{
  items : [
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Change in the Weather",
    author : "Plotkin, Andrew",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "1 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/weather.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/weather.z5" ],
    review : "A deceptively simple premise: You get stuck out in the rain.  This is one  difficult little game, made of interlocking time-sensitive parts with ample  opportunity to get things irrevocably wrong.  Consists of two acts,  one before and one during the all-important and landscape-transforming  downpour.  Well-polished prose.  Excellent building of tension.  Odd and  twisty map.  Very satisfying.",
    id : 235
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Mind Electric",
    author : "Dyer, Jason",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "2 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/mindelec.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mindelec.z5" ],
    review : "Escape from cyberspace in this small game.  An ambitious attempt at providing  a virtual environment operating on logical rules that the player must figure  out.  Unfortunately, it makes a few too many assumptions about how the player  will interperet the world; few puzzles are solvable without using the  built-in hint menu to find out what the author was thinking.  Full of time  limits.",
    id : 140
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Magic Toyshop",
    author : "Rees, Gareth",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "3 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/magic-toyshop.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/magic-toyshop.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/magic-toyshop.z5" ],
    review : "A one-room puzzle feast.  No plot to speak of, a modicum of atmosphere, one  interesting character: Catharine, the toyshop's owner's daughter.  She plays  nine games with you, some traditional, some based on puzzles from other  adventure games, a few requiring bending of the rules.  Contains references  to Trinity and  Curses!, but the only  puzzle that requires knowledge of either is optional.  The final puzzle is  very hard unless you're familiar with the works of Raymond Smullyan.  Has an in-plot hint system (ask Catharine for help).  Contains good examples  of how to include board games in a text adventure.",
    id : 218
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Presents \"Detective\"",
    author : [ "Cree, Graeme", "Forman, C. E.", "Moore, Stuart" ],
    genre : [ "Mystery", "Satire" ],
    year : 1995,
    placement : "4 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "AGT" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/MST3K1src.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/agt/mst1agt.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mst3k1_2.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/mst3k1.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mst3k1.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/mst3k1.zip" ],
    review : "For those unfamiliar with the television program, Mystery Science  Theater 3000 consists of bad sci-fi movies with humorous heckling  added.  This game changes the medium, but keeps the spirit.  Matt Barringer's Detective  is mercilessly lambasted in imitation  of the show's silly and irreverent style.  If you've never seen the show, you  might not get much out of it; if you've neither seen the show nor played  Detective, you'll probably want to give this one a miss, although  the use of multiple narrative voices (the original game and the commentary) is  interesting once you notice it.",
    id : 146
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "All Quiet on the Library Front",
    author : "Phillips, Michael S.",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "5 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/library.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/library.z5" ],
    review : "A small game set in a future in which adventure games are considered high  art.  You're a college student writing a paper about Graham Nelson, and must  retrieve a book about him from the library.  Packed with references to  other games.  Features gentle built-in hints.",
    id : 126
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Tube Trouble",
    author : "Tucker, Richard",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "6 (Inform)",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/tube.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/tube.z5" ],
    review : "A tiny game set in a tube station (what Americans call a subway). Your goal is to get something to eat. Interestingly, most changes in game state are only indirectly reversible. There isn't much you can do in this game, and what can be done must be done.  You'll either solve this one pretty quickly or become frustrated and then bored with it.",
    id : 222
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Uncle Zebulon's Will",
    author : "Olsson, Magnus",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "1 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/zebulon3.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/zeb3src.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/zebulon.zip" ],
    review : "Uncle Zebulon was a crackpot who fancied himself a wizard.  Now that he's  dead, you discover that his fancies were true.  A pleasant little game set  in a mixed fantasy/modern environment (like much of the Zork  and Unnkulia games), with simple magic-based puzzles.",
    id : 245
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Toonesia",
    author : "Weinstein, Jacob",
    genre : [ "Cartoon", "Screen", "Children's" ],
    year : 1995,
    placement : "2 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/toonesia.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/toonesia.gam" ],
    review : "A small game based on old Warner Brothers cartoons.  You play \"Elmo Fuld\" in  pursuit of a certain rascally rabbit.  Game structure provides an illusion  of freedom, even though the puzzles can only be solved in linear sequence.  Features cartoon physics (ie, you can walk off a cliff and hang in the air  unsupported for a while.)  Doesn't really capture the feel of the cartoons,  but that's a given for any text-based medium.",
    id : 216
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The One That Got Away",
    author : "Lin, Leon",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "3 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/the_one.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/TheOne.zip" ],
    review : "A fish story - can you catch the legendary Big One?  A small game that  emphasizes the fiction aspect of IF - the puzzles are few and simple, but  there's a lot of description and dialogue (kind of like A Mind Forever  Voyaging, except funnier and about fish.)  Good fishing simulation.  Exaggerates wildly.  Probably good for beginners.  Be sure to ask Bob about  everything in the game.",
    id : 213
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Night at the Museum Forever",
    author : "Angelini, Chris",
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "4 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/Museum.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/Museum.zip" ],
    review : "A small time travel game.  Your job is to recover a ring from the eponymous  museum, an ancient structure shrouded in temporal paradox.  But first, you  must cause the ring to have been there.  Fairly weak, as time-travel games  go - it uses the gimmick of altering the past to affect the future, but in  ways that don't make a great deal of sense.",
    id : 148
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Undertow",
    author : "Granade, Stephen",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "4 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/tow.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/tow11.gam" ],
    review : "A small murder mystery, very imitative of Infocom's mysteries, set on an  expensive little boat in the middle of the ocean.  Lots of irrelevant detail  for the player to sift through.  The characters are a bit buggy and  disappointingly mechanical for a character-based genre.  The whole game has a  time limit.  It is possible to win without figuring everything out, which  gives the game some replayability.",
    id : 224
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Undo",
    author : "deMause, Neil",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1995,
    placement : "6 (TADS)",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/undo.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition95/undo.gam" ],
    review : "A tiny little weird game.  The premise:  You're playing an adventure game on  a corrupted disk.  All you need to do now to win is get past the duck and  the frog.  Packed with self-reference.  Has been called an anti-game.",
    id : 225
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Meteor, The Stone And A Long Glass Of Sherbet",
    author : "Nelson, Graham",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Zorkian" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/sherbet/sherbet.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/sherbet.z5" ],
    review : "Another of the growing pile of games set in the Zork universe (or  its twin brother), this time long after the Old Underground Empire has  faded from memory.  As an ambassador and spy from a small duchy, you  must investigate rumors of the rediscovery of magic, and ultimately  master its power in order to destroy it.  Set mostly underground, but  with enough plot to give it a sense of intrigue.  Good design, with  nicely cohesive geography.  Features in-game hints.",
    id : 189
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Tapestry",
    author : "Ravipinto, Daniel",
    genre : [ "Afterlife", "Religious", "Time Travel" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/tapestry/tapestry.z5",
    review : "A small game about fate and accountability.  Timothy Hunter (not the boy magician of comic fame, even though Ravipinto seems to be a fan) has died.  During a long and mostly noninteractive prologue, an angelic being called Morningstar presents him with the opportunity to relive three crucial moments and undo the decisions that caused him great guilt in his life.  Whether he accepts his fate or changes it really is up to the player - there are three contradictory paths through the game.  A bit preachy and light on world-modelling, but intriguing and unusually character-based.",
    id : 208
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Delusions",
    author : "Forman, C. E.",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Delusns.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/delusns/DELUSION.Z5" ],
    review : "Head games galore in this one.  You're working in a Virtual Reality lab, helping to debug the next generation of sim technology, until a suave stranger forces you to confront the creeping air of inconsistency that's been in the corner of your consciousness. A dark one, with surprises up to the end, one of the coolest villains I've seen in a long time, and some quite impressive feats of Inform programming.  The structure is unusual, with a nightmarishly looping midgame that resembles its frame in form but not in content.  The puzzles are all clever, although a bit obscure towards the end.  Has a built-in hint menu.",
    id : 61
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Small World",
    author : "Pontious, Andrew D.",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Travel", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/SmallW3.sit", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/smallwld/smallwld.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/SmallW3.gam" ],
    review : "A small game set in a tiny solar system, where the mechanism that powers the rotation of the Earth (approx. diameter 8 feet) has broken down and must be repaired.  Has an excellent sense of humor that derives more from the absurdity of the game mechanics than the prose, as you wade through oceans and leap to other planets. Puzzles are simple but numerous.  A lot of the standard TADS verbs are disabled to make the game easier.  Features adaptive hints.",
    id : 191
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Kissing the Buddha's Feet",
    author : "Lin, Leon",
    genre : [ "Collegiate", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/kissing.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/kissing/kissing.gam" ],
    review : "Your roommate is cramming for an important exam, and if he doesn't pass, you'll have to endure his company for another semester.  You have to clear the apartment of distractions - a task made difficult when four of his friends drop by for an all-night party.  A small game with exceptionally rich detail and a good sense of humour.  Has a time limit, but it's so large compared to the game that I don't expect anyone will run afoul of it without trying to do so.",
    id : 120
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fear",
    author : "Teo, Chuan-Tze",
    genre : [ "Horror", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/fear/fear.z5",
    review : "You wake up from a nightmare to find yourself irrationally afraid of various things around your house.  Three embedded self-contained subquests in the form of hallucinations make you face your fears before they drive you mad.  A well-done small game with a strong theme and good puzzles - I only wish it were longer.  There is some death, not always predictable.  Has a hint menu.",
    id : 85
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Maiden of the Moonlight",
    author : "Dean, Brian P.",
    genre : "Haunted  House",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/maiden/maiden.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/maiden.zip" ],
    review : "A 17th-century Scottish ghost story involving a wicked baron, his beautiful daughter, and the poor lad who loved her - all of whose souls remain inside a decaying manor house.  You play a soldier, just returned from fighting the Roundheads and determined to put the ghosts to rest.  One of the better ghost games - good setting, solid story, quite a lot of exposition scattered about (some of it quite long), and a bevy of mechanical and magical puzzles, including one very good large-scale one.  Requires a little learning-by-death - entering one particular room can end your game prematurely, and there's no way to know it except by experience.  Has a few subtleties that few will notice without using the adaptive hints.",
    id : 134
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Wearing the Claw",
    author : "O'Brian, Paul",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/claw.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/claw/claw.z5" ],
