You can play any of the Inform games on Windows, macOS, or Linux with Lectrote. On Android, use Fabularium, and on iOS, use Frotz. Other Glulx/Z-code interpreters are listed on IFWiki.
I won’t have time to rate any/many games, so I hope this list will be helpful instead. The first post is a wiki, so anyone can fill in the gaps or correct errors.
Making this list has made me want to play all the games now…
I don’t actually know how well Gruesome plays with Android. The download version is zipped HTML/Javascript with a few images and fonts (exactly the same as the online version), so on Windows/Mac/Linux/probably anything else aimed at desktop/laptop machines, you can just unzip it to the filesystem and play it locally with your browser. Android doesn’t seem to want to worry the user about technical details like where files actually are, so I don’t know whether it’s that simple.
EDIT: Noticed it was a wiki (cool, I didn’t know Discourse could do that!), edited the entry accordingly.
Very usefull thread. I like this stuff. I have previously posted same info in spanish forums as they requested wich games are released to play communitary games.
In 2021, I strongly disagree with Gargoyle as a recommended interpreter for macOS, because the latest 2019.1 version doesn’t support HiDPI displays (i.e. any MacBook sold since 2018); the result is a blurry mess on macOS.
On a page like this, rather than “Any Glulx/Z-code player”, I recommend suggesting your favorite interpreter.
My favorite desktop interpreter is Lectrote, which actually does work great on Windows, macOS, and Linux (unlike Gargoyle). My favorite Android interpreter is Fabularium, and my favorite iOS interpreter is Frotz.
Am I right in thinking that if the Inform games get submitted to the IF Archive, then they’ll all be playable online via iplayif?
@Adam_S are you submitting any of the entries to IF Archive? Does ParserComp’s rules/license allow anyone to upload to the archive (besides the author)?
There just needs to be a direct link to a Glulx/Z-Code file for the “Play On-line” button to appear (on IFDB, that is). IF Archive is a convenient hosting option for that, of course.
I think it’s more than just convenient; iplayif can’t link (“hotlink”) directly to files on Itch. I believe the files would need to be made available at an URL where iplayif could get them. (IF Archive is the obvious candidate.)
Thanks for the comments and edits. I’ve tidied up the first post, by incorporating the paragraphs into the relevant parts of the table, but left the Inform paragraph for now
I don’t imagine I’m telling the IFDB Committee Chair anything new, but of potential interest in general:
Ultimately any z3, z5, z8, or glulx game (in or out of a blorb) that has a direct download URL is playable online via iplayif if you make the URL yourself by just adding the game URL to http://iplayif.com/?story=, e.g.,
I actually didn’t know before today that iplayif was prepared to download games from just anywhere; I thought it could only play games from IF Archive. Nonetheless, it appears that it can’t download games from Itch; their download URLs are designed to prevent that.
OMG, someone wrote a game in AdvSys! I spent far too much time hacking AdvSys back in the 90s, partly out of stubbornness/sunk cost after I had invested a lot of time in making a better standard library before the first Inform release came out.
Fabularium is very complete, but isn’t able doing transcripts. This issue and another with adrift, assures you will have to install some other programs (I have a count of 12 in Android).
Frotz is the only option I know running in iphone with his pros and cons.
