On 7 August 2025, I was seeking testers for ‘The Woodcutter’s Quest’. Please visit this link to refresh your memory and read the background to the game.
I received help from 6 testers who were very generous with their time and comments. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to address all the feedback at the time because of other commitments such as The BDB Project and Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026, to name just two. For that, I apologise to my testers.
I’ve now been through all the comments, noted all the pain points and implemented more in-game clues. I’ve implemented the vast majority of the suggestions, changed the starting location, fixed the bugs, added some new puzzles, added a lot of additional responses and added a HINT command. I believe the game is now ready for prime time. At least, I hope it as, as I’ve just entered it in ParserComp 2026.
Your name is John. You’re a simple woodcutter from the small village of Cessnock. The weather is usually bright and sunny, and your fellow villagers are usually happy with their lot. Until recently, that is, when rumours started circulating that an evil wizard had taken over the derelict castle across the valley to the east.
The village elder tried to calm any fears that their simple existence was in peril and, so far, the village has been ignored by the wizard.
Today, you were out chopping wood in the forest when you heard distant screams. At first, you thought nothing of it, then you saw plumes of smoke rising from the village. You feared the worst. You need to head back to the village to see what’s happened.
This is a traditional text adventure (or parser-based interactive fiction) written in Inform 6 using the PunyInform library. You can play it online or download it at The Woodcutter’s Quest and play it with your favourite Z-code interpreter.
As I’m the author, I’m not a good judge, but I would rate it easy to medium and think it will take about an hour to play, maybe two. Make sure you examine everything you come across for hidden clues and Easter eggs, some of which are quite funny.
As this is an entry in ParserComp 2026, I encourage you to play and rate all the games in the comp.