The 2021 Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction!

* or Fall Fooferal, for our Southern Hemisphere Friends

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Connect with Spring Thing on Twitter at @SpringThingFest

We think games are for everyone.

Playing the Entries

The 2021 Festival of Interactive Fiction features thirty-eight new interactive stories submitted by authors working across the spectrum of text games. Participants chose to place their games in either the Main Festival, where they are eligible for a Best In Show ribbon and prizes, or the Back Garden, with looser entry requirements allowing for more experimental or work-in-progress entries.

Main Festival

TitleSystemLength
An Amical Bet, by Eve CabaniéQuestshort
Baggage, by Katherine FarmarInform/Glulxshort
A Blank Page, by Edu SánchezTwineshort
Copper Canyon, by Tony PisculliInkshort
Eleanor, by RobWindows
Excalibur, by J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris and Duncan BowsmanTwinefull
Fish & Dagger, by grave snail gamesBest In Show recipientTwineshort
Hand of God, by Dana FreitasTwinefull
Heroes!, by Bellamy BriksQuestshort
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown!, by Havilah "mwahahavilah" McGinnisInkshort
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires, by E. Joyce and N. CormierTwineshort
Mean Mother Trucker, by Bitter KarellaInform/Glulxfull
Medicum Veloctic, by Lawrence M MarableTwineshort
Miss No-Name, by Bellamy BriksTwinemicro
Misty Hills, by Giuliano Roverato Martins PereiraTwineshort
Ned Nelson Really Needs a Job, by Eric CrepeauTwinefull
Perihelion, by Tim WhiteTwineshort
Picton Murder Whodunnit, by Sia SeeStrandmicro
Project Arcmör, by Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross (as Bitterly Indifferent Studios)Twineshort
[PYG]MALION*, by C.J.Twineshort
Queenlash, by Kaemi VelatetTwinefull
The Secret of Nara, by Ralfe RichTwineshort
Some Space, by rittermiTwineshort
Sovereign Citizens, by Laura Paul and Max WoodringTwineshort
A strange dream, by Anaïs TnQuestmicro
Sunny's Summer Vacation, by Lucas C. WheelerTwine
Take the Dog Out, by EllInform/Zshort
Those Days, by George LarkwrightTwineshort
The Weight of a Soul, by Chin Kee YongBest In Show recipientInform/Glulxfull
Wintervale, by Ethan ErhTwineshort

Back Garden

TitleSystemLength
Blue November, by Lawrence FurnivalTwineshort
Budacanta, by Alianora La CantaRen'Pyshort
Cycles (Excerpt), by Mike MarttilaInkshort
Eyewear Cleaner 2077: Demo, by Naomi NorbezTwinefull
Manikin Demo, by Rose BeharTwineshort
So I Was Short Of Cash And Took On A Quest, by Anssi RaisanenInform/Glulxshort
Space Diner, by Marta and AlexejPythonfull
Theatre of Spud, by D E HaynesPythonshort

Download all entries under 100 MB (226 MB zip): [Download from itch.io]

Festival Readme and Changelog of updated games

Anyone is welcome to submit to . The organizer reserves the right to not show a submission they feel is inappropriate for the festival, but entries are not otherwise vetted, and their contents and opinions reflect the views of the original author, not the as a whole.

How to Play Parser IF

S features all kinds of text games, but two of the major divisions are between what are sometimes called choiced-based games (where you interact by clicking links) and parser-based games (where you interact by typing commands).

To those unfamiliar with the parser, it can seem confusing or intimidating. Here are some resources for getting started:

