The People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction met on Monday, July 20, 2026 over Zoom. Attending: Hugh, Josh Grams, Andrew Stephens, Michael Stage, Zarf, Vince Kotchian, Doug Orleans, Stephen Jablon, Matthew Griffin, and anjchang welcomed newcomer Shelby S. Warning: What follows is probably not proper English, but just a log of notes from the meeting to jog people’s memories.
Links & Lightning Round
- Plans were floated for an in‑person gathering at MIT. We decided we’ll meet on campus somewhere in the fall (updated) Angela will reserve a room for the greeting, and then people might head to the Flat Top Johnny’s restaurant after.
- Josh shared updates from the author of Animalia, Ian Waddell, and mentioned connecting with Ed Sibley. Working on a Godot + Ink project.
- Shelby introduced herself — they’re a writer based in Baltimore. https://shelbyswitzer.com/
- Andrew Stephens’s award‑winning game Voyage of the Marigold was highlighted: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=nlp1zehiwuts79bf
- Matt Griffin shared several links from ELO 2026, including Mark Sample’s Subcutanean Variorum talk: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2026/algorithmsandimaginaries/schedule/7/ Media Arts Exhibits: https://projects.cah.ucf.edu/mediaartsexhibits/elo2026/ Recordings: https://anastasiasalter.net/ELO2026/recordings.html
- Nick Montfort’s ELO talk was shared: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2026/hypertextsandfictions/schedule/7/
- Matt also shared his own ELO talk: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2026/hypertextsandfictions/schedule/10/ He’s expanding it into a longform article planned for completion by September, alongside finishing his Videotome talk.
Narrascope Recap & Debugging Tools
We discussed a Narrascope‑adjacent project (from Aaron Reed) that allows you to inspect and annotate narrative variants — potentially useful for debugging branching structures or exploring narrative space. This led to a broader conversation about debugging tools and narrative visualization.
Aaron Reed related mentions:
- Medium series on Subcutanean design: https://medium.com/@aareed/subcutanean-design-posts-e25d9c158cce
- Subcutanean itself: https://subcutanean.textories.com/
- Game Narrative Reader: https://www.gamenarrativereader.org/
Sound Design, Mods, Puzzles & Parser Nostalgia
We then talked about a recent foray Angela had at a rap conference. How audio is another way to tell a story audibly, and that narrative branching is possible. Ambiguity in how homophones can be spoken (or twisted) by the rapper can result in exploring different ideas with the same utterance. e.g. how someone might say “it’s nothing” and different narratives cold result. Josh noted that removing the K from Counterfeit Monkey gives counterfeit money — a moment of collective amusement.
Hugh mentioned that many games are now doing clever sound design with interaction. For example, a racing car game where driving over items creates a sound composition. The Ocarina of Time was mentioned as having clever use of sound for narrative. Michael mentioned that open‑source narrative variants reminded him of the modding culture around Doom.
The group briefly touched on the Granite Puzzle in Zork, a classic parser moment that continues to inspire IF puzzle design.
Jams, Engines & Experiments
The following Jams were mentioned and sparked interest from the group:
- A low‑stakes month‑long jam from Neo‑Interactives: Engine Jam 26 — “try a new engine or make IF in a tool not meant for IF (Jupyter notebooks, spreadsheets, etc.)” https://itch.io/jam/engine-jam-26
- Andrew Stephens mentioned he’s joining an IInk Jam 2026 link: https://itch.io/jam/inkjam-2026 The two jams overlap by about a week.
Moments Out of Time & IFComp History
Stephen highly recommended Moments Out of Time, by L. Ross Raszewski a time‑loop mystery where you replay multiple runs, choose limited items, and reconstruct a family’s history. Many nice qualities noted, including the sound effects and stuff in the game. The game includes a debriefing phase that checks whether you’ve inferred things you shouldn’t know yet. Stephen also noted that Moments Out of Time is a Z6 game, complete with sound effects. https://www.ifwiki.org/Moments_Out_of_Time
The group noted it placed second in IFComp 2001 by a slim margin — a reminder of how community visibility and author activity can influence long‑term recognition. We discussed how certain games persist due to the author’s continued interaction with the community. John Ingold’s name also came up in connection with his winning game’s legacy.
Matt asked whether anyone had played Incident at Galley House.
Closing Notes
The meeting wrapped with reminders about upcoming events and jams.
A MIT Campus meetup is planned Wednesday July 29th, at 6PM postponed due to transit and weather forecast. We’ll aim to meet up sometime over the next few months on campus.
The next PR‑IF meeting is scheduled for August 17th at 6:30 PM.