ParserComp 2025 - Initial Results

[Lionstooth]

From https://intfiction.org/t/using-generative-ai-for-sub-tasks-in-text-adventures/75986/7:

@mmarubio

The platform is still new and under development. But it shows a lot of promise, not the least of which is that it is fun as hell – we have players that spend hours talking with the parser and solving the various puzzles. “Last Audit” has over 1,200 game plays (thank you Reddit and Discord!) – which beats most IF games by a factor of . . Well, not to be uncharitable, by a lot in my experience. Don’t get me wrong – When I hit millions of game plays, I’ll actually have something to brag about. Nonetheless, we are encouraged as we see all the input on the server and can mine it for improved gameplay.

The other major advantage is that players can play right out of the box, versus a trad IF game, where the learning curve of ‘guess the verb” and “spell it right” is not only steep, but frustrating to many modern players. We tested classic IF games in a high school CS class versus an LLM-enabled IF game – the results? Not a single player stuck with an Inform game for more than 5 minutes before quitting – most less than that. It just doesn’t meet modern expectations of gameplay. (Don’t get me wrong – I still love it – but I also remember using punch cards)

Over 1200 game plays is really impressive! I’d be really curious to see which of those Reddit and/or Discord cross-promotions was the most successful in driving players to your game. I’d love to see the traffic breakdown on your itch.io dashboard. I think it’d be really enlightening; clearly we could all learn a lot from you!

I’d also be amazed to see this kind of unified consensus about my games and their expressed goals from my players on itch.io. Clearly they’re seeing something the players on IFDB and intfiction are overlooking!

From Twitterresistor:

Mystery Academy community · Created a new topic Fun! 34 days ago

I get it. Trying something new. Plays a bit young for me – but I do remember loving this type of Encyclopedia Brown type stuff. . . Thank you for trying something new.
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Last Audit of the Damned community · Created a new topic Love this! 34 days ago

hate the old IF games – f’ing unplayable, tedious nightmares. Only folks over 60 will even play them past the first screen. Thank you – You;re on to something. Keep going!
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From jeremyberemythe3rd:

Mystery Academy community · Replied to thoughtauction in Tryign this new style of IF – and liking it 24 days ago

I think you are really on to something – keep it up! BTW – if my opinion means anything, I think Mystery Academy shows off the parser better than Last Audit – though Last Audit is more fun to play. If that makes any sense at all.
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Last Audit of the Damned community · Created a new topic Agreed. So easy to talk to – a whole new experience 29 days ago

Fun
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Mystery Academy community · Created a new topic Tryign this new style of IF – and liking it 29 days ago

Came in here expecting the same old same old – but I like this – color me surprised
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From dsilver1976:

Mystery Academy community · Created a new topic I like it! – Thank you for sharing 5 days ago

Thansk for showing me this – It was fun!
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Last Audit of the Damned community · Created a new topic Fun game – keep it up! 5 days ago

Glad you showed me this – this is pretty cool
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