In the Main Festival

Download
“Are you up to a challenge?”
An Amical Bet By Eve Cabanié Quest short funny You’re Svetlana Asimov, a famous thief, and you’re chilling at a party with your partner Jodie. But boredom is never far away, and she decides to spice up a little your night. Author's Comment: “I think I played Carmen Sandiego too much when I was a child... Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my first game :D”
An Amical Bet by Eve Cabanié received an Audience Award for 'Best Items.'
BEST
ITEMS
An Amical Bet by Eve Cabanié received an Audience Award for 'Best Quest game.'
BEST
QUEST GAME
Download (4210 bytes; Quest)
Play
“You are travelling, alone and on foot, and your back hurts. You have been travelling for a long time.”
Baggage By Katherine Farmar Inform/Glulx short psychological semi-abstract in-game hints multiple endings An exploration of stuckness, change, and the things we can’t let go. Author's Comment: “I have gotten so much pleasure from IF over the years that it is a thrill to create my own! Baggage is my first ever completed work of interactive fiction — a short semi-abstract game on psychotherapeutic themes. It is introspective, with some (very) light puzzling, built-in hints, and multiple endings, both good and bad.”
Baggage by Katherine Farmar received an Audience Award for 'Best Abstract Game.'
BEST
ABSTRACT GAME
Baggage by Katherine Farmar received an Audience Award for 'Best Verb Use.'
BEST
VERB USE
Baggage by Katherine Farmar received an Audience Award for 'Most Allegorical.'
MOST
ALLEGORICAL
Play Online Download (269 KB; Inform/Glulx)
Play
“The screen glows in the darkness hurting your eyes. Your notebook, open on a blank page, lies near your keyboard. On the screen the cursor blinks over the white background of a clean new document.”
A Blank Page By Edu Sánchez Twine short A short story about creative block and the impostor syndrome. Author's Comment: “This short story talks about the doubts that assail any creator when starting their creative process. In the story, we take the place of a writer, but much of the text is valid for any creative discipline, since all arts have their own version of the “Blank Page Syndrome”.

As an interactive fiction writer I feel very much reflected in the concerns and fears expressed here, but what is crucial for me is what you, the player, feel when you experience this little piece.

I truly hope that this little work resonates with you.”
 A Blank Page by Edu Sánchez received an Audience Award for 'Most Inspiring.'
MOST
INSPIRING
 A Blank Page by Edu Sánchez received an Audience Award for 'Most Introspective.'
MOST
INTROSPECTIVE
 A Blank Page by Edu Sánchez received an Audience Award for 'Best Literature.'
BEST
LITERATURE
Play Online Download (1.01 MB; Twine)
Play
Copper Canyon by Tony Pisculli
Copper Canyon By Tony Pisculli Ink short YA Western violence After disaster strikes a small mining town in the Old West, it falls to a handful of brave teens to reclaim their home from bandits. [A 10K-word branching narrative with fifteen endings and no puzzles.] Author's Comment: “Developed for a game company with the brief to create a satisfying, branching narrative with relatively fewer, heavier-weight decisions. Unfortunately, they pivoted away from games after I wrote it. Fortunately, they released the rights back to me.”
Copper Canyon by Tony Pisculli received an Audience Award for 'Best Backstory.'
BEST
BACKSTORY
Copper Canyon by Tony Pisculli received an Audience Award for 'Best Choices.'
BEST
CHOICES
Copper Canyon by Tony Pisculli received an Audience Award for 'Best Storyline.'
BEST
STORYLINE
Play Online Download (795 KB; Ink) Cover Art
Download
Eleanor by Rob
Eleanor By Rob Windows Surreal has sounds has graphics puzzle game Internal walkthrough A tribute to The Beatles. A souls game. Author's Comment: She said
"I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad "
And she's making me feel like
I've never been born "
(The Beatles 1966)
"Up or down my friend ...
But, in the end, it's just all around endlessly "

Note:
"This game has a lot of sounds and pop-up images (which mostly must be closed individually)."
Eleanor by Rob received an Audience Award for 'Fabbest.'
FABBEST
Eleanor by Rob received an Audience Award for 'Most Touching.'
MOST
TOUCHING
Eleanor by Rob received an Audience Award for 'Most Evocative.'
MOST
EVOCATIVE
Download (169 MB; Windows)
Play
Excalibur by J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris and Duncan Bowsman
Excalibur By J. J. Guest , G. C. Baccaris and Duncan Bowsman Twine full-length has graphics puzzleless hypertext science fiction slice-of-life The psychedelic science fantasy series Excalibur was wiped by the BBC. It lives on, in the memories of its fans. Author's Comment: “Welcome to the Excalibur Wiki. This fan-run encyclopedia preserves the details of an obscure science fantasy television series from the 1970s. Though much of its footage was lost, a group of dedicated fans still have strong memories of the show — as well as unique theories, occasional arguments, and lingering questions.

