I got thinking of how I’m starting to see my text adventure friends and colleagues make games that aren’t text adventures. And I want to support them. And maybe other people would be curious too, so here is a thread for that.
But what non-interactive fiction games does everyone else know about, made by IF “alumni”? I’ve got more I’ll post later, but in the meantime, hook us up!
A science fiction armored combat simulator, inspired by the Bolos books by Keith Laumer, and taking place in my main worldbuilding project. (This one is 1/4 done)
A breakout clone where you demolish a haunted estate and free the spirits trapped within (the spirits even help you finish the levels near the end!) (This one is 3/4 done)
Chess-inspired turn-based space combat game, based on hard sci-fi principles and ruses. (This one is almost done but for some reason I couldn’t find a proper screenshot of the newer builds anywhere??? Currently on my phone so I’m not able to boot up this game to take a better pic)
I also made a hacking-themed board game that is pretty popular in my family, but I don’t have the funds to market it to a wider audience, and crowdfunding sounds terrifying, so…
I just released Leviathan on Steam, following Meanwhile a decade ago. (IF? Not IF? Well, it’s something.) Slowly working on the iOS port – sorry it’s taking so long.
There was also of course System’s Twilight, a point-and-click adventure from 1994.
Also Capture the Flag with Stuff. But I still refuse to count Werewolf as a game I created – that was just a reskin.
(I feel like I should apologize for reposting my extremely well-known resume… well, this is the thread for it.)
I’ve made a lot of add-ons for Battle for Wesnoth: Wesnoth 1.16 Add-ons List - The Battle for Wesnoth
It includes a Drake campaign called A Fiery Birth and a Rebels Campaign called Santa Must Die with some frankensteined art:
Zookoban is an animal-themed 2D puzzle in which you help your animal pals to help each other escape the zoo. Different animals have different skills—beavers can bridge water, elephants can knock down trees, and so on
Homicidal Robots, Inc. is an emergent puzzler with roguelike and narrative elements, based on Ken Arnold’s proto-roguelike robots. There are different kinds of robots with randomised behaviours
Soul Pusher is a small Sokoban-like made for a puzzle jam, in which you simultaneously control two characters that move in opposite directions.
YOOOOOOO Aquanox Deep Descent!!! I love the Aquanox franchise!! I still gotta finish Deep Descent!
I remember early dev diaries having some interesting ideas about AI behaviors; wondering how those panned out, if you don’t mind me DM’ing you!
Also I might have some questions about getting into this field as a career!! I have a major interest in designing AI for both solving corporate problems (though I think neural nets are slowly pulling ahead) as well as creating engaging scenarios for game players! I’ve always wanted to make this the focus of my career, but getting into the tech industry at all feels like I’m throwing applications at brick walls for years!
I would mention IF alumni Sam Barlow here, who continues to make big splashes with the likes of Her Story, Telling Lies, and Immortality, but those are still very much IF at their heart.
John Ingold and Inkle’s stuff likewise – the early stuff like Sorcery! and 80 Days are IF, but they’ve also done non-IF stuff like the recent King Arthur game.
I’ve made a few smaller games while teaching myself godot.
Space Junk is a simple one-button arcade game based on Atari’s 1973 arcade game Space Race.
Demon Descent was likewise inspired by Taito’s 1978 game Speed Race.
Extreminator wasn’t based on any classic arcade games, it’s just my attempt at a bug-themed scrolling shooter. The first two you play in a browser, this one you’d have to download. They’re all free though.
