The best interactive fiction games
Interactive fiction games (or text adventures) are adventure games in which the player gives textual commands in order to act within the given story. The story itself is told both using text and static pictures or with no graphics of any kind, just text. The genre's stepping stones are Adventure (developed in 1975) and the Zork series. Infocom, Legend Entertainment and Magnetic scrolls were some of the most popular interactive fiction developers of the 80s.
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James Clavell's Shogun
DOS1989 Infocom
James Clavell's Shogun, a text adventure game developed by Infocom and released in 1989. Infocom was known for its interactive fiction games, and "James Clavell's Shogun" was one of its later releases.This text adventure game is b...
Jewels of Darkness
DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz
DOS1983 Infocom
You survived Zork I, and now it’s personal. In Zork II, you face off against the enigmatic Wizard of Frobozz, who exists mostly to mess with you like a magical prankster with way too much free time. The puzzles get harder, t...
The Guild of Thieves
DOS1987 Magnetic Scrolls
Dream Zone
DOS1988 Naughty Dog
Suspect
DOS1984 Infocom
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
DOSMac OS1984freeware Infocom
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous free text adventure game based on the novel of the same name written by Douglas Adams (if you never read it, shame on you!). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was designed by D...
Planetfall
DOS1983 Infocom
Planetfall is an interactive fiction sci-fie game released in 1983 by Infocom, written by Steve Meretzky. It is often considered one of Infocom's best titles. You play as a low-ranking Ensign Seventh Class in the Stellar Patr...
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire
DOS1982 Infocom
Zork is one of the most popular text-adventures and one of the first interactive fiction games ever created. The first Zork was developed in the seventies and ported on various platform by Infocom in the early 80s. Infocom wa...
Leather Goddesses of Phobos
DOS1986 Infocom
A Mind Forever Voyaging
DOSMac OS1985 Infocom
If you ever wanted to play a video game that doubles as a philosophical think piece, A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is your ride. Released for DOS and Macintosh, this is one of Infocom’s most ambitious works - a text adventu...
Frederik Pohl's Gateway
DOS1992 Legend Entertainment
Frederik Pohl's Gateway is one of the best abandoned adventures games from Legend Entertainment. Gateway is an interactive fiction with graphics and an improved interface (unusual for IFs), based on the Frederik Pohl's novel ...
Journey: The Quest Begins
DOS1989 Infocom
Lancelot
DOS1988 Level 9 Computing
Myth
DOS1989 Magnetic Scrolls
Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers get all the girls
DOS1990protected Legend Entertainment
Rambo First Blood Part 2
DOS1985 Angelsoft
Spellcasting 301: Spring Break
DOS1992protected Legend Entertainment
James Bond 007: Goldfinger
DOS1986 Angelsoft
Timequest
DOS1991protected Legend Entertainment
Eric the Unready
DOS1993protected Legend Entertainment
A Night with Troi
DOS1991NSFW
A Night with Troi (1991) sounds like a fan fiction gone too far - and, well, that’s pretty much what it is. It’s a DOS-based “adventure” in the loosest sense, where you find yourself on the Enterprise with ...
Magnetic Scrolls Collection
DOS1991 Magnetic Scrolls
Magnetic Scrolls was one of the finest developer companies dedicated to Interactive Fiction. The Magnetic Scrolls Collection is a trilogy of Magnenic Scrolls adventures remade using the Wonderland engine: Fish!, Corruption, The Gu...
9 Princes in Amber
DOS1985 Telarium
Based on the cult fantasy novels by Roger Zelazny, 9 Princes in Amber is a 1985 text adventure that assumes two things: you’ve read the books, and you enjoy typing things like “look tree” and “use sword&rdq...
Circuit's Edge
DOS1990 Westwood Studios
Circuit's Edge is a cyberpunk-themed role-playing game developed by Westwood Associates and published by Infocom. It was released in 1990 for MS-DOS. Set in a dystopian future, Circuit's Edge takes place in the fictional city of R...
Time and Magik: The Trilogy
DOS1988 Level 9 Computing
Trinity
DOS1986 Infocom
Legend of the Sword
DOS1988 Silicon Software
Breakers
DOS1986 Synapse Software
In Breakers, you're a high-tech wrecking crew with a mission: break stuff. Computers, walls, enemy morale—whatever gets in your way. Released in 1986, it feels like a mutant crossbreed of action game and low-budget sci-fi mo...
The Fourth Protocol
DOS1987 The Electronic Pencil Co.
The Fourth Protocol is a 1985 interactive fiction video game inspired by Frederick Forsyth's 1984 Cold War spy novel of the same name. Developed by the Electronic Pencil Company and published by Hutchinson Computer Publishing, the...