Excalibur is not playable on mobile devices.”
Excalibur by J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris and Duncan Bowsman received an Audience Award for 'Deepest Rabbit-Hole.'
DEEPEST
RABBIT-HOLE
Excalibur by J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris and Duncan Bowsman received an Audience Award for 'Most Memorable.'
MOST
MEMORABLE
Excalibur by J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris and Duncan Bowsman received an Audience Award for 'Most Original Concept.'
MOST ORIGINAL
CONCEPT
Play Online Download (75.2 MB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Fish & Dagger by grave snail games
Fish & Dagger By grave snail games Twine short Spy-action parody existential SAVE MIRVIL! graphics and sound augmented reality Fish & Dagger by grave snail games is a winner of the 2021 Spring Thing Best In Show ribbon. You are a secret agent. It’s the end of the world. You are cursed. You came here to rescue your partner, but the mission has taken a turn for the weird. Parody spy thriller. Best played on a computer or tablet. Author's Comment: “Let’s turn up that camp dial until it falls off, shall we? Spies. Evil doctors. Gunsmoke. A little silly. A little deadly. Six endings. One BAD ending. You probably want the BAD ending. Scene select is unlocked after your first run. Sound on. Watch where you’re pointing that knife, my dear.”
Fish & Dagger by grave snail games received an Audience Award for 'Best Humor.'
BEST
HUMOR
Fish & Dagger by grave snail games received an Audience Award for 'Most Innovative.'
MOST
INNOVATIVE
Fish & Dagger by grave snail games received an Audience Award for 'Best Multimedia.'
BEST
MULTIMEDIA
Play Online Download (544 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Hand of God by Dana Freitas
Hand of God By Dana Freitas Twine full-length Twine Puzzleless Violence Death Robot Religion Sci-fi Your love for your family is the only thing that keeps you going in your white collar drudgery. Suddenly, the robots revolt, led by a religious fanatic believing a corrupted form of a dead belief system. Author's Comment: “This is my first work and I hope you all find it interesting. This story isn’t supposed to be anti-religious or luddite propaganda. I was just having fun with topics I like to learn about.

Note: The error regarding this game earlier has been fixed. It is now playable.”
Hand of God by Dana Freitas received an Audience Award for 'Most Apocalyptic.'
MOST
APOCALYPTIC
Play Online Download (8.4 MB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Heroes! by Bellamy Briks
Heroes! By Bellamy Briks Quest short has graphics fantasy many endings comedy supernatural not many puzzles You are given the reins of 3 magical young adults. You could lead them to glory or to their doom...it’s all up to you. This is life in Eltheria! What will people say when you’re gone? Author's Comment: “I hope you enjoy this game. This was my second attempt at IF and I think it went pretty well. In total there are 32 endings (some quick, some longer) So, have fun!”
Heroes! by Bellamy Briks received an Audience Award for 'Cutest Drawings.'
CUTEST
DRAWINGS
Heroes! by Bellamy Briks received an Audience Award for 'Most Branching.'
MOST
BRANCHING
Heroes! by Bellamy Briks received an Audience Award for 'Most Heartwarming.'
MOST
HEARTWARMING
Play Online Download (25.2 MB; Quest) Cover Art
Play
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown! by Havilah "mwahahavilah" McGinnis
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown! By Havilah "mwahahavilah" McGinnis Ink short has graphics mouse control touch control mobile friendly mild language Right in the middle of the final climactic showdown of Journey to Ultimate Fightdown!, the connection suddenly goes out, stranding the characters in the black. This unexpected break gives the player a chance to get a behind the scenes look at all of the characters — and an opportunity to meddle with end game results before the power comes back on. Author's Comment: “Journey to Ultimate Fightdown began during GGJ 2021. It’s an absurd dark comedy with occasional sprinklings of happiness and horror. If you saw the title and got excited to see an epic fight: prepare to be disappointed!”
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown! by Havilah McGinnis received an Audience Award for 'Best Characters.'
BEST
CHARACTERS
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown! by Havilah McGinnis received an Audience Award for 'Most Endings.'
MOST
ENDINGS
Journey to Ultimate Fightdown! by Havilah McGinnis received an Audience Award for 'Best Ink.'
BEST INK
Play Online Download (Win) (33 MB) Download (Mac) (43 MB) Cover Art
Play
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires by E. Joyce and N. Cormier
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires By E. Joyce and N. Cormier Twine short humor crime alternate history Navigate fraught social situations by day and pull off heists by night as Lady Thalia, the not-actually-aristocratic thief bent on making a mockery of British high society. Author's Comment: “This is a light, silly game in the tradition of works like the Arséne Lupin stories. It combines social puzzles with a few old-fashioned puzzles and some management elements. We hope it is a fun diversion!”
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires by E. Joyce and N. Cormier received an Audience Award for 'Best PC.'
BEST PC
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires by E. Joyce and N. Cormier received an Audience Award for 'Funniest.'
FUNNIEST
Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires by E. Joyce and N. Cormier received an Audience Award for 'Most Dashing Criminals.'
MOST DASHING
CRIMINALS
Play Online Download (621 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Mean Mother Trucker by Bitter Karella
Mean Mother Trucker By Bitter Karella Inform/Glulx full-length comedy truckers trucking Big Ester is a mean mother trucker about to take her big rig down The Devil’s Taint, the most treacherous stretch of mountain road on the whole trucking circuit... but first she’s got to win the heart of the truck stop waitress who makes it all worthwhile!
Mean Mother Trucker by Bitter Karella received an Audience Award for 'Funniest.'
FUNNIEST
Mean Mother Trucker by Bitter Karella received an Audience Award for 'Best LGBT Characters.'
BEST LGBT
CHARACTERS
Mean Mother Trucker by Bitter Karella received an Audience Award for 'Best Classic Puzzlefest.'
BEST CLASSIC
PUZZLEFEST
Play Online Download (1.32 MB; Inform/Glulx) Cover Art
Play
Medicum Veloctic by Lawrence M Marable
Medicum Veloctic By Lawrence M Marable Twine short graphic violence superhero medical romance the city’s hero: Veloctic. A man of great skill and great power who pushes his body to the brink every night to beat criminals. Veloctic’s boyfriend: you, a man who is desperately trying to use your medical training to hold him together. Author's Comment: “would you believe I came up with this whole concept because I was on a rabbit hole of watching heroes fight and wondered what it would be like to have to patch them up?