    review : "A short fantasy with a theme of illusion and an interesting substitute for a scoring system.  Your town is subject to a curse that is turning people, bit by bit, into animals.  The closer you come to meeting the demands of the wizard responsible, the more your wolf's paw turns back into a hand.  (Of course, you don't really wind up appeasing an evil wizard, but I'll spare you the plot twists.)  Sparse and linear, but with good detail and a couple of well-done magic items.  If there were more to it, it would be one of the finest of its type.  Features a hint menu.",
    id : 45
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Alien Abduction?",
    author : "Gerlach, Charles",
    genre : "Alien Visitation",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/abductv2.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/abduct/abduct.gam" ],
    review : "Are you crazy?  Perhaps.  Your father started rambling about aliens  when he went mad, and now the same aliens are apparently giving you  a series of intelligence tests in a simulation of your home town.  A short Twilight Zone-ish story with a convincing rural  Appalachian setting, a strong element of mystery, a back-story that's  revealed over the course of the game, and a tricky double twist ending.  It is possible to lock yourself out of victory by solving a certain  puzzle too soon.",
    id : 10
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Aayela",
    author : "Olsson, Magnus",
    genre : "Cave crawl",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/aayelasrc.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/aayela.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/aayela/aayela.gam" ],
    review : "An interesting experiment in the presentation of darkness.  To save  your kingdom, you must find the legendary Stone of Aayela (a crystal  that imprisons a powerful spirit of light) by exploring the dark  cave where it lies by sense of touch and sound.  A small game that  exposes some of the untapped potential of the medium.",
    id : 8
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lists and Lists",
    author : "Plotkin, Andrew",
    genre : [ "Programming Language", "Educational" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/lists/lists.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/lists.tar.Z", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/lists.z5" ],
    review : "An introductory course in the Scheme programming language (a dialect of Lisp) presented as a text adventure - or, to put it another way, a Scheme interpreter with a wee scrap of text adventure wrapped around it.  Since it's Z-code, and the first Z-code games were written in another Lisp variant, there's an odd circularity to it all.  Not all of Scheme's syntax is represented, but it's still a good show-off piece. Hardly interactive fiction, though.",
    id : 128
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ralph",
    author : "Schmidt, Miron",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/Ralph.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Ralph.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/ralph/ralph.z5" ],
    review : "Here's a novel one: the player character is a dog.  Not even a heroic Rin Tin Tin sort of dog, but a suburban house mutt seeking a lost bone. Very small and not spectacular in terms of gameplay, but it's funny and consistently doggy in its descriptions and mechanics.",
    id : 177
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Reverberations",
    author : "Glasser, Russell",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Mystery" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/reverb/reverb.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/reverb.z5" ],
    review : "A silly little crimefighting spree with a certain amount of attitude. You play a Southern Californian pizza delivery boy turned mob informer, trying to impress a cute young District Attorney while dodging assassins.  Small map, plot that steadily escalates in scale, built-in hints, and a built-in California-English dictionary (accessible via the \"define\" command).  Contains many scenes where hesitation results in death.",
    id : 180
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Land Beyond the Picket Fence",
    author : "Oehm, Martin",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : [ "AGT", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/picket/picket.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/picket/picket.exe" ],
    review : "A child's request that you recover a lost toy leads you into a whimsical little world inhabited by a mad scientist and a greedy gnome.  Not difficult, but charming in its way.",
    id : 169
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "In the End",
    author : "Mason, Joe",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/intheend/intheend.z5",
    review : "A serious and experimental short work about progress and mortality, set in a future with one particularly important technical advancement.  This story subverts a lot of text adventure conventions - no compass directions, very little inventory, no \"winning\" in the conventional sense, and, most importantly, no puzzles.  This is one for the theorists to argue about.  It tries to motivate the player through character and environment alone, but falls a bit short of its goal - the environment could do with more depth, and the author's intentions aren't clear enough to make the resolution completely satisfying. However, it deserves a lot of credit for the emotional content that does come across.",
    id : 113
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Piece of Mind",
    author : "Boutel, Giles",
    genre : [ "Science Fiction", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/piece/piece.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/piece_v3.z5" ],
    review : "A short game that plays with various levels of simulation and fiction, including the relationship between player and player character in adventure games.  Not as abstract as it sounds, though.  The main character (an unsuccessful guitarist and programmer) has a definite outlook on life and bad science fiction.  The different components of his reality do ultimately cohere, even if it isn't obvious from the outset how.  Bizarre and only half serious.",
    id : 170
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Phlegm",
    author : "Dyer, Jason",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/phlegm.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/phlegm.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/phlegm/phlegm.z5" ],
    review : "A very silly game, in which you and your lemming companion Leo try to to open a treasure chest lodged in a tree.  Involves water balloons, moose worship, and four ancient Mayan crayons.  Small but difficult. Contains a hint menu.",
    id : 168
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sir Ramic Hobbs and the Oriental Walk",
    author : "Williamson, Gil",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/wok/mrun.exe",
    review : "Hobbs returns in a search for the deeds to Baron Doar's castle, stolen by the wizard formerly known as Quince.  Has quite a lot in common with its predecessor - the wizard Prang, the dog Harvey, a familiar means of magical transport - but is smaller and more polished - the humor isn't as over-the-top and the magic is more detailed and flexible.  Lightweight but fun.  Contains a guided maze.",
    id : 238
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stargazer",
    author : "Fry, Jonathan",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/stargaze/stargaze.z5",
    review : "Written as a prologue to a larger game, this piece concerns a boy who lives a life of drudgery in a magical underground city until he takes on a quest to save it from destruction.  The whole game is spent kitting him out for the journey; the moment you actually embark, the game ends.  Competently put together, but I'd still rather have a complete story.",
    id : 203
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Of Forms Unknown",
    author : "Markwyn, Chris",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1996,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/forms.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/forms/forms.z5" ],
    review : "A rather forgettable little game, highly imitative of   So Far, but less inspired - where So Far eschews definite  explanations in favor of thematic unity, this game has neither.  The puzzles are okay, though.  Consists of four small worlds, each  based on a single mechanical puzzle.  Somewhat buggy.",
    id : 93
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Curse of Eldor",
    author : "Allen, Stuart",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : [ "MS-DOS", "Linux" ],
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/jacl/jacl.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/jacl/jacl.elf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/jacl/jacl.con", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/jacl/eldor.ps", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/jacl/eldor.jac" ],
    review : "Standard fantasy scenario: fetch artifacts to lift curse on kingdom.  Tolerable prose, good sense of expanse.  Unplayably buggy under both DOS and Linux: save/restore doesn't work under Windows, and in both versions some crucial items and characters, including the historian who's supposed to tell you about your quest at the beginning, are unmentioned in the room descriptions and undetectable without consulting the walkthrough.  This is probably a bug in the JACL interpreter rather than the game scripts, but the game scripts are not compatible with more recent versions of JACL.",
    id : 371
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Don't Be Late",
    author : "Ewing, Greg",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/dbl/dbl.acd", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/dbl/dbl.dat" ],
    review : "A very small game in which you have to reach a friend's house in order to start judging the entries in the Second Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (in which it is itself an entry).  Takes at most 15 minutes to play in its entirety.  Rather weak parser - \"look at\", \"get\", and \"him\" are not understood, for example.  All in all, not a sufficient reason in itself to download the ALAN runtime.  Has a cute reentrant ending, though.",
    id : 58
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "House of the Stalker",
    author : "White, Jason Clayton",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/stalker/stalker.z5",
    review : "An escaped homicidal maniac is somewhere in your house, and you must  kill or be killed.  Gameplay consists of first collecting all the  items you'll need, then using them all, in the right order, when the  killer attacks - hesitate, or find yourself lacking an item, and  you die.  Ostensibly a parody of slasher films, although  this doesn't come across very well.  A little buggy.  Contains  a hint menu and embedded copies of   Freefall and   Robots.",
    id : 202
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Rippled Flesh",
    author : "Stevens, Ryan",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/scary.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/ripflesh/ripflesh.z5" ],
    review : "Childish in the extreme.  A series of pointless rooms containing pointless and awkward descriptions (some misspelled) of allegedly frightening but basically pointless situations.  Contains a maze and a few illogical puzzles - the walkthrough reveals that one is based on the notion that blue and green can be mixed to form yellow.  The ending reveals that it's all a big joke, which isn't at all surprising. This Rybread Celsius person is just begging to be MiSTed.",
    id : 184
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Punkirita Quest 1: Liquid",
    author : "Stevens, Ryan",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/liquid/liquid.z5",
    review : "A small game with little to reccomend it.  Has a hackneyed plot (Save  Town from Evil Wizard) and little to interact with (only three  objects, only one relevant).  The prose is awkward, ill-spelled, and  rife with grammatical errors.  Feels like a badly-run D&D  campaign.",
    id : 127
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "My First Stupid Game",
    author : "McPherson, Dan",
    year : 1996,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition96/first/run.exe",
    review : "And what a stupid game it is.  The protagonist needs to urinate, but someone's put a lock on the toilet.  Find the key without getting mauled by a bear.  Very small.  Death occurs at random, but very seldom.  Really, really offensive.",
    id : 87
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Edifice",
    author : "Smith, Lucian P.",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/edifice.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/edifice/edifice.z5" ],
    review : "Starting as an early anthropoid, you find a mysterious stone structure that leads you to three crucial moments in the development of humanity, from tool use to the domestication of animals.  Good prose, reflective of differing perceptions at the various levels of development.  Satisfying puzzles, including one of the best and most interactive ones I've ever seen.  The original release is quite buggy, so get the latest version.",
    id : 78
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Babel",
    author : "Finley, Ian",
    genre : [ "Mystery", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh", "Windows" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/babel-31.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/Babel.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/babel/babel.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/Babel31.gam" ],
    review : "You wake up with amnesia in an abandoned research station in the Arctic.  As you explore, psychometric visions give you glimpses of the lives of four  scientists and the tragedy that befell them.  Before you can escape,  you'll have to learn your own history.  Consistently grim and  claustrophobic in tone, with good character development and plenty  of suspense.  Good detail, with lots of special cases handled.  More of a  story-game than a puzzle-game, with frequent noninteractive sequences that  somehow manage to avoid feeling intrusive, but contains quite a few mechanical  puzzles all the same.",
    id : 27
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Glowgrass",
    author : "Cull, Nate",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/glow/glow.gam",
    review : "A xenohistorical expedition to recover artifacts of \"the Ancients\" takes on a surprisingly human and personal tone in this far-future sci-fi story.  Simple Planetfall-like puzzles, thoughtful prose that establishes moods with parsimony.  Short but not rushed.  Well worth playing.",
    id : 247
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "She's Got a Thing for a Spring",
    author : "VanFossen, Brent",
