Winners of the 2016 IFComp

Includes (optional) music and sound.

Color the Truth is conversation-based murder mystery game that takes roughly 2 hours to finish. It is designed to be accessible to players who have never tried parser games, and comes with adaptive hints accessible by typing HINT.

And then they found the Cactus Blue Motel.

The curtain is opening, and it's got something it needs you to see.

You're getting a manicure, seeing a movie, and eating fast food.

But there's a vampire in this McDonalds.

If you don't do something, then in one hour it will eat the cashier.

Note: Filfre interpreter is not supported, please use alternatives when not playing online.

Download for best experience.

Note: This game was designed for the HTML TADS Player Kit (http://www.tads.org/tads3.htm). Another interpreter that appears to support the game is QTads (http://qtads.sourceforge.net/downloads.shtml). Some universal interpreters, including Zoom, Spatterlight, and Gargoyle, do not support this game.

A light puzzle game. In the author's opinion, it's totally family-friendly.

(Note: All players should look at the Facility Mapping Kit by clicking the "Walkthrough" button below. It's not hints or a walkthrough, it's a mapping template intended for everyone. If you would like a walkthrough, one is included in the "Download" zip file.)

The Royderlanks in the Body, aloof and cruel, expect too much and give too little. Only the Game of Worlds can take your mind away from the crushing obligations of a Vociferant worker. And finally, a wildcard into the Tournament of the Perfect Aphelion - only held once every ten progressions. This is your chance.

The Cards await. The Tournament begins. The tables are prepared.

(Note: If you have downloaded the zip, the game is played best by launching the index.html file in the browser, but I have included a gblorb so you can play in your favorite 'terp.)

A puzzleless exhibition. Ten to fifteen minutes.

[This game file can be opened and run with any browser, but tends to work best in Firefox.]

As you wake to find yourself on the acceleration couch in Control, you can expect the muscle memory of your training to come back first: the product of intensive drills designed to prepare you for both combat and the stresses of command. The reintegration of your memory framework follows: your years at the academy and all that came before.

Finally, critical mission data will be directly encoded to your mind, giving you the most recent status reports available, for all that you weren't even aware of your own existence during the ship's long journey to this distant star.

This is what you trained for. This is what you are. So why don't you know what you're supposed to be doing here?

A puzzleless reflection. Fifteen to forty minutes.

(When playing the online version of this game or downloading it from this website, there will be a ~minute or so-long loading time. This is normal - it is loading all the audio upfront for a seamless experience. If you prefer, you can download an offline version of the game (different from the downloadable from the competition page) which includes all the sounds in a zip file. For the smaller size .ogg audio version (45 MB) which does not work with Internet Explorer, download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6V5SSq3s80nVUJoSlFXUVIxVW8/view?usp=sharing ; for the larger size .mp3 audio version (109 MB) which works in Internet Explorer, download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6V5SSq3s80neDR6bXM2U213M1E/view?usp=sharing . You may have trouble playing this game with the Microsoft Edge browser - if you do, Chrome and Firefox work 100% of the time, and Internet Explorer seems to work well most of the time. Thank you for your understanding.)

Also - bears.

[Note: game contains strong language, and brief scenes depicting familial abuse.]

Queen Victoria is visiting Bearbrass for Australia's own Great Exhibition. All the sharpest minds of the colony have worked day and night to perfect their devices and displays.

An infamous rebel named Emmeline Muchamore has declared her intention to gain independence for the state of Victoria.

The two powerful women meet in the marvellous, magical heart of Bearbrass.

Rating: PG

You can play it online at http://philome.la/FBanksBooks/stuff-and-nonsense/play

The images will not work if the game is played offline, but the game will still function.

If you use the back button more than once in a row, you'll be stuck in an eternal loop. Make your choices wisely.

(Content warning: Violence, implied adult themes, fameballs.)

Zero puzzles, sixty-four endings.

Cover: Trish Lamanna

You'll encounter a peculiar world full of spiders, strange animals, sickness, anxiety and various sundry things that may or may no try to kill you as you quest to find the mysterious Traitor Saint.