Crazy I know.”
Medicum Veloctic by Lawrence M Marable received an Audience Award for 'Best Hints.'
BEST
HINTS
Medicum Veloctic by Lawrence M Marable received an Audience Award for 'Best Melodrama.'
BEST
MELODRAMA
Medicum Veloctic by Lawrence M Marable received an Audience Award for 'Best Superhero Sidekick Take.'
BEST SUPERHERO
SIDEKICK TAKE
Play Online Download (407 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Miss No-Name by Bellamy Briks
Miss No-Name By Bellamy Briks Twine micro comedy really really cool puzzleless supernatural highschool simulator A really popular kid is trying to find out the name of the mysterious girl that sits in the front of the class. Your goal is to help him achieve this! Or risk his life trying... Author's Comment: “There are 6 normal endings and 1 true ending. I’d consider this a nice and sweet Twine game to play when you’re bored. And now I guess that the only thing left to do in it’s production, is for you to enjoy it!”
Miss No-Name by Bellamy Briks received an Audience Award for 'Best Mystery.'
BEST
MYSTERY
Miss No-Name by Bellamy Briks received an Audience Award for 'Best Twist.'
BEST
TWIST
Play Online Download (264 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Misty Hills by Giuliano Roverato Martins Pereira
Misty Hills By Giuliano Roverato Martins Pereira Twine short chill easy no puzzles potential death Wait for a tram in a weird fantasy world. Author's Comment: “This is a chill game, inspired by many hours sitting at bus stations and all the weird stuff (and folks) you might find around. You won’t be able to see everything, you might not even want to, and thats okay. Take your time and enjoy yourself.”
Misty Hills by Giuliano Roverato Martins Pereira received an Audience Award for 'Best Use of Cat.'
BEST USE OF
CAT
Misty Hills by Giuliano Roverato Martins Pereira received an Audience Award for 'Most Relaxing.'
MOST
RELAXING
Misty Hills by Giuliano Roverato Martins Pereira received an Audience Award for 'Most Intriguing NPC.'
MOST INTRIGUING
NPC
Play Online Download (269 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
“You made one tiny, inconsequential, possibly fatal mistake: you completely forgot to look this company up, and have absolutely no idea what they do. Whoops.”
Ned Nelson Really Needs a Job By Eric Crepeau Twine full-length comedy farce dialogue choices punching multiple endings puzzles Bluff your way through a job interview with the the weird CEO of a mysterious company. There’s just one problem: you have no idea what job you’re applying for. Author's Comment: “My first piece of interactive fiction, which was a good excuse to teach myself Twine. I hope you enjoy it!”
Ned Nelson Really Needs a Job by Eric Crepeau received an Audience Award for 'Best Jokes.'
BEST
JOKES
Ned Nelson Really Needs a Job by Eric Crepeau received an Audience Award for 'Most Satisfying Ending.'
MOST SATISFYING
ENDING
Ned Nelson Really Needs a Job by Eric Crepeau received an Audience Award for 'Best Punch.'
BEST
PUNCH
Play Online Download (122 KB; Twine) Walkthrough
Play
Perihelion by Tim White
Perihelion By Tim White Twine short science fantasy scenery dreamlike close encounters poetic puzzles What comets may come
 Perihelion by Tim White received an Audience Award for 'Best NPC.'
BEST
NPC
 Perihelion by Tim White received an Audience Award for 'Most Poetic.'
MOST
POETIC
Play Online Download (710 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Picton Murder Whodunnit by Sia See
Picton Murder Whodunnit By Sia See Strand micro strand speech mystery Who shot Major Stephenson: Charles, his brother and business partner, his wife Charlotte, the son Jimmy or even Jeeves the family butler? I don’t know either because the villain changes for each game! Play OnlineCover Art
Play
Project Arcmör by Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross (as Bitterly Indifferent Studios)
Project Arcmör By Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross
(as Bitterly Indifferent Studios)
Twine short sci-fi anti-survival You were thrilled to be selected as one of StarQuorp’s colonizers. However, the experience is atypical. Author's Comment: “This project developed our skills moving objects and entities through different locations.”
Project Arcmör by Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross (as Bitterly Indifferent Studios) received an Audience Award for 'Best Sci-fi.'