    genre : [ "Slice of life", "Travel" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/spring/spring.z5",
    review : "You've agreed to meet your husband at a hot spring, but you have to get everything ready before he shows up. The game is set in the Rocky Mountains, with lots of attention to natural detail--and a handy NPC named Bob has a response for just about everything in the game, and many things that have nothing to do with the game as well. The author clearly loves the setting and the various experiences in store for your character, and by the end of the game you may feel the same way. The game itself is simple, and the puzzles uncomplicated, but the setting and general atmosphere are so well done that it's almost more fun just to take the game in than to work toward solving it.",
    id : 313
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Bear's Night Out",
    author : "Dyte, David",
    genre : [ "Children's", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/bear.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/bear/bear.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/spanish/osito.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/german/bearg.z5" ],
    review : "Teddy bears, as anyone who owns one can tell you, come to life when you're  asleep.  This game puts you in one bear's shoes, making mischief and  preparing for a big day.  Although allegedly an \"interactive  children's story\", it will probably leave most genuine children baffled,  through both its vocabulary and its several major references to other  prominent text adventures.  Small, with good puzzles based on overcoming  the limitations of being two feet tall and made of cloth.  Contains an  adaptive hint menu.",
    id : 29
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sunset Over Savannah",
    author : "Cockrum, Ivan",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/Sunset_Over_Savannah.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/savannah.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/savannah.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/savannah/savannah.gam" ],
    review : "Mesmerizing. You're on the last day of your vacation, trying to decide whether to quit your job, and the wonders you uncover as you wander around the beach guide your decision. There's no scoring system; instead, the game tracks your emotional state, which not only tracks your state of mind regarding your job but also records a wide variety of your reactions to the environment. A few puzzles require destruction of other people's property, which breaks the feel somewhat, but it's a minor flaw: the atmosphere is rich and the writing top-notch. Some difficult puzzles, but there's a hint menu.",
    id : 295
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Poor Zefron's Almanac",
    author : "Klutzke, Carl",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/almsrc.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/almanac/almanac.gam" ],
    review : "A silly genre-bending romp that starts out as fantasy and ends up as science fiction. You're a wizard's apprentice, but the wizard has disappeared, and now it seems that a dragon is attacking the town. Very funny in parts, but the game itself is uneven--a tight inventory limit that complicates things, some random death, some strange NPC behavior. Still, the whimsy factor makes this one worth playing.",
    id : 317
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Lost Spellmaker",
    author : "Brown, Neil James",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Romance" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/lost.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/lost/lost.z5" ],
    review : "A small and excessively cute game concerning a dwarf town (that's Munchkin-style dwarfs, not Tolkienesque ones) where the people who create magic spells have been disappearing.  You play a member of the town's Secret Service, assigned to the case. Has a female protagonist and in-game hints.  Warning for homophobes: Features same-sex puppy love.",
    id : 132
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sins Against Mimesis",
    author : "Thornton, Adam",
    genre : "Satire",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/mimesis/mimesis.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mimesis.z5" ],
    review : "This game basically consists of a slew of rec.arts.int-fiction in-jokes  strung together.  In a riff from John's Fire Witch, you must gather seven text adventures representing the deadly sins.  After that, it just gets sillier.  Features a hint menu.",
    id : 139
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A New Day",
    author : "Fry, Jonathan",
    genre : [ "Mystery", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/newday.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/newday/newday.z5" ],
    review : "The author of the game has died.  The protagonist of his last, unfinished game enlists the aid of the player (you) in figuring out what happened. Consequently, you wind up exploring that last game: an incomplete replica of a world.  Nicely devious in conception, but rather difficult - consulting the hint menu is a virtual necessity, especially in the time-constricted endgame.",
    id : 153
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Zero Sum Game",
    author : "Sandifer, Cody",
    genre : [ "Zorkian", "Satire" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh", "MS-DOS", "Windows" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/zero/zero.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/zero.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/zero.sit.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/zeroWin95.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/zeroDOS.zip" ],
    review : "Savagely funny--a sort of anti-fantasy. You've reached the end of a hack-and-slash fantasy quest, but your mother's found out, and she orders you to set everything right. The joke, in part, is that you wreak a lot more havoc trying to fix things than you wrought in the first place, but there's lots more going on, and most of it is extremely amusing. The humor is very dark, however, enough so that some objected to what they considered pointless cruelty. Your feckless sidekick Maurice is immensely amusing--he's packed with silly repartee--and the AMUSING file has lots of extraneous but funny material. Some of the puzzles are quite difficult and require some major intuitive leaps.",
    id : 312
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Zombie!",
    author : "Starkey, Scott",
    genre : "Zombie",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/zombie/zombie.gam",
    review : "A mixed bag--atmospheric in spots, but the mood breaks too often. It's a zombie/mad-scientist caper with a split protagonist, initially at least--you start out as Valerie, and shift to her boyfriend once Valerie meets her demise--but Valerie never reappears. There are a few well done creepy bits, but not enough to preserve the mood, and there are also simply way too many bugs. On the other hand, some of the puzzles are nicely put together, and even if the idea itself isn't especially fresh, the author has some fun with it now and again. It's far from a polished effort, but you might like it if you're a fan of this sort of thing.",
    id : 323
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Frenetic Five vs. Sturm und Drang",
    author : "deMause, Neil",
    genre : [ "Satire", "Superhero" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh", "Windows" ],
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/frenfive.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/frenfive/frenfive.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/frenfive.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/frenfive.sit.hqx" ],
    review : "A humorous superhero story, patterned after the likes of The Tick. Your intrepid team and their unlikely powers are up against a German film-director-turned-supervillain.  But before they even can begin, they face challenges like finding the keys to their house and figuring out which bus to take.  Very funny, but poorly designed; puzzles late in the game depend on having collected random detritus in the beginning, with the result that you'll probably have to page through some longwinded oratory multiple times.",
    id : 95
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Travels in the Land of Erden",
    author : "Knauth, Laura",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/erden.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/erden/erden.z8" ],
    review : "Possibly the largest game ever entered in the competition. You're hunting a dragon, seeking a lost jewel, and generally exploring a rather varied map. Sprawling and diverse, with lots of puzzles, some guess-the-verb problems, and often not much guidance on what to do next, but it has its charm as well--certain actions have large-scale effects in a way that's not commonly done in IF, and there are some multiple solutions and plot twists that keep this one a cut above your average fantasy quest. There's also a helpful on-screen ASCII map. Not earth-shatteringly novel, but enjoyable if you like fantasy.",
    id : 324
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Unholy Grail",
    author : "Allen, Stuart",
    genre : [ "Espionage", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : [ "MS-DOS", "JACL" ],
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/jacl/grail/grail", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/jacl/grail/jacl.exe" ],
    review : "You're a scientist investigating the mysterious demise of lots of local marine life, which leads you to Sinister Conspiracies and such. Slow-starting--it's not initially clear what you should be doing--and hampered by some unfortunate game design choices, notably a remarkably tedious sequence involving 80 turns of travel to and from a certain location, but it's also well-written and the puzzles are reasonably original. It's not incredibly realistic, but the sinister-conspiracy genre doesn't really thrive on realism anyway. JACL, the game engine, isn't the equal of Inform or TADS, but it's pretty good for a homebrewed effort.",
    id : 318
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Friday Afternoon",
    author : "Schweitzer, Mischa",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/friday/friday.z5",
    review : "You're trying to get out of your office so that you can go on a date. There's a little too much of the author's actual office (i.e., the rest of us don't necessarily get all the jokes), but this is well put together and the puzzles are reasonably clever. The first one, in fact--your glasses are broken and you have to fumble around the office, unable to see anything--is rather innovative. Generally, it's a witty take on office boredom, and there's lots of whimsy and Easter eggs scattered around.",
    id : 315
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Madame L'Estrange and the Troubled Spirit",
    author : [ "Ball, Ian", "Young, Marcus" ],
    genre : [ "Horror", "Mystery", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/lest/lest.z5",
    review : "Strange is right. You're an Sydney psychic investigating weird doings involving a big nasty animal on the loose and an apparently unrelated murder of a scientist. This feels like a short story that was inexpertly converted into IF--you get long, long chunks of text with no interaction potential, most of which is in the third person, past tense (whereas the parser still thinks it's in second person, present tense, of course). Spelling and grammar problems abound, as well as other bugs--it's hit or miss whether SAVE crashes the game or not. Yet the story is pretty good, and some aspects are well-implemented, for instance a TRAVEL TO feature that whisks you around town. Try it if you're in a forgiving mood. No hint menu, but there's a walkthrough included (via a HELP menu).",
    id : 319
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sylenius Mysterium",
    author : "Forman, C. E.",
    genre : "Screen",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/sylenius/sylenius.z5",
    review : "An ambitious effort that didn't get pulled together in time for the competition (and has never gotten cleaned up). For the first half, you're a teenage video game junkie wandering around a mostly deserted mall, and things work fine, though it's a bit unexciting; mid-game, you become the protagonist in a real-time video game. There are no graphics--everything's described in text--but the real-time aspect is badly broken, and as far as I can tell the game's unfinishable. The mall segment, if you want to try that, is very thoroughly done--lots to ask NPCs about, lots to explore, etc.--but that's about all there is here.",
    id : 325
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Phred Phontious and the Quest for Pizza",
    author : "Zey, Michael",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/pizza/pizza.z5",
    review : "Thoroughly silly, as the title indicates. You're to hunt down the ingredients for a pizza in a jokey fantasy-land. Lots of puzzles turn on silly puns, and a few others on adolescent humor, but there are a few funny moments and some genuinely original puzzles, particularly in the endgame. Implementation problems--bugs and illogicalities--don't help, but this isn't a terrible effort if you can stomach the puns. Walkthrough included in the game file.",
    id : 320
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Down",
    author : "Tessman, Kent",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Hugo",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/hugo/down_source.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/hugo/down.hex", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/hugo/down/down.hex" ],
    review : "Since this is a small game, and finding out what happened is an important plot point, all I'll say about the premise is that it's a real-life emergency situation in which you play hero despite your own injuries. Dramatic, but a bit buggy and low on detail.  Once past a certain point, your required actions and their motivations become far from obvious.",
    id : 67
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "VirtuaTech",
    author : "Glasser, David S.",
    genre : [ "Collegiate", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/vtech/vtech.gam",
    review : "As a student at a futuristic university, you have to print out your latest paper through a faulty virtual-reality interface.  Satisfying enough for what it is: a short, gadget-laden fix-the-computer game. Features adaptive hints.",
    id : 260
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Obscene Quest of Dr. Aardvarkbarf",
    author : "Roggin, Gary",
    genre : [ "Time Travel", "Collegiate" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/aardvark/aardvark.gam",
