Welcome to the official main thread for The Great Play Marathon of 2026.
Put on your virtual running shoes and join the fun!
This is a community play event in the tradition of the Free IF Playoffs (2024) and the People’s Champion Tournament (2025), but this time the focus of the competition is on the players instead of the games. In short: A field of 54 games arranged in a 9x6 grid of squares will be created, and players will move from square to square by completing the games within them while trying to reach a chosen goal.
If you’re just learning about this event, any questions that you have are probably answered in the FAQ below. If not, ask away!
What’s happening now: The marathon has begun! Runners are playing their games, discussing them in comments, writing reviews, and logging their activity so that it can be used to update their positions and counted towards winning awards. The marathon will continue until the end of July 31st, 2026. If you’ve missed the registration deadline, you’re still welcome to participate in the festivities on an unofficial basis.
Here’s the unofficial big board for the event, which will only be updated about once a week:
For the freshest information, see the official big board on the activity log thread.
key to the games on the field
A1 Cat Petting Simulator 2014 neongrey 2014
A2 Draculaland Robin Johnson 2016
A3 Raising the Flag on Mount Yo Momma Juhana Leinonen 2010
A4 Miss Gosling's Last Case Daniel M. Stelzer 2024
A5 Social Democracy: Petrograd 1917 Autumn Chen 2025
A6 Swigian Mathbrush (as Rainbus North) 2017
A7 Tales of the Traveling Swordsman Mike Snyder 2006
A8 Moon-Shaped Jason Ermer 2006
A9 The Plant Michael J. Roberts 1998
B1 Fingertips: Fingertips Michael D. Hilborn 2012
B2 His Majesty's Royal Space Navy Service Handbook Austin Auclair 2023
B3 Reflections Tristin Grizel Dean 2021
B4 The Little Match Girl 5: The Hunter's Vow Ryan Veeder 2024
B5 New Year's Eve, 2019 Autumn Chen 2022
B6 Pageant Autumn Chen 2020
B7 Turandot Victor Gijsbers 2019
B8 A Murder in Fairyland Abigail Corfman 2020
B9 Moondrop Isle Ryan Veeder, Nils Fagerburg, Joey Jones, 2024
C1 Save the Date Chris Cornell 2013
C2 A Witch's Word RainbowStarbird 2017
C3 Future Threads Xavid 2017
C4 The Bones of Rosalinda Agnieszka Trzaska 2022
C5 First Draft of the Revolution Emily Short, Liza Daly and inkle 2012
C6 The Kuolema Ben Jackson 2023
C7 Messages From the Universe Graveyard KADW 2024
C8 The Missing Ring Felicity Drake 2019
C9 You Carter X Gwertzman 2024
D1 KING OF BEES IN FANTASY LAND Brendan Patrick Hennessy 2013
D2 Treasures of a Slaver's Kingdom S. John Ross 2007
D3 4x4 Archipelago Agnieszka Trzaska 2021
D4 The Mary Jane of Tomorrow Emily Short 2016
D5 Pytho's Mask Emily Short 2001
D6 Starry Seeksorrow Caleb Wilson (as Ayla Rose) 2015
D7 To Spring Open Peter Berman and Yoon Ha Lee (as Two-Bit 2015
D8 CYBERQUEEN Porpentine 2012
D9 The Axolotl Project Samantha Vick 2013
E1 The Kidnapping of a Tokyo Game Developer P.B. Parjeter 2025
E2 Reference and Representation: An Approach to First-Order Sem Ryan Veeder 2016
E3 Xanthippe's Last Night with Socrates Victor Gijsbers 2023
E4 The Anachronist Peter Levine 2016
E5 Worlds Apart Suzanne Britton 1999
E6 Junior Arithmancer Mike Spivey 2018
E7 The Curse of the Scarab Nils Fagerburg 2020
E8 Ravine Joanna Berry 2018
E9 Lore Distance Relationship Naomi "Bez" Norbez 2020
F1 Good Bones: A Haunted Housewarming Leon Lin 2023
F2 Dragon Fate Kris Schnee 2016
F3 The Saltcast Adventure Beth Carpenter 2024
F4 Faute De Servo Jack Welch 2018
F5 Der Angstbaum Jens Bojaryn 2002
F6 The Owl Consults Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney 2017
F7 18 Rooms to Home Carolyn VanEseltine 2015
F8 Filaments FibreTigre 2003
F9 Bill Belichick Offseason Simulator Jon Bois 2015
WEEK ONE
What a tremendous start to the marathon! Far surpassing the anticipated group pace, the nineteen runners have completed twenty-five plays in just the first of thirteen weeks.
