Inform 7

Inform 7, the newest* version of the longstanding text adventure creation software, is a very approachable platform for people who might want to create their own Infocom-style games.

Inform is so approachable, in fact, that we are going to make an entire (if tiny) text adventure game from scratch in 30 minutes. We’ll do it “improv style,” taking suggestions from the audience, building out the rooms and objects based on their ideas, and ending with a complete self-running text adventure game by the end of the session.

The goal isn’t to make something huge or complicated, but rather to go through all the basic steps (build a world, fill it with rooms and objects, use containers/inventory, make some puzzles, set a goal for winning the game, etc.). We’ll also go through the testing phase, including Inform’s neat self-playthrough ability, to show how bug testing is done. Then we’ll export it to a finished game compatible with lots of operating systems (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) … including the Apple II (via a Z-machine interpreter).