    review : "You're a former university student, wandering around the campus feeling sorry for yourself because you've gotten kicked out. There's not much more to it than that--the game hints at a sequel, but it was never produced. Lots of bugs, lots of irrelevant puzzles and objects, lots of strange game design choices, and generally just not much fun. The writing is competent, and I suppose if you share the author's pathological hatred for universities, you may identify with the character, but otherwise this one probably isn't worth your time.",
    id : 326
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Good Breakfast",
    author : "Adair, Stuart",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/agb/agb.z5",
    review : "You wake up, hung over from a night of partying, and your goal is to eat something. Witty in places, but filled with artificial puzzles (for instance, to get through your front door, you need to solve a ridiculously complicated puzzle involving four rotating gnomes), and it's something of a distasteful premise. The writing's very good, though, and there's a amusing Zork parody, and if you don't mind puzzles thrown in for their own sake, you might like it. Has a hint menu.",
    id : 329
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Town Dragon",
    author : "Cornelson, David",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/tdragon/tdragon.z5",
    review : "Well-intentioned fantasy quest with some interesting plot twists, but also lots of bugs and unfortunate game design choices. A dragon has stolen the princess away, and you're among the young swains who are asked to get her back; along the way, you accumulate some treasure. The puzzles are extremely difficult (at least, it's hard to guess what you're expected to do); the STORY file included with the game will explain what's going on, and there's also a walkthrough included within the game file. Minimalist writing.",
    id : 330
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Tempest",
    author : [ "Nelson, Graham", "Shakespeare, William" ],
    genre : "Literary",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/tempest/tempest.z5",
    review : "An adaptation of the Shakespeare play by one of the latter-day demigods of IF. While ample intelligence and creativity went into the making of the game (unsurprisingly, with Graham behind it)--the parser is completely hacked to make all the responses Elizabethan--it doesn't work very well as a game. You get long chunks of the play as cut-scenes, and the game amounts to figuring out what to do to trigger the next cut-scene--but some of the actions are so obscure that having the text of the play on hand doesn't help. Worse, you can't speak to any of the other characters, since that would presumably violate the confines of the play. The Elizabethan responses are amusing, but they're probably the best thing about this game.",
    id : 316
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Temple of the Orc Mage",
    author : "Roggin, Gary",
    genre : [ "Zorkian", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/tads/temple/temple.gam",
    review : "Highly linear little cave crawl. You're seeking a wizard's Magic McGuffin, in theory at least, but mostly you wander around a cave solving lock-and-key puzzles. Lots of keys, some useless objects (notably, food, apparently because the hunger daemon wasn't turned off), plentiful bugs. What you see is what you get, really--there aren't many surprises. But at times it's atmospheric, and as a throwback to the early days of IF, it works, I guess.",
    id : 328
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "E-Mailbox",
    author : "Goemmer, Jay",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "AGT",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/agt/emailbox/emailbox.agx",
    review : "Tiny game about getting mailbombed. You check your mail, you get bombed, you reinstall the program. Takes about five minutes, tops, to play. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing very exciting, either.",
    id : 334
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Pintown",
    author : "Blixt, Stefan",
    genre : [ "Romance", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 1997,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/pintown/pintown.z5",
    review : "A reasonably novel premise for IF--mend your relationship with your girlfriend--but ruined by bugs, including one that makes the game unfinishable, and general game design problems that make what you're supposed to do next, according to the walkthrough, a series of total surprises. Lots of read-the-author's-mind puzzles.",
    id : 341
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Leaves",
    author : "Vuorinen, Mikko",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/alan/leaves/leaves.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/alan/leaves/leaves.acd" ],
    review : "A small game in a minimalist style, translated (by memory) from an old C-64 BASIC version.  The goal is to escape from some kind of compound and reach the nearest town, but the backstory is never explained.  Very linear, a couple of obscure puzzles, lacks a wide range of synonyms. Contains a guided maze.",
    id : 259
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Congratulations!",
    author : "Hirsch, Frederick",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/congrats/congrats.z5",
    review : "Take care of your new baby. Really, that's it--just do all the obvious things associated with taking care of a baby, overcoming some guess-the-verb and guess-the-syntax problems. Minimalist and unexciting, though you do have the option of putting your baby in the blender.",
    id : 340
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "CASK",
    author : "Hardjono, Harry M.",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/cask/cask.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/cask/cask.z5" ],
    review : "A tiny dumb escape-from-locked-room game, made very difficult by the author's poor command of English.  Also lacks synonyms, and contains one puzzle that makes no sense whatsoever.  The author actually admits in the docs that it hasn't really been tested.",
    id : 249
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Symetry",
    author : "Stevens, Ryan",
    genre : "Lovecraftian",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/reflect/reflect.z5",
    review : "More horror in the distinctive Rybread idiom.  A mirror tries to eat your soul, and the only way to stop it is by referring to an object that isn't even in scope until the moment it's needed.  Amazingly buggy for such a small game.  Has fewer misspellings than the author's earlier works, but that's not saying much, and at any rate it makes up for it by misspelling the title.  The prose continues awful, even to the point of including out-of-place Cthulhu references.  Has a hint menu containing much rampant irrelevance.",
    id : 263
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Aunt Nancy's House",
    author : "Schwartzman, Nate",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/house/house.z5",
    review : "You're wandering around your aunt's house. No plot, no puzzles, nothing to do besides manipulate some objects in obvious ways. A coding exercise, clearly, but not really a game. Skip.",
    id : 342
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Coming Home",
    author : "Katz, Andrew",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1997,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/home/home.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/home/home.z5" ],
    review : "Awful. Even the goal isn't clear--you arrive at home and wander around aimlessly. Crawling with bugs, offensive--you order your mother to get you food, clean up after you, etc.--and just plain annoying. Good for MSTing, but not much else.",
    id : 343
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Photopia",
    author : "Cadre, Adam",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "MS-DOS", "Glulx" ],
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/photopia.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/photopia/photopia.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/photopia/photobw.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/photopia.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/spanish/fotopia.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/photo201.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/ACgamesForPalm.zip" ],
    review : "Scenes from a handful of ordinary lives alternate with chapters of a child's colorful science-fantasy.  Sweet and sad, and complex enough that you may need to go through it twice in order to fully understand how all the fragments fit together. Very story-driven, with menu-based conversations and virtually no puzzle content. My only complaint is that it isn't terribly interactive - indeed, you're practically driven through it on tracks, and any actions that you don't take tend to be rendered unnecessary.  But the story is intriguing enough, and well-written enough, and moving enough, that this seems a small quibble. This is probably the most successful example I've seen of interactivity at the service of fiction, rather than vice versa.  The author intended this game to be played with colored text. Although I normally dislike such things, I agree that it works in this case.  A monochrome version is also provided for those who feel differently.  (NB: The first release of this game credits Opal O'Donnell as the author.  This was a deliberate deception on the part of the real author, carried out with the permission of the real Opal O'Donnell.)",
    id : 255
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Muse: An Autumn Romance",
    author : "Huang, Christopher",
    genre : [ "Religious", "Romance" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/muse.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/muse/muse.z5" ],
    review : "The year is 1886.  The protagonist, an aging clergyman, unexpectedly falls in love at first sight with a younger woman while abroad.  A brief human drama ensues, sprinkled with Lewis Carroll quotations. Superb prose that evokes the literary style of the period, written in the first person past tense - a controversial choice, but I thought it worked. The ideal ending is poignant and refreshing, and even the less-than-ideal endings provide a sense of closure.  Features puzzles based on human behavior, timed events that flow on without you, and a hint menu.",
    id : 254
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Plant",
    author : "Roberts, Michael J.",
    genre : [ "Espionage", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/plantsrc_2.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/plant_2.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/tads/plant/plant.gam" ],
    review : "Entertaining action caper that requires significant suspension of disbelief, but is well-crafted enough to be enjoyable anyway. Your car breaks down near a mysterious factory, and you stumble on some strange secrets. Impossible to die or otherwise render the game unwinnable, perhaps not the best design choice for this particular game (since the nature of the plot requires that you be in danger now and again, and the danger doesn't seem all that real if you know it can't do anything to you), but good for general player-friendliness. Lots of clever large-scale puzzles, lots of gadgetry to manipulate, and generally a well-built world with plenty of attention to detail.",
    id : 395
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Arrival, or Attack of the B-Movie Clichés",
    author : "Granade, Stephen",
    genre : [ "Alien Visitation", "Satire" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/arrsrc.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/tads/arrival/arrival.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/arrival.zip" ],
    review : "You're an 8-year-old who's just noticed that aliens have landed in your backyard. The first game to use the features offered by HTML-TADS, Arrival does so in B-movie style, as suggested by the title: the pictures and sounds strive for silliness rather than realism. The pictures are drawings that appear to be those of an 8-year-old, and the sounds are effects that you might hear in an Ed Wood movie--and the whole thing is immensely funny. The game is arguably even better, however; some of the puzzles are difficult, but not unfairly so, and there are plenty of Easter eggs that play on your parents' refusal to notice the aliens or their ship. The aliens themselves are a scream, and you can access their web page while on the ship, which is just as funny. Worth playing with or without the HTML features (they're built into the game file in the latest release).",
    id : 301
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Enlightenment",
    author : "Ogawa, Taro",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Zorkian" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/enlighte/enlighte.z5",
    review : "A real adventurer never passes up a magical light source with unlimited power, but when darkness is desirable, all those extra photon producers can become seemingly-insurmountable obstacles.  A fun one-room Zorkian game with difficult but solvable tinkering puzzles.  Features adaptive hints.",
    id : 250
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mother Loose",
    author : "Callaci, Irene",
    genre : [ "Literary", "Children's" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/loose.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/loose/loose.z5" ],
    review : "Gentle children's story with plenty of whimsy. You're in a land of nursery rhymes come to life--Humpty Dumpty is trying to get down from that wall, for instance--and you can't seem to find your mother, either. Generally appropriate for kids, though a few of the puzzles might be too difficult, and there are some red herrings that might be confusing. Lots of alternate solutions, lots of replayability; at the end, in fact, you're given suggestions for replaying, specifically how to get through the game without causing so much (or so little) trouble. Well-crafted and well-written, with a hint menu.",
    id : 470
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Little Blue Men",
    author : "Gentry, Michael S.",
    genre : [ "Satire", "Horror", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/bluemen/bluemen.z5",
    review : "An office game--you're dealing with irritating coworkers, malfunctioning vending machines, and the like--but with twists that send it way beyond the office-game genre. The author calls it a \"rushed and uneven mixture of gonzo humor and surreal horror,\" which isn't entirely inaccurate, but it's still an impressive game--by turns nastily subversive and darkly funny. The ending, in particular, is surprising, and it's easy to miss what the author was really driving at if you don't read carefully. The main problem (and, in my book, the only thing keeping this from a five-star rating) is that it's often hard to figure out what to do next; your motivations are often unclear unless you happen to know what the trajectory of the story is already. NB: it's possible to reach what seems to be an okay ending after about 10 moves, but there's much, much more to the game than that, so if you reach that ending, go back and try again. Has adaptive hints (which you're likely to need). Highly recommended both as a game and as an object lesson in IF theory.",