Over two-thirds of runners have completed at least one game. Runners Joey (#9), Doug_Egan (#10) and Zed (#14), have covered the most ground, with four squares each already crossed. Will one of these three win the Imbued with Iron award? The latter two are both registered for free-running courses, but if Egan’s plan is really to complete only six games (and he plans to touch the southern/bottom edge of the map), then he could easily end up being the first runner to complete a short course; so far his course meets the criteria, and course types can be switched mid-run.
Runner Crazyqix (#7) has also been on a tear, with three squares crossed. Both Crazyqix and Joey are registered for long courses, and with a sprinting pace like this they are far in the lead for the Rapidest Runner award for that course type. This is a marathon, not a sprint, however, with plenty of terrain ahead for both of them.
The most-played game to date is Daniel Stelzer’s Miss Gosling’s Last Case at A4, with two completed plays and one in session. Several games have attracted at least two runners even this early: Cat Petting Simulator 2014, Draculaland, His Majesty’s Royal Space Navy Handbook, Turandot, The Bones of Rosalinda, Messages from the Universe Graveyard, The Anachronist, Worlds Apart, and The Owl Consults. Almost a third of runners are in the central south part of the map, inside the nine-square cluster surrounding and including Worlds Apart.
The dominant form of discussion has taken the form of reviews, of which 17 have already been published and the bulk of which have been published here on intfiction.org instead of IFDB. Runner #15 EJoyce has taken an early lead for the Honored Historian award on the strength of a crowd-pleasing IFDB review for Cat Petting Simulator 2014.
WEEK TWO
The pace has slowed somewhat in the second week. Three runners still have not moved from their starting square, but everyone else is on at least their second game and contributing progress reports, commentary and reviews.
Runner #10, Doug_Egan, decided to switch to a short course and proceeded to F4 (Faute de Servo), which was finished in short order and thus became the first officially-completed short course. Congratulations to @Doug_Egan, who is now the Rapidest Runner for Short Courses! Runner #9, @Joey, still holds the lead for Rapidest Runner (long courses), and Runner #3, @Lionstooth, is at the front of the pack for those running medium courses. Runner #14, @Zed, is the first to complete six games and holds the lead for the Imbued with Iron award.
The Bones of Rosalinda (C4) and The Anachronist (E4) have joined Miss Gosling’s Last Case (A4) as games that have been visited by at least three runners. Column 4 has proven to be highly popular terrain, with over a dozen plays logged or in progress for the six games within it.
Reviews continue to outpace comments, with 27 now logged. Runner #7, @Crazyqix, has taken the lead for the Honored Historian award, collecting 8 agreements so far over three reviews on IFDB. The single most-agreed-with review remains EJoyce’s review of Cat Petting Simulator 2014. The race for the Scrupulous Scribe award is led by Zed, Doug_Egan and Joey, with 6, 5 and 4 reviews respectively published on intfiction.
WEEK THREE
We’re just shy of a quarter of the way through now, though a few runners aren’t even off the starting line, and three others (myself regrettably included) have so far finished only one game. In stark contrast, Doug_Egan (#10) continues to burn up the virtual track, having spent time with Pageant (B6) before moving on to join John_D at Moondrop Isle (B9).
Crazyqix (#7) has caught up and passed Joey (#9) in the lead for Rapidest Runner (Long). Zed (#14) took a switchback move, committing firmly to a free-running course and maintains the lead for the Imbued with Iron award.
Another game has become a contender in the unofficial contest to attract the most runners: Reflections (B3) joins the three games mentioned in last week’s update as having been reached by three runners. Which will be the first game to be visited by four? [EDIT: Oops! As can be clearly seen on the map, the first game to be visited by four runners is Miss Gosling’s Last Case at A4, having been reached by lpsmith (#11) earlier this week. Sorry for the error – I was in a rush due to the start of Iron ChIF S1E2.]
There are now 33 reviews logged across both this forum and IFDB. Crazyqix (#7) remains in the lead for Honored Historian, with 11 agreements over four reviews on IFDB, and Doug_Egan (#10) has caught up with Zed (#14) in the race for Scrupulous Scribe. (Both have six reviews here on the forum.) Nobody has had a finger on the pulse of the community like EJoyce, however, whose review of Cat Petting Simulator 2014 still has the highest number of agreements.
