The People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction convened on Monday, Wednesday, January 21, 2026 over Zoom. Mike Stage, Matthew Griffin, Doug Orleans, Hugh, Michael Hilborn, anjchang, Stephen Eric Jablonski (with special guest Milo) , welcomed newcomers John Domenico (JD) Calvelli, Allyson and Vince Kotchian. Warning: What follows is probably not proper English, but just a log of notes from the meeting to jog people’s memories.

Topics Discussed

Narrascope 2026

• JD current Narrascope conference, along with Matt Griffin (past chair)
• Narrascope will be in Albany June 12-June 14th htps://narrascope.org/talks
• there will be a hybrid component.
• Jan 1st talk cycle begins. Submit your proposals by Jan 31. Reviews will go out in February, with results by March.
• Discussion about the showcase, and the venue.
• Questions feel free to email narrascope@narrascope.org – or if you’re looking for me specifically you can find JD on discord @baroswitch

Mentions about short games and puzzles

• Doug mentioned attending the recent IAP mystery hunt. Also check out BAPHL for future puzzles.
• The House in Fata Morgana visual novel. discussion about the length. The potential for fun short games turning into serialized games on a theme. Games with episodes, continuous chapters like Stardew Valley’s different mods.
• Hugh is trying to make shorter and shorter IF. We talked about how short games evolve.
• Allyson https://zophobas-morio.itch.io/ many small game jam projects.
• Check out Infocom’s Nord and Bert Dad jokes (play here or here)
• Hugh’s Beat Me U[ Scotty Game. Hugh discussed working on his dialogue system, see it in action!
• Taper 16: For Good Measure is accepting submissions from for size-coded digital poetry works due Feb 3. Short works of digital poetry are always welcome.