    id : 471
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Trapped in a One-Room Dilly",
    author : "Knauth, Laura",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/dilly/dilly.z5",
    review : "An entertaining diversion--you're trapped in a room with a whole slew of complicated objects, and the goal is to get out. Demonstrates some of the possibilities of the one-room approach--there are quite a lot of puzzles, for instance, as objects turn out to have more and more complexities over the course of the game. It's not quite as elegant as it might be--the room feels like an overstuffed attic, crammed with gadgets and toys, and it's easy to lose things in the shuffle--but it's still nicely done. One amusing touch: a bookshelf filled with books with plots that explain the one-room premise (e.g., alien abduction, mad scientist, etc.).",
    id : 472
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Persistence of Memory",
    author : "Dyer, Jason",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Hugo",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/hugo/memory.hex", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/hugo/memory/memory.hex" ],
    review : "A war story, although which war is left ambiguous.  You're separated from your company and wind up spending the better part of a day standing on a mine.  Short, reasonably good prose, extremely linear.  Leaves something to be desired in terms of both level of interactivity and completeness of story.  Features a hint menu.",
    id : 262
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Downtown Tokyo, Present Day",
    author : "Kean, John",
    genre : [ "Kaiju", "Screen", "Satire" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/tokyo/tokyo.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Tokyo2.z5" ],
    review : "B-movie big monster spoof: defend Tokyo, and rescue lovely reporter, from the ravages of a colossal chicken.  Very small, but with opportunity for irrelevant actions (like dropping live alligators onto ships from a helicopter).  Satisfyingly satirical, with an interesting double perspective (the player controls both the hero of the movie and a member of the audience). Title sequence contains character graphics.  Has a hint menu.",
    id : 258
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Informatory",
    author : "Shlaer, William J.",
    genre : "Educational",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/informat/informat.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Informat.z5" ],
    review : "An Inform tutorial (partially) disguised as a text adventure; partially inspired by Andrew Plotkin's somewhat similar Scheme tutorial Lists and Lists.  Has a couple of basic puzzles and simple characters, but not really meant to be played as a game; useful primarily as a self-teaching tool for budding Inform programmers.  Possibly the most self-referential game in the archive.",
    id : 447
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ritual of Purification",
    author : "Solobewski, Jarek",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Science Fiction", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/ritual/ritual.z5",
    review : "A fantasy/occult scenario of self-empowerment through astral projection. Come face-to-face with your shadow-self, learning a handful of magickal spells along the way.  Small map, simple puzzles, purple prose, a couple of not-really-interactive sequences.  Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but then, what is?",
    id : 256
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The City",
    author : "Barlow, Sam",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/city/city.z5",
    review : "An short experimental work, not entirely successful. The main puzzle involves breaking out of a Delusions-esque loop, but this game lacks the backstory of Delusions and doesn't do nearly as much with the conceit. Lots of standard features, such as UNDO and SAVE, are disabled, and there's no status line or location names; the author's reasons for all this hacking aren't clear, but it's fairly disconcerting. It seems like the point was to be nihilistic and gloomy, but the game's too short to have any real emotional impact.",
    id : 473
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Where Evil Dwells",
    author : [ "Johnson, Paul T.", "Owens, Steve" ],
    genre : [ "Lovecraftian", "Humor" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/evil/evil.z5",
    review : "Wildly uneven mix of Lovecraftian horror and silly gonzo humor, illustrating nicely why those are two genres that aren't often combined: initial attempts at building atmosphere are undermined by, among other things, Gilligan's island references. You're a private detective investigating vaguely described sinister doings at an old house. The writing is sometimes adequate and sometimes weak; still, it would probably be good enough to sustain the horror game if the silly game hadn't intruded. (The silly bits don't come through often enough to make this work as a spoof, but enough to ruin the horror feel.) There are also some implementation problems--guess-the-verb and such--that slow things down. Too schizophrenic to really work.",
    id : 475
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Purple",
    author : "Blixt, Stefan",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/purple/purple.z5",
    review : "Post-apocalyptic science fiction, with some nice moments but also a lot of implementation problems. Nuclear holocaust is imminent, but your brother Karl has devised a machine that will help you survive the blast; now, you're trying to survive in a rather unfamiliar landscape. There are lots of programming problems, particularly toward the end--it's easy to get nonsensical responses if you do things out of sequence--but there's also a good sense of atmosphere, and a few moments are genuinely chilling. The writing is sometimes effective and sometimes ungrammatical or unclear, but usually it's good enough not to get in the way. An uneven effort.",
    id : 474
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Four in One",
    author : "Wheeler, J. Robinson",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Macintosh", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/4in1_src.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/fourin1.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/fourin1.sit", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/fourin1.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/tads/fourin1/fourin1.gam" ],
    review : "A highly unusual effort. You're Sam Wood, film director, trying to put together the last scene of the latest Marx Brothers picture--but that means getting the brothers to stay in one place for more than a few minutes, which, as one reviewer aptly observed, is akin to herding cats. Finishing the game depends in part on discovering how the Marx family dynamics work, but also in part on randomness, which means that this can be one frustrating game; so much trial and error is necessary that the fun tends to wane after a while. On the other hand, the writing is impeccable, Groucho's one-liners are hilarious, the attention to detail is impressive--lots of Easter eggs are scattered around--and there are literally dozens of reasonably realistic NPCs. It's a richly done game world, and if the central puzzle were just a little less maddening, this would be a whole lot of fun; as it is, it's still worth a look.",
    id : 476
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Research Dig",
    author : "Armitage, Chris",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/research/research.z5",
    review : "An interesting premise--you're an archeologist who stumbles on bigger things--undermined by poor coding. The story doesn't really drive the game--it sort of appears now and again--and just as it looks like the thing's starting to go somewhere, it's over. Lots of little implementation errors and such, and the puzzles aren't really inventive enough to overcome the overall rough feel. On the other hand, there are some nicely atmospheric moments as well, and clearly there's potential here for an interesting sequel.",
    id : 477
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "CC",
    author : "Vuorinen, Mikko",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/alan/cc/cc.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/alan/cc/cc.acd" ],
    review : "A small, easy game that involves floating in voids and using a magic ring  to awaken hidden powers, or something like that. Things just kind of  happen without explanation.  Ah well, at least there isn't a tedious  backstory about an evil wizard trying to take over the world or anything.  Be sure to use a version of the Alan runtime that keeps a command history (such as the Glk version); it should  make one particular puzzle much more bearable.",
    id : 261
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Spacestation (Planetfall sample transcript)",
    author : "Ledgard, David",
    genre : [ "Adaptation", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1998,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/spacest2.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/spacest2.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/space_st/space_st.z5" ],
    review : "An implementation of the sample transcript included in Planetfall,  with some modifications.  Not exactly up to the quality of  Balances; very little is implemented beyond the minimum necessary to reproduce the  transcript.  The author indicates that it is a work in progress.",
    id : 253
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Cattus Atrox",
    author : "Cornelson, David",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/AtroxSrc.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/atrox/atrox.z5" ],
    review : "You're fending off a lion attack in an otherwise unremarkable suburb. Creepy at times, but uneven--it's a little too easy to just wander away from the lions, for example, and the ending is rather over-the-top. The puzzles are unfairly hard--they require massive logical leaps--and a few are unintentionally hilarious. Still, it has its moments; early in the game, for example, before you know what's going on, a station wagon silently follows you down the street, and it's a nicely unnerving touch. Play it with a walkthrough handy.",
    id : 478
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "In the Spotlight",
    author : "Byrd, John",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/spotlite/spotlite.z5",
    review : "A classical physical-thinking test involving two lengths of string hanging from the ceiling, presented in the form of a barren one-room text adventure.  Just one puzzle, which I'm not sure I'd have been able to solve if I were not already familiar with it.  Does a pretty good job of handling the things one might try with the objects given.",
    id : 257
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lightiania",
    author : "Bodel, Gustav",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/tads/light/light.gam",
    review : "Tiny sci-fi game. Well-intentioned, but the author's English is weak enough that it's often hard to figure out what he's trying to say, which is something of a major problem. The few puzzles are made extra difficult by coding problems, moreover. Skip.",
    id : 479
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Acid Whiplash",
    author : [ "Sandifer, Cody", "Stevens, Ryan" ],
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/acid/acid.z5",
    review : "More Rybread, but this one has a twist--slightly less deranged author Cody Sandifer collaborated, to some extent, and bits of Cody's interview with Rybread are sprinkled through the game. The interview is very funny; the rest is just more Rybread weirdness (i.e., terrible writing, jokes that only Rybread understands, and general incomprehensibility). Best experienced with the aid of various chemicals, I understand.",
    id : 480
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "I Didn't Know You Could Yodel",
    author : [ "Eisenman, Michael", "Indovina, Andrew J." ],
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/msdos/yodel/yodel.exe",
    review : "Childish in the extreme, offensive now and again, and just plain irritating most of the time. Packed with bathroom and sex humor (well, \"humor\" is generous), and generally pitched at 10-year-olds, except that I wouldn't let any 10-year-old I know see it. The puzzles, for their part, turn on jokes or riddles that completely escaped me. The only thing saving this from one-star-land is that the programming is actually pretty good--the parser is built from scratch, and the authors do things like inset windows quite competently. Unfortunately, the competent programming just makes it less likely that you'll be distracted from the game itself, which is thoroughly repulsive.",
    id : 481
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fifteen",
    author : "Dague, Ricardo",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/fifteen/fifteen.z5",
    review : "Yet another minimalist treasure hunt.  Four valuable items are in your neighborhood, protected by easy puzzles, including a grid maze.  The title derives from the game's most complicated and only interesting object: an implementation of the famous 15 puzzle (sliding blocks on a 4x4 grid), with a rather good text interface that lets you specify multiple moves on a single line without hassle.",
    id : 251
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Commute",
    author : "Copeland, Kevin",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/msdos/commute/commute1.exe",
    review : "Minimalist little game about going to work, so poorly programmed that it's actually very funny in parts. For instance, you may end up riding your motorcycle into your house because you can't figure out how to get off it, and you're likely to get pulled over for speeding 10 times and get flat tires 10 more times. The writing is of a similar caliber--you'll note that you have a \"helmut.\" As a game, in other words, this is awful; as comedy, it works just fine.",
    id : 482
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Human Resources Stories",
    author : "Hardjono, Harry M.",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1998,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/hrs/infad3.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition98/inform/hrs/hrs.z5" ],
