What are some of the best stories for introducing parser-based IF to relatively young readers, those who are ten years old, or thereabouts? Of course, there are many good choices that have been around for a long time, such as “Six,” “Snack Time” and "Lost Pig.’
However, I’ve found two relatively recent titles that seem to work particularly well. These are stories by the same author, Mathbrush, and both were written as prizes for IF Comp contestants. The stories are “The Origin of Madame Time” and “The Magpie Takes the Train.”
Have others tried these stories with beginners? How well did they work?
Has anyone had success with other relatively recent stories for the very young?
You could take a look at the entries in the recent(ish) Text Adventure Literacy jam, intended to showcase games for younger players unfamiliar with the genre. They’re pitched at a slightly younger audience though.
Otherwise, the original Magpie story, “Alias ‘The Mapgpie’” is a hoot and I can imagine appealing to a literate 10 year old.
My ten-year old really liked the Barry Basic game from that jam, but she has been used in the past as a playtester for my retro stuff (and has programmed her own adventure) so probably isn’t a “typical” modern-day ten-year old.
…and my 8 year old has now begun to realise that text adventures are no longer at the cutting edge of video game technology. I could only maintain the illusion for so long.
I wouldn’t say that. Rather, the innovations cannot be discerned just by looking. They have to be experienced. Same thing with books, board games, or turn based RPG.
Because those fit within genres, they can be marketed relatively easy. However, there are books that don’t fit genres and fail. There are games that are brilliant but not recognized as such until years later. Why should IF be different?
Of course you’re right. But it’s hard to get kids to play parser-based IF (and sometimes to read at all) when so many flashy graphics-based games are there. Since I’ve been writing, I’ve had better luck interesting the children in my life with Inform 7 itself than with games-- perhaps because they can see what a cool tool it is.
I’ve been seeing a lot of what I think of as “crossover IF” made for touchscreen, with some graphics, and I’ve found it easier to get kids to play those, although they really just want to get back to Minecraft most of the time.
It depends how young you mean by “very young”. Let’s be honest, kids love graphics, so an illustrated text adventure is likely to be more popular with kids. Adventuron games are good for that and can be played in a browser, so no special set-up is required.
From the feedback I got, I found that The Witch’s Apprentice was very popular with kids around 8 to 10, but perhaps with adult supervision, as a couple of the puzzles are a bit hard. It’s easy to get into, has cute graphics, several funny responses and logical puzzles.
Recent experience, however, has caused me to change my mind about “The Magpie Takes the Train.” I now believe that this story is a bit too challenging for many beginners, especially in its reading level.
Of course, it’s still a fine story, but, as far as beginners are concerned, it’s probably good for a sophisticated minority only.
With beginners who are more advanced in their reading skills, I’ve had good luck with “Photopia,” The Firebird, and “Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home.” For choice-based IF, I really like 80 Days for older beginners.
I’m planning an IF workshop for high school students this summer, introducing the students to a variety of styles and genres in contemporary IF, then teaching them to write and code their own stories in Twine or Inform (depending on the student’s interests).
In curating a list of games to recommend to this age group, It has been easy for me to identify introductory, light comic puzzlers that would be appropriate for any age group. But I also want to demonstrate examples of IF that are more serious in tone, that represent other genres, or that strive to achieve other narrative goals,
Photopia often makes these lists, but is now almost 25 years old. What more recent titles demonstrates the versatility of IF for addressing serious themes, especially those that would appeal to (and be appropriate for) a contemporary public high school student?
Thanks for plugging my game (What Heart Heard…), Edo, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate for high school. It has themes of child abuse, murder, suicidal ideation, and violent vengeance. I think a high school student might like it, but I don’t think I’d want to be the teacher bringing it into the classroom!
On a similar note, I really think high school students would like “Cactus Blue Motel”, about that period of uncertain futures after high school ends. I’m on the fence about whether I want to use it for the workshop because of tobacco use and the hint of a lesbian romance. I don’t know if the romance ever plays out in any of the endings, or how. This is the challenge of vetting any work of interactive fiction. It’s not always clear what other endings might appear.
I like “Chuk and the Arena” for an example of strictly click systm.
I’m interested in “The Wand” and “Eat Me” for their very limited parsers. (“Eat Me” also because of its more experimental use of language and style)
And games like “Counterfeit Monkey”, “Lost Pig” and “Sugarlawn” for their full but forgiving parsers.
Finally “Impossible Bottle” which has a hybrid parser-click interface.
Aaron Reed’s Sand-Dancer might be a good choice for the same reasons. It has an inadvertent pregnancy as a plot point, though, so I’m not sure how much that impacts your choice.
As far as limited and forgiving parsers go, The Wizard Sniffer (IFComp 2018, I think?) is a fantastic choice with really funny writing that lets the students leverage their knowledge of the fantasy genre.
I know this has already been mentioned, but the Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2021 produced some excellent games for introducing adventures to newbies, particularly youngsters. For young audiences, I would strongly recommend 3rd place getter ‘Reflections’. For slightly older audiences, I would recommend 1st place getter ‘Sentient Beings’ for the more science-oriented theme. Both were written by science teacher Tristin Grizel Dean @Grizel. I haven’t yet played 2nd place getter ‘Barry Basic and the Quick Escape’ by Dee Cooke @dee_cooke, but it’s had rave reviews and received the Scott Adams award from the man himself.
Five of the top six games were written in Adventuron. You should really consider using this as one of the alternatives in your workshop, as it was originally written for use in classrooms and instigated the Text Adventure Literacy Project (or was it the other way around?).
The 5th place getter ‘The Blue Lettuce’ by Caleb Canby Wilson @caleb was written in Inform 7. It’s also an excellent game.
The reason I’m raising this is because the Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2022 has just started. There are currently 60 registrations and submissions close on 30 April 2022. So, there could be a new bunch of candidates to use as examples in your workshop.
