Circa 2007. I don’t remember which online rabbit hole steered me to it, nor precisely which IF I played first. (I want to say TV Tropes and Shade respectively, but I wouldn’t swear to it.)
I had some earlier experiences with at least one hypertext piece, but I was very young and I’ve never been able to track it down.
How old were you (roughly) when you first played IF?
Bump
The poll at the top of this thread has been open since 2021. Most of the options are for a 5-year period. At the end of 2024, the “2020-present” option will also be for a 5-year period. Should I close the poll at the end of 2024, or leave it open?
Not sure what would be gained by closing it.
I don’t suppose there’s any way to do some deep database hackery to add another category to the poll while keeping the old data?
I don’t know of a way to change the poll questions to add another category, so I’m just going to record, for future reference, how the poll results look as of January 21, 2025:
When did you play IF for the first time?
58 votes: 1980-1984
33 votes: 1985-1989
22 votes: 2010-2014
21 votes: 1990-1994
18 votes: 2005-2009
16 votes: 2015-2019
15 votes: 1975-1979
12 votes: 1995-1999
9 votes: 2000-2004
9 votes: 2020-present
1 vote: Before 1975
0 votes: I have never played IF
214 voters
When did you play IF for the first time?
27%: 1980-1984
15%: 1985-1989
10%: 2010-2014
10%: 1990-1994
8%: 2005-2009
8%: 2015-2019
7%: 1975-1979
6%: 1995-1999
4%: 2000-2004
4%: 2020-present
1%: Before 1975
0%: I have never played IF
214 voters
I can not remember when I played my first IF, but I got into the scene when I discovered Quest. I want to say back when it was in 4. something or other. Probably the same time I discovered MUDs. Before that, I played graphical IFs like Point and Click Adventures of Déjà Vu and Shadowgate.
I remember a game about starting outside a house, I think Zork. But Anchorhead is what truly got me into it. And Slouching Towards Bedlam was also quite good.
So what was before 1975?
Castle by Peter Langston (written using his Wander system for mainframes) was released in 1974. This pre-dates Will Crowther’s ADVENT.
Most interesting! Are you saying we have someone here who played the 1974 version?
I played it in 2022, but I don’t know if it was the original 1974 version. Programmers weren’t very good at keeping a version history back in those days.
And I wasn’t the one who played their first adventure in 1974. I think mine was 1981, as that’s when I got my first computer.
IFDB also lists Hunt the Wumpus (1972), among others.
I played Hunt the Wumpus in 1980 on a TRS-80. 
That’s kind of what i thought. I was wondering what the 1% vote did play.
Also, for example, did Eliza count?
I don’t see that on IFDB. Maybe it should be added!
As far as this poll is concerned, people can count whatever they want to count. It’s just for fun.
There are hundreds of early games (i.e. prior to 1990) that aren’t on IFDB. CASA is a better source for these. Would someone like to add them? This may require some research.
Games written using Wander include:
There’s also a game by Lou Katz that I don’t think has been preserved.
EDIT: Sorry, I just realised that this is way off topic.
I have most of the games reviewed in *Renga in blue” untill last year.
I comented here if someone was interested in adding to ifarchive without response.
In case anyone wants to continue this discussion about documenting and preserving early IF, I started a new thread here: Documenting and preserving early IF (on IFDB, IFArchive)
let’s say that Eliza was the first NPC… so, one can assert that Eliza is an IF as Galatea
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.