    review : "A simulation of a job interview in the form of a multiple-choice test. Not really \"interactive fiction\" as I understand the term, and definitely not a text adventure.  Not particularly entertaining, either.",
    id : 252
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Winter Wonderland",
    author : "Knauth, Laura",
    genre : [ "Children's", "Fantasy", "Seasonal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/winter.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/winter/winter.z5" ],
    review : "You're a little girl concerned about your ailing brother, and you're heading into town to buy a candle so that your family will have something to put on its solstice tree--but you stumble into a fantasy world. Thoroughly described and charming, though not necessarily to everyone's tastes--the sweetness quotient is high--and the writing is solid but sometimes gets a bit carried away. Several clever puzzles, but there's one rather unfortunate one in the latter stages of the game that most people have found frustrating. This would be a a good one for children (with the exception of the abovementioned puzzle)--there's a hint menu to help kids through the puzzles and the content is pretty benign. Includes ASCII graphics that can be disabled.",
    id : 604
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "For a Change",
    author : "Schmidt, Dan",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/change/change.z5",
    review : "\"The sun is gone. It must be brought. You have a rock.\" So begins For a Change, one of the most unusual games in recent memory: the language is distinctly nonstandard, in an e.e. cummings sort of way, and figuring out exactly what's going on requires some lateral thinking. (Another example of the syntax: \"This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows . . . walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite.\") While it's not as accessible as most IF, it's still a richly rewarding playing experience; once you learn to think in the same off-kilter way as the game's written, it all comes together. The puzzles are a mixed bag--some make more sense than others--but generally this works both as a game and as a linguistic experiment, and rewards the imagination.",
    id : 605
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Six Stories",
    author : "Guy, Neil K.",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/six/six.gam",
    review : "Not the first HTML-TADS game, but possibly the first to use the graphics and sound options available in HTML-TADS to add significantly to a game experience. The game itself is quite simple--you get stuck in a snowstorm, you go exploring, and you meet some strange characters--and the one puzzle isn't all that novel, but the graphics and sound are elaborate and enhance the mood considerably. The game is quite short, unfortunately, but as a multimedia experience, it's very polished.",
    id : 606
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Day for Soft Food",
    author : "Levi, Tod",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/softfood/softfood.z5",
    review : "Following in the footsteps--pawprints?--of Ralph and A Bear's Night Out, A Day for Soft Food gives you the persona of a housecat. Your Provider is sick, and you're trying to get him out of bed and convince him to feed you canned rather than dry cat food. Charmingly, amusingly done, with lots of little cattish details attended to, though there are a few moments where you push the limits of a cat's capabilities somewhat, and your motivations eventually change in ways that didn't happen in Ralph or Bear's Night Out. There are some bugs and writing problems, but not enough to significantly detract from the playing experience--and there are lots of Easter eggs that make the game worth replaying. Some difficult puzzles, but on the whole this is charming and rewarding. Includes a hint menu.",
    id : 607
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Exhibition",
    author : "Finley, Ian",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Windows" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/exhibit/exhibit.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/exhibit21.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/exhibit.exe" ],
    review : "Closer to static fiction than a game, but still a masterfully done work, Exhibition tells the story of an artist through four people--his wife, a critic, a boy, and a student--exploring the gallery where his paintings are hanging, shortly after he's committed suicide. You play all of the characters; you can switch back and forth between them whenever you want, and the way you go through the story--whether you view all of the paintings as one character before you go on to the next character, or view one painting as all four characters, or some combination--is likely to affect how you experience the story, since the various takes on the artist have very little in common. The writing is terrific; each of the characters has a distinctive voice, and what they say about the artist illuminates them as much as it does the artist. The major drawback, however, is that the interactivity aspect is minimal; there's very little to do other than look at each painting through each set of eyes, meaning that the story doesn't really have any sort of pace; if the player finds the whole thing somewhat distancing, as some have, that may be why. Still, it's an intriguing experiment. There's background music as well--Mussorgsky's \"Pictures at an Exhibition,\" natch--though some have elected to turn it off, since it does get repetitive after a while.",
    id : 311
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Halothane",
    author : "Rajkumar, Ravi",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/halo/halo.z5",
    review : "You're an author who's decided not to finish his novel and who gets mysteriously drawn into the world of the story. More story than game--the narrative itself is well put together, but the player doesn't have much to do--but it's nicely written and well told, if you can follow along (not a given--there's lots of plot). It takes a while to figure out where the story is going, though, and it's likely that you'll have to replay to figure out how everything fits together. The puzzles are fairly inconsequential, and when they do come along, they break the feel of the story a bit; they're not all that well integrated into the plot. Still, this is a better-developed story than most IF, and those who prefer the narrative to the crossword may well enjoy it.",
    id : 608
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "On the Farm",
    author : "Pitts, Lenny",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/otf/otf.gam",
    review : "You're a kid trying to help your grandparents get along. Surprisingly original--your grandparents are crusty sorts rather than big lumps of sugar, and they have a wide variety of responses. The puzzles aren't as creative as the premise, unfortunately; mostly, they amount to gathering objects rather than exploring relationships in any real way. There's also some backstory that's not really relevant to the game but helps flesh out the story, which is a nice touch; it might have been even better if it had been more integrated into the rest of the game. This is a good effort, in short, but the pieces don't fit together as well as they might.",
    id : 609
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Hunter, in Darkness",
    author : "Plotkin, Andrew",
    genre : [ "Game", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "Macintosh" ],
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/huntdark-src.tar.Z", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/HuntDark-R4.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/huntdark/huntdark.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/huntdark.z5" ],
    review : "The plot--you're exploring a cave, hunting a mysterious beast called a Wumpus--is derived from the ancient minimalist BASIC game Hunt the Wumpus, but the similarity ends there. This is arguably the most richly described cave in the history of IF, and your experience of it is thoroughly and harrowingly described. In fact, the cave is as much your adversary as the Wumpus itself, and it takes just as great a toll on you. The puzzles are fairly conventional (though the last one is rather elegant), and they include a maze that isn't really a maze. But the story is brilliantly executed--the plot branches and rejoins so seamlessly that you're unlikely to notice that there are multiple ways through the game--and the writing is terrific; Plotkin is adept at using all the senses. Hunter... breathes new life into a very tired genre, no small feat.",
    id : 483
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Beat the Devil",
    author : "Camisa, Robert M.",
    genre : [ "Satire", "Afterlife" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/btd2/btd2.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/btd2/btd2.z5" ],
    review : "Another entry in the ever-expanding genre of hell- or Satan-themed games, but a pretty good one. Hell is a shopping mall, and the seven deadly sins are embodied in various forms somewhere in the mall, and you have to find and defeat them. Not as funny as it might be--the humor is sometimes a bit sophomoric--but the writing's reasonably solid and the puzzles are fairly creative. One particularly good puzzle recalls one of the better moments in Leather Goddesses of Phobos, no small feat. There are some bugs and design errors, but on the whole this works well.",
    id : 610
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Jacks or Better to Murder, Aces to Win",
    author : "Berry, J. D.",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/jacks/jacks.z5",
    review : "An interesting effort, though it's so short that it feels more like an introduction to a game than a game in its own right. You're a high-ranking authority in a nameless religion, scheming for more power and avoiding plots to bump you off. It's not very interactive--the game without warning periodically launches into what amount to long cut-scenes, in which your character does lots of things that you can't control--but the story is nicely put together. The opening scene is hilarious, moreover--it features a sermon made up of randomly generated banalities--and that in itself makes this worth downloading.",
    id : 611
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Erehwon",
    author : "Litherland, Richard",
    genre : [ "Science Fiction", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/erehwon/erehwon.gam",
    review : "A dense web of mathematical puzzles and in-jokes, Erehwon is one difficult game for those who aren't well versed in higher math--and yet it's so wittily done that it's worth playing through with a walkthrough in hand, just to see the prose and appreciate the crafting of the puzzles. You're wandering around the towns of Erehwon, Aksarben and Nowhere, Nebraska, which are linked by what amounts to a Klein bottle, and along the way you turn yourself and other things from matter to antimatter without having the latter come in contact with the former. It's littered with puns and Easter eggs, and obscure pop-culture references, and full of off-kilter humor that takes some getting used to, but it's still plenty of fun.",
    id : 612
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lunatix",
    author : "Snyder, Mike",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/basic/ltic_src.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/luntic11.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/msdos/lunatix/lunatix.exe" ],
    review : "You're a doctor in charge of an insane asylum, but the inmates have rebelled, and you're trying to get out. Inoffensive, on the whole; the main drawback is that the parser is built from scratch, and it isn't up to the standard set by the Inform or TADS parsers, though it's certainly a lot better than many home-brewed parsers. Also features graphics--few of them particularly stunning, but, again, quite good for a home-brew job. On the other hand, in at least a few situations, the graphics are potentially misleading, so don't rely on them too much. The puzzles aren't especially creative, but they're not bad either, and the writing is mostly competent. A better-than-average example of a programmed-from-scratch game.",
    id : 560
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Bliss",
    author : "Wilkin, Cameron",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/bliss/bliss.gam",
    review : "Conventional fantasy, mostly--you're imprisoned in a cell by an evil wizard, and you hack and slash your way out--but with a twist about which I'll say no more. Even (or perhaps especially) if you dislike ho-hum fantasy games, this one's worth playing to the end.",
    id : 619
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stone Cell",
    author : "Kodat, Steve",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/cell/cell.gam",
    review : "A mess, but an interesting and original mess. You're a peasant girl in a medieval village, tossed in jail for showing up at church improperly attired, and the plot goes in various strange and unpredictable directions from there. The writing varies between competent and ludicrously overdone--melodrama and cliches are prevalent--and there are several peculiar game design decisions, notably the decision to split your cell into a 3x3 grid and hide many of its salient features from you. On the other hand, the whole thing is thoroughly done--you can ask various NPCs about numerous topics, virtually every bit of scenery is implemented--and on the whole it seems like this would have been quite good with some cleanup work.",
    id : 620
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Four Seconds",
    author : "Reigstad, Jason",
    genre : [ "Horror", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/4seconds/4seconds.gam",
    review : "An intriguing beginning--you're exploring a destroyed lab and trying to piece together what went wrong with the experiment in question--but the rest of the game, in which you probe the mind of one of the scientists to figure out what happened, is let down by poor implementation. The story has a nice pace to it--at least, it does until the bugs take over.",
    id : 621
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The HeBGB Horror!",
    author : "Mayer, Eric",
    genre : [ "Lovecraftian", "Humor" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/alan/hebgb/hebgb.acd", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/alan/hebgb.zip" ],
    review : "A fun little game that blends the punk-rock club scene with Lovecraftian horror, often with amusing results. You're seeking a nameless chord lost deep within the bowels of a nightclub. The Alan parser isn't great, but it's good enough that you shouldn't need to guess the verb or the syntax often, and the writing is terrific--vivid and extremely funny in places. Some of the puzzles are a mite peculiar, and there are some rough spots, technically, but on the whole this is plenty of fun.",