This condition will never change! But you can, at least, banish it for your mind awhile with 'Evermore: A Choose Your Own Edgar Allan Poe Adventure'!

Containing over 60 of Poe's stories, poems, and essays in adapted, truncated, respectfully disfigured, and exciting "hyper-textual" forms 'Evermore' is the only game with the hubris to connect "all" of the great author's works into one, branching-pathed Leviathan and labyrinthine narrative.

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Best played in Chrome or Firefox as sound effects in ogg. form to meet space requirements. If downloading, please extract audio files to the same folder as the html file.

Content Warning: Murder, torture and asphyxiation.

When someone requests your help, within the space of a few questions, you must have learned enough about them, about their strengths and weaknesses, about what they want and what they need, to give them some appropriate advice, guidance which will do more good than bad.

And, in your specific case, you also need to answer many, many questions about your mother.

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See walkthrough for full credits.

In this game you'll play as a member of the ASCD, a sort of militarized branch of the local police force, tasked with dealing with anomalies. These anomalies are people who gained mysterious powers either during or after the surges of power. Most of them are relatively harmless, but there are some who possess the power to level cities to the ground. Better watch your step.

Parker, a riot control officer, is thrust into the heat of his first riot when one mistake changes everything.

Now he wanders through the bedlam, harbouring a deadly secret.

*Play Online For Best Experience*

This game attempts to create a sense of lore, of place, of journey for an undetermined character. By the end of a single playthrough, the player ought to feel that they made choices, that they felt something for the person they were playing, and, hopefully, that their character was theirs and not mine. There are many paths and many endings, though only one labyrinth. [Contains graphic descriptions of violence and death]

(Press “Escape” to quit.)

For macOS users, the following link provides a mac build: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3eVaVjgrSpgQmZxck10Y2RrMlU?usp=sharing

Except today I wake to a changed world. The sigils are distorted. And the Station is silent. I fear I am responsible.

A short parser game about exploration, loss and restoration.

**This game contains mature language, alcohol, abuse, and a brief scene of violence. Player discretion is advised.**

But the worse is yet to come...

WARNING: This story contains potentially humorous depictions of Mexican headgear.

[This game contains explicit language, intense violence, blood and gore, drug consumption and sexual references.]

[The game is mobile friendly and it is optimized for all screen sizes.]

You live in East Cleveland, Ohio, so your options are limited, but urban-chic.

Find the right evil lair, recruit a mad scientist, and foil the East Cleveland authorities. Who knows - you may even end up leading an army of giant robots through Pittsburgh before you are done.

Maybe, just maybe, this could be your ticket to the big time. You could single-handedly get the production back on its feet, win the praise and adulation of all, and, possibly, even aid a damsel in distress. Alternatively, you could do your job quietly, stay out of peoples' way, and have no reward but the quiet smugness of an underrated worker. Fame, glory, and a trek in search of rope await!

You must find a way to enter the mysterious hotel and discover the secretes of its celestial prison. But more importantly, you must make a choice. Which is more important – the life of your husband or the survival of humanity as you know it?

Features:

Openly explorable environment filled with danger

Smart action prompt, only giving you simple, 1 to 2 key input actions that are all valid at the time of decision

NPC Dialog

Deep combat system with attack/react techniques

Hunger system

Hidden rooms

Leveling system, based on your choices (Your experience applies when you rest)

Save system (Use the Journal action anytime you aren't in combat)

Cheats/God mode (see readme)

Check the SMReadme.txt in the download for game mechanics overview and details on how to launch it.

Format: This game is built in Ruby. The download comes with an .exe/bin for Windows/Mac, and an easy install+gem file for linux. If you have trouble for any reason launching the game, let me know via the email link. It's my highest priority to have you experience the game.

[This game contains horror, gore and profanity.]

A poetic sci-fi story with music. [Triggers: violence, surreality, possibly gore]

Headphones recommended.

Or I guess you could take a nap.

Surely you weren't expecting this.

[This game contains a death scene, blood in multiple cases, and nudity.]

Cover art image CC BY-SA 3.0 (C) Gert Germeraad 2011, Portret van een man005.jpg

COPYRIGHT 2016 UNITED PLUMBING