BEST
SCI-FI
Project Arcmör by Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross (as Bitterly Indifferent Studios) received an Audience Award for 'Most Eerie.'
MOST
EERIE
Project Arcmör by Donald Conrad and Peter M.J. Gross (as Bitterly Indifferent Studios) received an Audience Award for 'Most Deaths.'
MOST
DEATHS
Play Online Download (187 MB; Twine)
Play
[PYG]MALION* by C.J.
[PYG]MALION* By C.J. Twine short has graphics mystery surreal narrative-driven exploration A story about you — The Murdered God — and your attempt to solve the mystery of your death in places beyond. Author's Comment: “Life is frustrating and I wanted to make something cathartic. Also, I love Cluedo.”
[PYG]MALION* by C.J. received an Audience Award for 'Coolest Dimension.'
COOLEST
DIMENSION
Play Online Download (492 KB; Twine)
Play
“A queen must scintillate starkest in midnight or the sucklings shall worship dawn.”
Queenlash By Kaemi Velatet Twine full-length mature audiences Queenlash is an interactive novel about the life of Cleopatra told from the perspectives of eight women. Author's Comment: “This is a literary nightmare intended for mature audiences only.”
Queenlash by Kaemi Velatet received an Audience Award for 'Best FAQ.'
BEST
FAQ
Queenlash by Kaemi Velatet received an Audience Award for 'Best Writing.'
BEST
WRITING
Play Online Download (664 KB; Twine)
Play
The Secret of Nara by Ralfe Rich
The Secret of Nara By Ralfe Rich Twine short Slice of life Matters of life from the viewpoint of a deer. Author's Comment: “A story inspired by a trip I had before; it has multiple endings, and I hope you all find some enjoyment from this. I hope you are all safe and sound, and please enjoy the festival!”
The Secret of Nara by Ralfe Rich received an Audience Award for 'Best Animals.'
BEST
ANIMALS
The Secret of Nara by Ralfe Rich received an Audience Award for 'Best Nonhuman Protagonist.'
BEST NONHUMAN
PROTAGONIST
The Secret of Nara by Ralfe Rich received an Audience Award for 'Most Realistic.'
MOST
REALISTIC
Play Online Download (661 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Some Space by rittermi
Some Space By rittermi Twine short space puzzles A story about immigrating...in space. Play Online Download (458 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Sovereign Citizens by Laura Paul and Max Woodring
Sovereign Citizens By Laura Paul and Max Woodring Twine short housing A transient duo finds an abandoned mansion to camp out in, but comes to find many details of the estate inhospitable. Author's Comment: “As of 2019, there was an estimated 17 million empty homes in the US, a number that increased by over a million within a decade. This leaves over 12% of all housing units in our country vacant.”
Sovereign Citizens by Laura Paul and Max Woodring received an Audience Award for 'Best Capitalist Critique.'
BEST CAPITALIST
CRITIQUE
Sovereign Citizens by Laura Paul and Max Woodring received an Audience Award for 'Best Location Descriptions.'
BEST LOCATION
DESCRIPTIONS
Sovereign Citizens by Laura Paul and Max Woodring received an Audience Award for 'Most Uncanny Reappropriation.'
MOST UNCANNY
REAPPROPRIATION
Play Online Download (332 KB; Twine)
Download
“You play a man who woke up in and old mansion, without remembering how he got there. You will need to explore each room of the house to find the key of the front door to escape of this weird place.”
A strange dream By Anaïs Tn Quest micro A man wakes up in an abandoned mansion. He needs to find the key of the front door to get out. Download (2.75 MB; Quest)
Play
Sunnys Summer Vacation by Lucas C. Wheeler
Sunny's Summer Vacation By Lucas C. Wheeler Twine lgbtq forgiving fantasy graphics puzzles minigames animal You play as a Corgi with your family on vacation. Your girl is having family trouble, and you want to help her navigate a changing dynamic. Author's Comment: “This is the spiritual successor to the game Adventures with Fido. It was designed with a lot of that feedback in mind, and meant to be more narrative-driven with a tighter story and defined character arc, as much as there can be in a fantasy-lite setting and a canine protagonist. This is the core story element version of the game, with a more developed version released independently at a later date.

**Info on how to save and load games can be found in the Credits section of the game itself.”
Sunny's Summer Vacation by Lucas C. Wheeler received an Audience Award for 'Charming PC.'
CHARMING
PC
Sunny's Summer Vacation by Lucas C. Wheeler received an Audience Award for 'Best Puppy.'
BEST
PUPPY
Play Online Download (1.31 MB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Take the Dog Out by Ell
Take the Dog Out By Ell Inform/Z short mild swearing suggestive language animals short funny parser LGBTQ comedy It’s nine A.M., and your (perfect, responsible) girlfriend needs (flighty, distractible) you to take the dog out. Take the Dog Out is a brief game asking you to do one simple task.
Take the Dog Out by Ell received an Audience Award for 'Best Lil Fluffy Wuffy Dog.'
BEST LIL
FLUFFY WUFFY DOG
Take the Dog Out by Ell received an Audience Award for 'Most Lighthearted Game.'
MOST LIGHT-
HEARTED GAME
Take the Dog Out by Ell received an Audience Award for 'Best Short Game.'
BEST
SHORT GAME
Play Online Download (217 KB; Inform/Z) Cover Art Solution
Play
Those Days by George Larkwright
Those Days By George Larkwright Twine short linear prose minimalist “Funny how some friendships end in a thunderstorm of insurmountable differences, whilst others slowly dim out of sight.” Author's Comment: “I set out to write a character-driven piece told through the lens of childhood memories, touching on themes including youth, friendship, emotional health, loss and regret.”
Those Days by George Larkwright received an Audience Award for 'Most Emotional.'
MOST
EMOTIONAL
Those Days by George Larkwright received an Audience Award for 'Most Halcyon.'
MOST
HALCYON
Those Days by George Larkwright received an Audience Award for 'Most Sentimental.'
MOST
SENTIMENTAL
Play Online Download (600 KB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
The Weight of a Soul by Chin Kee Yong
The Weight of a Soul By Chin Kee Yong Inform/Glulx full-length parser forgiving mystery steampunk horror The Weight of a Soul by Chin Kee Yong is a winner of the 2021 Spring Thing Best In Show ribbon. In a world of arcane mysteries, a young doctor’s apprentice unravels a conspiracy most grim. Author's Comment: “This is a long and ambitious parser game inspired by classics like Blue Lacuna and Anchorhead. An unfinished excerpt of it was shown at Spring Thing 2017. This is the complete and finished experience, which may take 5 to 6 hours in total to complete. Please enjoy.

