Here’s my 11th hour submission, sorted by author name. Ten of these games were from previous versions of this list, ten were titles that haven’t gotten the attention I felt like they deserved.
Blue Lacuna, by Aaron A. Reed
Open Sorcery, by Abigail Corfman
Photopia, by Adam Cadre
Varicella, by Adam Cadre
Hadean Lands, by Andrew Plotkin
Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin
We Know the Devil, by Aevee Bee and Mia Schwartz
The Grown-Up Detective Agency, by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
Counterfeit Monkey, by Emily Short
Savoir-Faire, by Emily Short
You are SpamZapper 3.1, by Leon Arnott
Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry
Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin
Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone, by Ryan Veeder
The Little Match Girl 2: Annus Evertens, by Ryan Veeder
A Rope of Chalk, by Ryan Veeder
Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing, by Ryan Veeder
Several Other Tales from Castle Balderstone, by Ryan Veeder
Rameses, by Stephen Bond
Horse Master, by Tom McHenry
Here are 30 more unformatted honorable mentions, if the top 50 were up to me!
In no particular order:
Galatea, by Emily Short
So Far, by Andrew Plotkin
Superluminal Vagrant Twin, by C.E.J. Pacian
Birdland, by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
Will Not Let Me Go, by Stephen Granade
Midnight. Swordfight., by Chandler Groover
1893: A World’s Fair Mystery, by Peter Nepstad
De Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
Violet, by Jeremy Freese
Shade, by Andrew Plotkin
Bee, by Emily Short
Cactus Blue Motel, by Astrid Dalmady
Blue Chairs, by Chris Klimas
Lost Pig, by Admiral Jota
Slouching Towards Bedlam, by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
Metamorphoses, by Emily Short
Shrapnel, by Adam Cadre
Babel, by Ian Finley
City of Secrets, by Emily Short
Fallen London, by Failbetter Games
The Gostak, by Carl Muckenhoupt
All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows
A Mind Forever Voyaging, by Steve Meretzky
For a Change, by Dan Schmidt
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky
Trinity, by Brian Moriarty
Ad Verbum, by Nick Montfort
Aisle, by Sam Barlow
Curses, by Graham Nelson
Zork I, by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling