June 2018 – Table of Contents

As an author and avid reader of prose fiction as well as the interactive kind, I often wonder what it is about the two media that makes them so engrossing.

For me, at least, one of the key elements of interactive fiction is how it involves the reader in the tale it’s telling. The best interactive fiction doesn’t just present a story on the page and ask the reader to make the occasional choice. It pulls the reader in completely to the (strange, far-off, compelling) locations it features, and it makes them interact with its narrative in many more ways than just digesting words.

This month we have a game that does just that: Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home by Andrew Plotkin. Unlike most of the stories we publish, Hoist Sail is parser fiction instead of HTML-driven hypertext fiction. That means you’ll have your work cut out for you as you go off in search of new adventures.

What will you find, out there, beyond the bounds of what’s known?

Our content schedule for June:

June 12th – Bruno continues his “Making Interactive Fiction” column, this time with a discussion of narrative design.

June 19th – Our story of the month, Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home by Andrew Plotkin. (If you’re a Patreon supporter or subscriber, you can get access to this already!)

June 26th – A guest post from Andrew which approaches the sticky question of what, exactly, IF is, as well as how the answer has changed and will continue to change over time.