The People's Republic of Interactive Fiction

June Meetup

zarf — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:08:22 +0000

The Boston IF meetup for June will be Tuesday, June 4, 6:30 pm, MIT room 14N-233.

May Meetup

zarf — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:43:18 +0000

The Boston IF meetup for May will be Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 pm, MIT room 14N-233.

Boston summer IF meetup!

zarf — Fri, 03 May 2013 03:23:27 +0000

As in years past, the People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction is organizing a summer gathering of the IF folks of the world. If you are interested in hanging out and talking about IF, you are invited!

The weekend: September 14-15. The locale: Boston (the MIT area).

Once again, we will be gathering at NoShowConf, a tiny little indie game-dev conference. We will also have a presence at the Boston Festival of Indie Games, which runs the same weekend.

For the details, see this blog post.

Hope to see you there!

April Meetup

zarf — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:28:58 +0000

The post column here has been idle. Sorry! I will make shift to post meeting announcements, so that people following on RSS or planet-if.com can see them. The Boston IF meetup for April will be Tuesday, April 23, 6:30 pm, MIT room 14N-233. The day before that (Monday) is a Purple Blurb event: Jason McIntosh […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

IF Weekend in Boston

biggles2k — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 03:54:57 +0000

Several IF-related events are happening this weekend, so join your friends of the Republic and others. Here’s a quick list of festivities:

Gather round the dinner table at The Tavern in the Square (in Central Square) on Friday, July 13th. We’ll be meeting up around 7pm. Just come on in and ask for the Interactive Fiction group. Or look for us. You know who we are.

Rinse off your hangover(s) by attending the No Show Conference on Saturday and Sunday, July 14-15. Lots of IF people will be lurking about, including two of the speakers, Jim Munroe and the Republic’s own Clara Fernández-Vara.

There’s more. A lot more. IF author Jim Munroe will be screening the new movie, “Ghost With Shit Jobs” on Saturday, July 14, at 8pm in MIT 10-250. To quote the blurb: “‘Ghosts With Shit Jobs‘ will be preceded by a conversation with writer and executive producer Jim Munroe, XKCD webcomic creator Randall Munroe (no relation), and interactive fiction guru Andrew Plotkin on the Future of Cultural Work. After the film there will be a Q&A with Anthony Cortese (producer), Sean Lerner (Oscar the Digital Janitor), Jim Munroe (writer/exec producer) and other cast and crew from Toronto!”

April Meetup

biggles2k — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:35:45 +0000

It’s been some time since our last meeting, so we’re gathering on Monday, April 30, at 6:30 pm in Nick Montfort’s office at MIT (14N-233). All IF (and game!) enthusiasts are welcome to attend. As usual, we currently have no agenda, but items that may be discussed:

The recently released “Apollo 18+20: The IF Tribute Album,” a collection of games that honors the They Might Be Giants album Apollo 18;
The recently released tribute to the Harry Potter universe, “Muggle Studies“ by our very own Flourish Klink;
Spring Thing 2012, this year’s instance of the annual IF competition;
The No Show Conference, where we hope to host the third annual IF summit and all-out good time;
Recent updates from the local Kickstarter endeavor, Hadaen Lands;

After our meeting, we’ll retire the evening with food and drink and the usual conversation at the the Cambridge Brewing Company.

Apollo 18+20: The IF Tribute Album

jacksonmead — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:56:09 +0000

We’re proud to be hosting Apollo 18+20: The IF Tribute Album. This is a collaboration of various members of the interactive fiction community (including a good number from the People’s Republic of IF) to create a tribute in honor of the 20th anniversary of the release of the They Might Be Giants album Apollo 18. For each track on the album, there is a corresponding short interactive fiction game. The “Fingertips” tracks from the album, each a few seconds long, are represented by one-move games.

The games are playable online or offline, so give them a try!

March Meetup

biggles2k — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:36:48 +0000

Yes, it’s short notice, but we’re meeting on Monday, March 12, at 6:30 pm in Nick Montfort’s office at MIT (14N-233). Everyone and anyone is welcome to attend. Although no formal agenda has been established, we’re certain to be discussing the winners of the 2011 XYZZY Awards. After our meeting, we’ll retire the evening with food and drink and the usual conversation at the the Cambridge Brewing Company.

February Meetup

biggles2k — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:52:19 +0000

We’re meeting on Monday, February 27, at 6:30 pm in Nick Montfort’s office at MIT (14N-233). Everyone and anyone is welcome to attend. Among other items, we’re certain to be discussing the 2011 XYZZY Awards. After our meeting, we’ll celebrate with food and drink and the usual conversation at the the Cambridge Brewing Company.

XYZZY Awards

biggles2k — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:49:33 +0000

The 2011 XYZZY Award nominees have been annouced, and several games written by authors within the People’s Republic are among the contenders. The PR-IF nominees are:

For Best Story:“The Life (and Deaths) of Doctor M,” by Michael D. Hilborn (writing as Edmund Wells);
For Best Individual NPC: The puppy in “Beet the Devil,” by Carolyn VanEseltine;
For Best Individual Puzzle: The Hat Mystery in “Cold Iron,” by Andrew Plotkin (writing as Lyman Clive Charles), “Last Day of Summer,” by Doug Orleans (writing as Cameron Fox), “The Life (and Deaths) of Doctor M” by Michael D. Hilborn (writing as Edmund Wells), and “Playing Games” by Kevin Jackson-Mead (writing as Pam Comfite);

Congratulations to the nominees and good luck! Voting continues until March 2, midnight PST. Winners will be announced on the ifMUD on March 4, 1:00pm PST.