I could use some creative input on my modest attempts to develop a good UI for IF.
First off: What I’m showing here wasn’t made with Inform or similar tools, but is based on a solution I developed myself. One of the ideas behind my UI experiments is to let the user choose how they want to interact with the game—whether with a parser, multiple choice, or even voice input. At the same time, I want the IF to be playable not only on a PC, but also on a tablet or even a smartphone.
My attempts so far have been rather imperfect in that regard. But I’ve made some progress, which has encouraged me, and maybe your feedback will lead to a breakthrough or two.
The screenshots are from “Caribbean Nightmare,” my IFComp entry for 2026.
Here’s what CN looks like on a PC, for example:
Like this on the tablet:
Like this on a phone:
There’s also a demo version available: https://interactive-onions.io:5466 [currently not avaible for some safety reasons]
(This is a browser version that should run on all devices. The version is available in English and German. It defaults to the browser’s language settings but can be changed at any time in the settings. The game is limited to 3 locations, which means, it’s not really playable, but it’s enough included for UI testing )
The system is essentially parser-based (except for the dialogs, but I’ll leave those out of the discussion here); for multiple-choice questions and voice input, text input is generated.
The screen layout can be configured in the settings. If you turn everything off, the screen doesn’t look much different from Infocom in 1985. The elements optimized for multiple-choice questions list every conceivable object and command on the side and highlight clickable words in the running text.
The layouts optimized for PC seem to me to be quite well-developed by now. Still, I wonder: How does this feel to you? Does anything interfere with your personal playstyle? Would you like to see something different? I’m definitely interested in experimenting some more, but right now I’m lacking promising ideas.
The situation on smartphones is different. I find it incredibly interesting to make the game playable there, because the younger generation mainly plays on smartphones. But of course, on a smartphone screen, the battle for every pixel begins immediately, since space is extremely limited. Big menus on the side are a total nuisance. Keyboard inputs are a nightmare.
The current version is the first one where I’ve actually seen any progress in terms of playability on a smartphone. The big difference is that tapping the title bar opens a command menu containing all the standard commands:
The rest works through highlights in the text and playing in multiple-choice mode. For my personal playstyle, this works pretty well so far, though there’s room for improvement.
And now it’s your turn. If you’re interested and would like to check out the IF, please feel free to give me some feedback! How does it feel for you on a smartphone? Can you navigate it easily? Are you able to strike a good balance between usability and font size? Can you click on the links? Is playing on a smartphone even fun? What do you think is missing? And what do you think is just completely off?
I’m grateful for all feedback (specially if you give it a try on your phone)! If I come across with an improvement idea promising and feasible, I’ll be happy to try it out and share it here. Maybe that will bring me a little closer to my goal of covering as many playstyles as possible with the user interface design.