In addition, a front-runner has emerged in the contest for the Commendable Commenter award: JohnD (#5) has posted non-review comments about six games so far.
WEEK FOUR
We’re a little short of a third of the way through the marathon now. Much of my attention this week has been heavily occupied by Iron ChIF, so my apologies if I’ve missed anyone’s updates. (If I have, let me know by post or PM.)
Crazyqix (#7) remains in the lead for Rapidest Runner (Long), with Joey (#9) still on Worlds Apart (E5) but close behind. EJoyce (#15) has emerged as the pace-setter for Rapidest Runner (Medium), with three games completed so far and just one step ahead of both Lionstooth (#3) and iaraya (#4). [Draconis (#16) is also registered for a medium course; no movement yet, but with such a fast typing speed watch for a late break!] Zed (#14) is still at the front of the pack for the Imbued with Iron award.
With the arrival of EJoyce (#14), Miss Gosling’s Last Case at A4 has now been visited by five runners, and I’m beginning to wonder whether I’ll run out of room for markers by the time we reach the end of the marathon. (Don’t let that discourage you from playing it, though – I’ll just overlap them or something if needed.)
We’re up to 36 reviews posted across IFDB and this forum. Crazyqix (#7) still has the edge for Honored Historian at 12 total agreements, with EJoyce (#15) not far behind at nine. Zed (#14) has pulled ahead for Scrupulous Scribe, with 7 reviews posted here. With respect to forum reviews, the highest-scoring is the early review by Doug_Egan (#10) for Draculaland, with 18 likes.
While JohnD (#5) remains in the lead for Commendable Commenter, lpsmith (#11) isn’t far behind; only two comments separate the two.
WEEK FIVE
The big board has barely changed this week! The only runner’s report received was Harren (#13) completing Junior Arithmancer, which has been climbing the Top 100 chart lately and is currently at #17. That makes Harren the second runner on a long course to reach the far side of the field at The Owl Consults (F6). It’s an open question whether Harren or Crazyqix (#7) will complete a turnaround first.
We’re about two-fifths of the way through the marathon with the halfway point coming up fast. A reminder: If you find yourself stuck on your current square, you’re allowed to use hints to complete it, or to back up and try a different legal move, or even to switch to a free-running course and go in a completely different direction. Remember that the point is to have fun!
WEEK SIX
We’re a bit short of halfway through the marathon now. So far, the most-visited games are:
5 Miss Gosling's Last Case
4 Reflections
4 The Bones of Rosalinda
4 Pytho's Mask
3 The Anachronist
3 Junior Arithmancer
3 The Owl Consults
3 Draculaland
Not much movement on the Big Board this week – only two runners (including myself) reported any completions, and Hellzon (#6) is keeping his next destination a mystery for now. Runners JohnD (#5) and Doug_Egan (#10) have been issuing cryptic reports from Moondrop Isle, which seems to be a pretty big place to get lost in.
Meanwhile, iaraya (#4) is lost in 4x4 Archipelago (a very addictive and surprisingly large mini-RPG), both lpsmith (#11) and EJoyce (#15) are spending time with Miss Gosling’s Last Case (also engrossing and fun), Lionstooth (#3) has disappeared into The Saltcast Adventure too late to catch kaemi (#2), who was last reported entering The Anachronist at E4. (Two other runners have made it out of that square, so there’s no need to send a rescue team yet.)
@Draconis (#16), @Scrooge200 (#17) and @Lurker (#18): You’re the only ones still stuck on your starting squares! Don’t forget that it’s perfectly OK to ask for hints – even on the runner’s report thread, if you like. If you want to change to a different starting point, let me know.
FYI, I’m changing the way that “hops” on the board are being shown: using dotted lines instead of disconnected icons. (So far this only affects Doug_Egan.) Every move after completion of a declared course will be shown this way.
WEEK SEVEN
We’ve passed the halfway mark for the marathon! Based purely on squares crossed (and not considering the duration/difficulty of the games within), only EJoyce (#15) is moving at a pace to complete her planned medium course. Crazyqix (#7), Melisande (#8) and Harren (#13) are perhaps slightly behind pace, having completed half of their planned courses. Joey (#9) is just a step behind Crazyqix and Harren in the competition for Rapidest Runner (Long Course).
Starry Seeksorrow (D6) has joined the list of frequently-visited games, with three runners having played it so far. Only 10 games have been visited by no runners at all, but the marathon isn’t over yet!