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback, which you can email to me through the provided link. If you’d like to support this game, you can visit the official webpage (link below) to read about the upcoming premium version planned for release on itch.io and Steam.”
The Weight of a Soul by Chin Kee Yong received an Audience Award for 'Best Use Of Endoscopy.'
BEST USE OF
ENDOSCOPY
The Weight of a Soul by Chin Kee Yong received an Audience Award for 'Best NPCs.'
BEST
NPCS
The Weight of a Soul by Chin Kee Yong received an Audience Award for 'Best Setting.'
BEST
SETTING
Play Online Download (2.81 MB; Inform/Glulx) Cover ArtOfficial WebpageContact the Author
Play
Wintervale by Ethan Erh
Wintervale By Ethan Erh Twine short interactive-fiction mystery An ill fate is about to fall upon Wintervale, a city of commerce founded upon the nests of a mighty winter dragon. Experience what might be its final days through the eyes of a local tavern master. Author's Comment: “There’s no save mechanic implemented into this game, so be ready to set aside an hour or two for this rich narrative experience.”
Wintervale by Ethan Erh received an Audience Award for 'Most Surprising.'
MOST
SURPRISING
Play Online Download (216 KB; Twine) Cover ArtOther games

In the Back Garden

Play
“Election Security Cyber Wargame”
Blue November By Lawrence Furnival Twine short game-in-a-game university wargame paloma Four groups of university students play a cyber wargame on local election security. Author's Comment: “I was teaching cyber security to university students - asynchronously and online - and felt the need for a single player mode that still caught the need to understand your enemy and the importance of team work in cyber security ... and the fun!”
Blue November by Lawrence Furnival received an Audience Award for 'Best Premise.'
BEST
PREMISE
Play Online Download (77.9 KB; Twine)
Play
Budacanta by Alianora La Canta
Budacanta By Alianora La Canta Ren'Py short travel slice of life autobiographical choice-based interface mostly limited colour palette contains tutorial puzzleless polite difficulty exploration Seek Szilvia on a boundary-testing voyage of discovery across Europe.

A story starting with getting our adventurer, who can’t stand strong smells,through the airport...
Author's Comment: “This visual novel was prompted by someone being confused that someone with autism (me) would want to go halfway across Europe on holiday on my own. I hope this excerpt shows both the fun and challenges of doing so.”
Budacanta by Alianora La Canta received an Audience Award for 'Most Informative.'
MOST
INFORMATIVE
Budacanta by Alianora La Canta received an Audience Award for 'Most Honest.'
MOST
HONEST
Play Online Linux (118 MB) Mac (111 MB) 64-bit Win/Linux (150 MB) 32/64-bit Win (132 MB) Cover Art
Play
“You bought yourselves some time, but now, as the deal struck specified, I've summoned you here to collect on your debt.”
Cycles (Excerpt) By Mike Marttila Ink short story-rich fantasy magic Miranda finds herself drawn back to her grandmother’s old home for a family reunion, where fleeting dreams she can neither quite remember nor forget whisper of childhood misdeeds and the dark magics they can beget. Author's Comment: “This is an introductory segment from a longer piece I’m in the middle of developing. The final version will involve winning over a select few allies from a strange cast of characters, with previous decisions having bearing on your options in future interactions, multiple endings, and which twists, turns, and lore you become privy to as the story unfolds. Hope you enjoy this preview, and thanks for reading!”
Cycles (Excerpt) by Mike Marttila received an Audience Award for 'Best Aunt.'
BEST
AUNT
Play Online Download (46.7 KB; Ink)
Play
Eyewear Cleaner 2077: Demo by Naomi Norbez
Eyewear Cleaner 2077: Demo By Naomi Norbez Twine full-length sci-fi cyberpunk A response game to Cyberpunk 2077. Play as a glasses cleaner as they go on with their daily life, & spark within them feelings of rebellion. Author's Comment: “Covers Days 1-2 of the full game. When it’s out, the full game will be released here: https://norbez.itch.io/eyewear-cleaner-2077”
Eyewear Cleaner 2077: Demo by Naomi Norbez received an Audience Award for 'Most Promising.'
MOST
PROMISING
Play Online Download (209 MB; Twine) Cover Art
Play
Manikin Demo by Rose Behar
Manikin Demo By Rose Behar Twine short murder mystery humor branching twine chat maritimes When your mom’s friend — an eccentric old man with a ‘manikin’ farm — dies in a fire, she decides to investigate. Advise her via text message as she navigates the sometimes surreal dangers posed by small-town secrets kept too long. Author's Comment: “This is part of a much longer chat game murder mystery that is in the works. Huge thank you to @Shindags for the text messaging format. Sounds sourced from Zapsplat, images purchased from Shutterstock apart from the ‘Dad’ image from Emma Paillex via Unsplash.”
Manikin Demo by Rose Behar received an Audience Award for 'Best Mom.'
BEST
MOM
Manikin Demo by Rose Behar received an Audience Award for 'Creepiest Plot.'
CREEPIEST
PLOT
Manikin Demo by Rose Behar received an Audience Award for 'Most Potential.'
MOST
POTENTIAL
Play Online Download (34.4 MB; Twine) Cover Art
Download
“Deliver the top-secret confidential envelope. Feed the budgie. Avoid Gunther.”
So I Was Short Of Cash And Took On A Quest By Anssi Raisanen Inform/Glulx short The fate of the world could be in your hands, or then it could be just an innocent shopping list. Your task is to deliver the mystery envelope, not ask questions.
So I Was Short Of Cash And Took On A Quest by Anssi Raisanen received an Audience Award for 'Best-Smelling Chicken.'
BEST-SMELLING
CHICKEN
So I Was Short Of Cash And Took On A Quest by Anssi Raisanen received an Audience Award for 'Most Fun.'
MOST FUN
Download (264 KB; Inform/Glulx) Walkthrough
Download
Space Diner by Marta and Alexej
Space Diner By Marta and Alexej Python 3 full-length sci-fi sim food You run a diner and your customers are aliens with various dietary restrictions and tastes. Make them happy, and they will repay you in space dollars and positive reviews! Author's Comment: “We think of this as an ‘IF-adjacent’ project: mostly a text-based sim game, but with a bit of story. The game is played in the terminal, using auto-completion. It requires Python3 to run – see the enclosed installing instructions for details.”
Space Diner by Marta and Alexej received an Audience Award for 'Best Slice-Of-Life.'
BEST
SLICE-OF-LIFE
Download (90.4 KB; Python) Cover ArtInstallation instructions
Download
Theatre of Spud by D E Haynes
Theatre of Spud By D E Haynes Python 3.9 short demo An alpha demo of a pure Python, parser-based web-enabled narrative. Contains two acts of a five-act piece. Lacks some content. Slightly buggy. Author's Comment: “February 14th, 1984.

