or facilitate a relationship with an organization that would do this on our behalf. Compensation is available. Please reach out to ifcomp@ifcomp.org for more information.
NarraScope is Recruiting!
NarraScope, IFTF’s annual conference on narrative games, is hoping to return in 2022, and is looking to recruit new committee members to help make the event a reality. In parallel with the expansion of the IFTF board, the NarraScope Committee hopes to broaden both its size, scope and representation, and we encourage all candidates who want to help make the event a success to reach out to narrascope@iftechfoundation.org. We hope to hear from you soon!
IFDB new updates and releases
Since its adoption by IFTF earlier this year, the Interactive Fiction Database has been soliciting code updates from the community and rapidly improving this canonical resource for creative works. Another round of new features were just released in July; see the news page for all new updates. IFDB features 11,185 game listings, 9,353 member reviews, and 42,279 member ratings (as of the beginning of the month!) with more added daily by the community.
Donate to IFTF
There are many ways to donate to support our programs and creators.
As a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, IFTF donations are fully tax-deductible where allowed by law.