    id : 622
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Only After Dark",
    author : "Schmidl, Gunther",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/oad.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/oad/oad.z5" ],
    review : "Highly linear little game about werewolves that sometimes plays more like a series of cut-scenes than conventional IF--as in, your actions lead to long, detailed scenes over which you have no control. The writing is good, and, other than a rather guess-the-verby moment, everything works fine, but the interactivity quotient is kinda low.",
    id : 623
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Moment of Hope",
    author : "Keith, Simmon",
    genre : [ "Romance", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/amoment/amoment.gam",
    review : "Linear, and barely a game, really; you're a teenage boy with a crush on a girl, trying to figure out if she likes you, and you're sort of railroaded through the story. (At one point, the game actually ignores your commands; for the rest of the time, there's one and only one command you can type to move things along.) Accurately reproduces the mental mindset of a teenager with a crush, though it's not really an edifying experience, as most of us know; it gets points for realism, but not much more than that.",
    id : 624
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Chaos",
    author : "Caron, Shay",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/chaos/chaos.gam",
    review : "Seemingly meant to be an introduction to a longer game--Captain Chaos, villain, is on his way to conquer and enslave a planet--but memorable chiefly for its grammatical weirdness: the game flips back and forth between second and third person, and tries to maintain a distinction between \"you\" and the person (Captain Chaos) you're controlling. It's thoroughly confusing (partly because it's not as consistent as it might be), and it overshadows what's otherwise a reasonably solid, if not all that exciting, little game--the puzzles are fairly ho-hum. Worth a look if narrative-voice experiments excite you.",
    id : 625
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Strangers in the Night",
    author : "Pizor, Rich",
    genre : "Vampire",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/stranger/stranger.gam",
    review : "You're a vampire, out for a feeding. Rather monotonous, unfortunately--you find people to kill, you kill them, and move on, and most of them don't put up much of a fight, nor is there much chance you'll get caught. The most interesting part of the game is the killing itself, actually: you learn something about each of your victims at the point of death, through some sort of telepathy, and what you learn is sometimes rather unnerving--but the game takes away points when you do that because you're putting yourself at risk or some such thing. Points or no, it's almost worth playing for those moments alone--the game, a la Anne Rice, hints at a somewhat more complicated story, but doesn't go anywhere with it.",
    id : 626
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lomalow",
    author : "Barnwell, Brendan",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/lomalow/lomalow.z5",
    review : "You're on a hiking trip, and a rockslide deposits you at the foot of a cliff, near a strange house with some even stranger inhabitants. The storyline is complex and reasonably well developed, but the implementation needs a lot of work--essentially, you advance the plot by asking the characters about the same topics over and over and over, and if you're lucky, they'll furnish a little more information each time. They're also rather cardboard--they don't react to obvious stimuli. Since those characters, and the story you wring out of them, essentially constitute the entire game, struggling with them makes the game pretty frustrating. The hint system (on which you're likely to rely a good deal) breaks down toward the end of the game. Intriguing at times, but uneven.",
    id : 627
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "King Arthur's Night Out",
    author : "Vuorinen, Mikko",
    genre : [ "Arthurian", "Satire" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/alan/arthur/arthur.acd",
    review : "A parody of sorts of the Arthurian genre--you're King Arthur, and you want to go out on the town with the boys, but you have to evade Guinevere to do it. There are a few funny moments, but only a few--mostly, your character is a lout who happens to be named King Arthur, and you poke around the castle solving fairly ho-hum puzzles with some guess-the-verb moments. If the premise amuses you, it might be worth trying; otherwise, skip.",
    id : 628
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Calliope",
    author : "McIntosh, Jason",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/calliope/calliope.z5",
    review : "Tiny self-referential game--you're trying to write your competition entry, but you're out of ideas. There's really not much there--the game has one puzzle, relatively straightforward--though what's there works reasonably well, and there's a modicum of creativity involved.",
    id : 629
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Music Education",
    author : "Linney, Bill",
    genre : [ "Collegiate", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/me/me.z5",
    review : "Aimless little game--you're headed to the music building to practice your saxophone, but other stuff happens. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen in a way that gives you much of a clue at any point about what you should be doing, so you may spend a while wandering hither and yon wondering what to do next. In other words, the event triggers don't work the way they're supposed to, and you're reduced to guessing about what you're supposed to do with various characters. Well-intentioned, but not much of a game.",
    id : 631
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Spodgeville Murphy and the Jewelled Eye of Wossname",
    author : "Fillmore, David",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Satire" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/wossname.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/wossname/wossname.z5" ],
    review : "You're at the end of an adventure, but now you need to get out of a pit. Short but reasonably entertaining, though one of the funniest bits (the fake full score listing) is stolen from Enlightenment; there are lots of random silly things to try, and the puzzles feel vaguely Zorklike. The competition release had an unfortunate bug that made it very difficult to win the game, so get the more recent release instead.",
    id : 440
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Life on Beal Street",
    author : "Finley, Ian",
    genre : [ "Romance", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/beal/beal.gam",
    review : "More CYOA than IF, and there's not even much C-ing to do. You're walking along a street thinking about your relationship with your lover, and you get a series of choices--1 to go forward, 2 to go back. The author has admitted that he wrote it as a joke of sorts, and it shows--the writing is ludicrously overdone.",
    id : 895
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Remembrance",
    author : "Tait, Casey",
    genre : "Historical",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    bafrating : 2,
    review : "This is barely IF; it owes much more to choose-your-own-adventure stories. It's a series of web pages written in Javascript, essentially, and there's one thing you have to do to on each page to get the next one in the series. You get a pull-down menu with a few verbs on each page, but if you don't do what the Javascript is looking for, you essentially get an error message and try again. (Well, there's one point where you actually have to type something, which takes some syntax-guessing, but that's an exception.) The story itself--it revolves around World War I--isn't bad, and there's one puzzle that might have been rather clever if it had been implemented on a system with a parser (as it is, the verb list gives it away). As it stands, though, this doesn't really work.",
    id : 633
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Thorfinn's Realm",
    author : [ "Hall, Robert", "Main, Roy" ],
    genre : [ "Zorkian", "Time Travel" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/tac/tac.z5",
    review : "Bare-bones old-school fantasy--time-travel and treasure-hunt combined. Worse, lots of bad design choices, like a really small inventory limit, random death, and a light source puzzle. Lots of silliness--the game is supposedly set in the 10th century, but of course things like pizzas are on hand. On the other hand, everything works okay, and a few of the puzzles are somewhat inventive. If you're nostalgic for the dawn of IF, you may like this.",
    id : 896
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Death to my Enemies",
    author : "Blask, Jon",
    genre : [ "Joke", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/death.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/death/death.z5" ],
    review : "Another ifMUD in-joke game, and the jokes are very in--if you're only an occasional MUD visitor, you're not likely to get much out of this. Beyond that, plenty of bugs--lots of things don't act the way they should. The in-jokiness and bugginess combine to make this almost entirely incomprehensible.",
    id : 683
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Water Bird",
    author : "Skelley, Athan",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/tads/waterbrd/waterbrd.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/waterbrd.gam" ],
    review : "You're a Native American boy charged with saving your village from a monster. Well-researched and nicely done setting, but buggy--the competition release had a bug that made it unfinishable, and while the latest release cleaned up that particular bug, it has lots of others, including one that, again, makes the game unfinishable. It would be nice to see this cleaned up, since it's a setting that's never been done before in IF. As it is, however, it's too buggy to be worth trying.",
    id : 400
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Chicks Dig Jerks",
    author : "Sherwin, Robb",
    genre : [ "Horror", "Pornographic", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "Macintosh", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/chix.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/chix.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/chix/chix.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/chix.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/chix.exe" ],
    review : "Schizophrenic in the extreme: in the first half of the game, you're at a bar trying to pick up chicks, but in the second half, you're a grave robber. It's not clear whether the sole reason for this is to provide for some dreadful jokes in the first half--e.g., you tell some of the women in the bar that you hang around with a bunch of stiffs--or whether there was something more to it, but the two halves really don't belong together. The other problem is that you're one of the jerks of the title, and it's hard to get all excited about being someone as thoroughly repellent as you are here. (There are hints at there being something more to you than sheer jerkishness, but they're not well developed.) The writing isn't bad, and it's almost poetic in places, but the author hasn't put his writing skills to their best use here. The competition release was extremely buggy; the latest release is cleaned up, though the split personality remains.",
    id : 367
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "SNOSAE",
    author : "McDaniel, R. Dale",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/msdos/snosae/xsnosae.exe",
    review : "A huge jumble of puzzles, some of them fair and clever and many decidedly not. This was a 1999 competition entry, but it's nowhere near competition size--I count roughly 30 rooms, each with its own puzzle or set of puzzles, many of them extraordinarily complicated. There's also a hint system with lots of attitude. If you like puzzles, you may like this--but you have to really, really like puzzles.",
    id : 897
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Pass the Banana",
    author : "Jota, Admiral",
    genre : [ "Joke", "Surreal" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/banana/banana.z5",
    review : "A silly little in-joke game that denizens of the IFmud may understand, though others won't. You're in a room with a monkey, a robot, and a giant flaming head, and you pass bananas back and forth. Has some amusing references to IF that aren't only accessible to people who live on the MUD, but otherwise there's not much there.",
    id : 632
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Outsided",
    author : "Elliott, Chad",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/outsided/outsided.z5",
    review : "An attempt at a spy thriller, ruined by bad writing, bad game design, and bugs. Particularly notable is the opening scene, in which you have to figure out how to convince your character not to kill himself. The plot, to the extent it's understandable, involves a PC whose mind keeps getting transferred to different bodies, but the game doesn't do much with the premise.",
    id : 685
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lurk. Unite. Die. Invent. Think. Expire.",
    author : "Stevens, Ryan",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/ludite/ludite.z5",
    review : "More Rybreadness, but there really isn't much here--just a few rooms without much to do. Even those that appreciate Rybread's work, for whatever reason, probably won't find much to enjoy in this one.",
    id : 684
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Guard Duty",
    author : "Finx, Jason F.",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Zorkian", "Satire" ],
    year : 1999,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/inform/guard/guard.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/guard.zip" ],
    review : "An intriguing premise--you've been hired to guard a cave against a bunch of looting adventurers--but the implementation lets it down. The competition release was entirely unfinishable due to bugs, but there are still plenty of bugs in the latest release. The cave itself is large and well described, so if you enjoy cave settings you may enjoy this, but the game itself needs work.",
    id : 514
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Skyranch",
    author : "Driscoll, Jack",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 1999,
    placement : "37",
    numplacement : 37,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition99/msdos/skyranch/skyranch.exe",
    id : 898
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Kaged",