Somewhere in the English Midlands, a humble local side will for the second time battle mighty Liverpool in the football cup tie of a lifetime.

And across town on this cold foggy night, Edward Lionheart debuts his youth production of “Arms and the Man”.

Amid technical hitches, one withering critic and a diabolical director, can a young boy called Spud save this theatre from disaster?”
Download (361 KB; Python) Cover ArtCode repository

Platform Instructions

If you prefer to download and play the entries offline, or a game isn't available for online play, here are instructions for running each kind of story format on your local system.

Inform: To play offline, you'll need to use the Download link on an entry's listing to get the game, and you'll need an interpreter that supports Glulx. Lectrote is a good cross-platform interpreter. [format details]

Inform (Z): You'll need to use the Download link on an entry's listing to get the game, and you'll need an interpreter for z-code. Lectrote is a good cross-platform interpreter. [format details]

Ink: This year's Ink games have been compiled into a standalone webpage or a platform-native application, so no special instructions are needed to play them offline. [format details]

Quest: If the author has not provided an online version, you can only play these games on a Windows PC. Download Quest for Windows and open the .aslx file. [format details]

Python: You will need to be familiar with a command line to run these programs, and have the correct version of Python installed: "Space Diner" should work with any version of Python 3, while "Theatre of Spud" requires Python 3.9. Refer to the instructions in the download for correctly installing and running each game. [format details]

Strand: The submission in this format can only be played online. [format details]

Ren'Py: To play offline, you must download a standalone platform-specific application using the links along the bottom of the listing. [format details]

Twine: To play offline, open the .html file in any modern web browser.† Some of this year's Twine games require access to online-only resources. [format details]

Windows: You can only play this submission on a Windows PC. Download the .zip file and run the executable installer inside.

For offline play of browser-based formats, note that the Chrome browser's default security settings may prevent some games from running correctly: use a different browser, such as Firefox or Safari, if you have trouble playing one of these games offline.

Festival Ribbons

Players of the 2021 festival could nominate games for two kinds of prize ribbons:

When the festival closes, the organizer curates Audience Award suggestions to cull anything not in the celebratory spirit of the before sending them to each author. The author may choose up to three Audience Awards to display on their game. Authors may choose to opt-out of receiving Audience Awards.

After the festival closes, nominations also close and ribbons are awarded. The games will remain permanently available on the festival site and at the IF Archive, along with any supplemental material of the author's choosing (walkthrough, source code, etc.).