Winners of the 1997 IFComp
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1st place
The Edifice
Lucian P. Smith
Something new in your everyday hunter-gatherer routine: where did this strange edifice come from? Dare you enter and explore the secrets of this... thing, or do you try to face your enemies? Like you have a choice.
2nd place
Babel
3rd place
Glowgrass
4th place
She's Got a Thing for a Spring
Brent VanFossen
It's been a hectic year, and it's time to get away. He told you that, and you agreed. Now you're here, in a grove of aspen, and long for a good, long bath in the nearby hot spring.
5th place
A Bear's Night Out
David Dyte
Tomorrow is the big Teddy Bear party, and you must definitely not let your owner forget about it...
6th place
Sunset Over Savannah
7th place
Poor Zefron's Almanac
8th place
The Lost Spellmaker
Neil James Brown
Spells are in short supply, and spellmakers are disappearing one by one. So your boss T sends you on a mission to find the famous Drew Tungshinach so that he may entertain the community further with his spells.
9th place
Sins Against Mimesis
Adam Thornton
Your lover Black left, and your days are full of loneliness. Your progress in finding him, however, is blocked by none other than the Devil himself; and to get rid of him, you must commit the seven deadly sins. And that is just the beginning...
10th place
A New Day
Jonathan Fry
For some reason, the author of this game died while writing it, and so you're stuck in an unfinished room. The author's creation, Winston, asks you to find out what happened. Can you finish an unfinished game full of bugs?
11th place
Zero Sum Game
12th place
Zombie!
13th place
The Frenetic Five vs. Sturm und Drang
14th place
Travels in the Land of Erden
Laura Knauth
When you arrive in the Land of Erden, thriving for adventure, you learn that the most dangerous enemy of the land is already defeated. A challenge less, but there is still the tale of the beautiful ruby, rumored to be hidden somewhere in the mountains surrounding Shalandria...
15th place
The Unholy Grail
Stuart Allen
Strange, unexplained deaths have been occuring in the marine life surrounding a remote island military base and you have been sent to investigate. Your investigation will ultimately lead you to the other side of the world where you will uncover the secrets behind a sinister plot to find The Unholy Grail.
16th place
Friday Afternoon
Mischa Schweitzer
Trapped in the MicroSun offices, you have just one wish: get out of there by six, to meet your date, and prove that you're not a nerd.
17th place
Madame L'Estrange and the Troubled Spirit
Ian Ball and Marcus Young
For Madame L'Estrange, contacts with beings from the ghost world are everyday routine. This case, however, is not. Did Dr. Taverner really kill himself? If not, who did it? And what about that beast?
18th place
Sylenius Mysterium
C. E. Forman
You are Sylenius Mysterium, video game player par excellence. At a mall, you discover a long-lost arcade game, and excitedly start to play. But nothing could have prepared you for what happens...
19th place
Phred Phontious and the Quest for Pizza
Michael Zey
The Royal Court Jester wants his pizza, and he wants it quickly. So his chef, Chet, sends you out to get all the necessary items. Along the way, you discover there just might be something going on...
20th place
Down
21st place
VirtuaTech
22nd place
The Obscene Quest of Dr. Aardvarkbarf
23rd place
A Good Breakfast
Stuart Adair
You are longing for a good breakfast, but where do you get the ingredients from?
24th place
Town Dragon
David Cornelson
A dragon is terrorizing your home town, and the mayor is looking for volunteers to get rid of him. Fortunately, someone other than you becomes "volunteer." Unfortunately, it is still you who has to do the dirty work...
25th place
The Tempest
Graham Nelson and William Shakespeare
You play Ariel in William Shakespeare's comedy The Tempest. The text and descriptions are lifted from the original works, i. e. in old English.
26th place
Temple of the Orc Mage
27th place
E-Mailbox
28th place
Pintown
Stefan Blixt
As you are leaving your home, you must return the keys to your small home to the janitor. First, however, you must transform yourself into a human being again, and clean up a bit.
29th place
Leaves
30th place
Congratulations!
Frederick Hirsch
A short game in which you must take care of your newborn baby.
31st place
CASK
Harry M. Hardjono
The author's first stab at interactive fiction. A very buggy game that consists mainly of obscure puzzles, with no story at all.
32nd place
Symetry
Ryan Stevens
This new mirror you bought really is something. But in the night, it has a life of it's own...
33rd place
Aunt Nancy's House
Nate Schwartzman
This is an interactive tour of the author's aunt's soon-to-be former home.
34th place
Coming Home
Andrew Katz
Expect no more than what the title says. No plot, but lots of strange or time-dependent puzzles.
The organizer of the 1997 Annual Interactive Fiction Competition was Kevin Wilson.