    author : "Finley, Ian",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/kaged_s.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/kaged_s.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/kaged/kaged.gam" ],
    review : "A nicely done dystopia, with plenty of atmosphere and some well-executed twists. Rather linear--about halfway through, the game sort of locks you onto a certain track, and there's really never more than one thing to do from that point on. The game does justify the linearity, however, and the puzzles are good enough that the player doesn't feel like he's just pushing the story along. The music and graphics enhance the game experience considerably, so be sure to use an HTML-TADS runtime. A worthy heir to the tradition of dystopian IF.",
    id : 909
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Metamorphoses",
    author : "Short, Emily",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/metamorp.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/fracture.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/metamorp/metamorp.z5" ],
    review : "You're a slave girl on a mission of sorts for your master, though it's difficult to say what the mission is. The game's world is split between the literal and the figurative, and most of what you accomplish is significant more on the symbolic than on the concrete level. Idealized forms are a key thematic element, and most of the puzzles revolve around the transformation of those forms. The game provides two devices that can transform various objects, and the range and complexity of the transformations handled is impressive--the objects, by and large, behave sensibly in all their various forms. There are lots of puzzle solutions and a wide variety of endings, and the game manages to both tell a story and allow ample freedom in exploration. Beautifully described and impressively thoughtful.",
    id : 910
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Being Andrew Plotkin",
    author : "Wheeler, J. Robinson",
    genre : [ "Screen", "Satire" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/bap/bap.z5",
    review : "A parody of the movie Being John Malkovich; here, the target is IF luminary Andrew Plotkin, a.k.a. Zarf, author of Spider and Web, So Far, and other well-regarded games. In-jokey, to some extent--you'll probably get more out of this if (a) you've seen the movie and (b) you're familiar both with Zarf's games and with the IF community as a whole--but still playable without knowledge of the in-jokes. Highly linear with very few puzzles; you really can't get very far from the path the game sets out. This is a very funny effort, though, and it's amusing in a knowing way--the fights over identity that the movie depicts are adapted to the IF context in a way that acknowledges the confusion of the player-PC relationship.",
    id : 911
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ad Verbum",
    author : "Montfort, Nick",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Wordplay" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/adverbum/adverbum.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/adverbum.z5" ],
    review : "A wordplay game reminiscent in some respects of Infocom's Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It. Some of the puzzles work better than others--a few are just obscure--but there's one section of the game that's simply astounding. Specifically, there are alliterative rooms where the parser has been rewritten to allow only commands in which every word begins with a certain letter--and all the responses are likewise rewritten. For example, >EXAMINE EFFIGY elicits \"Enemy effigy. Extreme enormity evident. Execrable evildoer!\" The puzzles in this section involve figuring out the appropriate commands to take certain objects and get out of the rooms, but it's more rewarding simply to try to push the limits of the game's literacy (and it takes a lot of pushing). The rest of Ad Verbum doesn't quite live up to that portion of the game, but the alliterative section alone makes it worth trying.",
    id : 912
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Transfer",
    author : "Levi, Tod",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/transfer/transfer.z5",
    review : "Science fiction in the malfunctioning-experiment genre, but well put together. You're part of a team that's attempting to perfect the transfer of consciousness between bodies, including across species. Most of the puzzles turn on novel applications of the central gimmick, and some are pretty creative. The characters aren't as well done, unfortunately; they pretty much ignore you no matter how suspicious your various doings might seem. Conventional, but enjoyable and not too hard.",
    id : 913
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "My Angel",
    author : "Ingold, Jon",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Romance" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/My_Angel.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/my_angel/my_angel.z5" ],
    review : "A hauntingly told tale whose most important conceit can't be given away here without spoilers, this is largely puzzleless; the focus is on the story, and on the protagonist's relationship with the main NPC. Both you and the NPC are telepaths, and you communicate by sharing thoughts; at times, it's as if you're two characters rather than one. It's told in the first person with an unusual formatting trick: the game gives you the option of shifting all parser responses to the subject line and putting the main text together as if it were static prose. The technical details are done well--there are even reasonably logical paragraphs--but it's still easy to get repetitive text. Still, My Angel is worth playing--it's much more notable for the relationship it depicts (and for the twist at the end) than for its formatting experiments.",
    id : 914
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Nevermore",
    author : "Cull, Nate",
    genre : [ "Lovecraftian", "Literary" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/never/never.z5",
    review : "An adaptation of Poe's \"The Raven,\" though a very loose adaptation--the author has embellished considerably on the scene set in the poem. The result is highly imaginative and, in many ways, faithful to the gothic Poe spirit, though it may be difficult to get used to if you're familiar with the poem and expecting the story to track what's in the text of the poem. The puzzles are mostly good, despite some game design sins--there's repetitive death, for one thing, and a bunch of guidebooks whose \"consult\" routines are randomized. The atmosphere is nicely done, though, and in a Poe adaptation, that's the most important thing. Has a hint menu.",
    id : 915
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Masquerade",
    author : "Fischer, Kathleen M.",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Romance" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Mask.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/mask/mask.z5" ],
    review : "A romance in the spirit of Plundered Hearts, though the scope is somewhat narrower--it's closer to being a series of connected scenes. At the end, however, there's suddenly quite a bit of branching--there are at least 10 possible endings. There aren't many puzzles, but the story is entertaining and reasonably unpredictable. The best thing about the game, arguably, is the PC, who is far more vividly characterized than most (again, somewhat in the spirit of Plundered Hearts, whose PC had much more personality than those of most Infocom games). A good entry in an underpopulated IF genre.",
    id : 916
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Yes, Another Game with a Dragon!",
    author : "Kean, John",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Satire" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/yagwad.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/yagwad/yagwad.z5" ],
    review : "An entertaining little romp that's sometimes straight fantasy and sometimes more akin to parody of fantasy, as indicated by the name (which adverts to the r*if community's well-aired dislike for games involving dragons). A few of the puzzles are a bit obscure, but most are both challenging and reasonable, and there's substantially more plot than the typical canonical fantasy game offers. Funny and well-written.",
    id : 917
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Shade",
    author : "Plotkin, Andrew",
    genre : "Travel",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "Macintosh" ],
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/shade-src.tar.Z", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/mac/Shade-R3.hqx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/shade.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/shade/shade.z5" ],
    review : "The author's tag-line for this game is \"A one-room game set in your apartment,\" and it's difficult to say much more about it without spoilers. Suffice it to say that it's extremely well crafted and very, very creepy--this is \"mess with your head\" IF par excellence. Precisely what happens, particularly at the end, is open to multiple interpretations. There's also a lot going on, in a sense, so you may want to replay it a few times once you're done. Not to everyone's taste--it's not an upbeat game by any means--but masterfully done.",
    id : 918
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Guess the Verb!",
    author : "Richardson, Leonard",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/guess.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/guess/guess.z5" ],
    review : "Several mini-games in one--there's a device that transports you into various scenes--and also several mini-parodies in one, since most of the scenes poke fun at one genre or another. As a game, there's not a lot there; most of the puzzles are pretty easy, and it's possible to get through the game without seeing all of the scenes. But the humor makes this work--there are loads of funny responses, and even the instructions are hilarious. Not a perfect effort, but as a satirical take on IF, it works.",
    id : 919
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Letters from Home",
    author : "Firth, Roger",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Wordplay" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/letters/letters.z5",
    review : "Half interactive fiction and half Games Magazine extract, Letters From Home is strewn with challenging wordplay puzzles, among them collecting all the letters of the alphabets (disguised in various forms) and solving cryptic crossword clues. Packed with subtle humor and IF references, so there's fun to be had even if cryptic crosswords aren't your thing. Some of the puzzles are a bit obscure, but on the whole everything works impressively well.",
    id : 921
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Rameses",
    author : "Bond, Stephen",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/rameses/rameses.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/rameses.zblorb" ],
    review : "You're an unhappy teenager in an unpleasant Irish boarding school, remembering your happier younger days and putting up with the present as best you can. It's not very interactive, but it's an noninteractivity that serves the purposes of the story--the central character doesn't have the courage to speak honestly with others, so he hardly speaks at all, and the frustration the player feels mirrors the PC's frustrations. There are no puzzles, and the game essentially progresses whatever you do, but as a story and a characterization, it works extremely well.",
    id : 922
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Djinni Chronicles",
    author : "Berry, J. D.",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/djinni.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/djinni.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/djinni/djinni.z5" ],
    review : "You're a djinn, or rather a series of them, trying both to serve your various masters' commands and to achieve your own purposes. Well implemented and richly imagined--the game devises a djinni cosmology that's extremely involved and makes sense of your motivations and the limitations on your movement. You need to tune into a sort of djinni ethics to figure out why things work as they do. Not very long, with just a few puzzles, but the thoroughness of the worldbuilding makes up for the brevity.",
    id : 923
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Best Man",
    author : "Menke, Rob",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/bestman/bestman.z5",
    review : "You're on your way to a friend's wedding when terrorists strike. Not all of the puzzles make a lot of sense, due to technical and game design problems, and the adaptiveness of the hint menu doesn't work very well--it's impossible to read some of the hints until you've already failed to solve the problem (and, often, died as a result) in a given game. Some clever multiple-solution puzzles, though, and generally reasonably solid in an action-movie sort of way (i.e., action-movie suspensions of disbelief are often necessary). The PDF documentation is quite professional-looking.",
    id : 1008
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "And the Waves Choke the Wind",
    author : "Schmidl, Gunther",
    genre : [ "Pirates", "Lovecraftian" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/atwctw/atwctw.z8",
    review : "You have a run-in with some shipmates and are set adrift in a dinghy. Written as a prologue to a longer game. Polished, with lots of bells and whistles (footnotes and specialized commands), but there isn't a lot to do in terms of actual playing. (The middle section allows for some exploration, but very little interaction with what you find.) Nicely ambiguous and cliffhangery endings.",
    id : 1009
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "At Wit's End",
    author : "Sousa, Mike",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/awe/awe.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/awe.gam" ],
    review : "You're a baseball player thrown into a series of wacky mishaps. Strong storyline--this is one IF game that can't be dismissed as an excuse for a bunch of puzzles--but the puzzles themselves vary a bit in quality. The more complicated ones are also highly frustrating, and it's pretty easy to get something wrong without realizing it and to have to backtrack. Still, the writing is good, there's all sorts of funny stuff around the edges, and the story itself is wildly improbable but no less fun for that. One of the year's most entertaining entries.",
    id : 1010
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Dinner with Andre",
    author : "Daly, Liza",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Romance" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/dinner/dinner.z5",
    review : "You're on a date, getting ambushed by all sorts of embarrassments and trying to save face. Fun puzzles and nicely goofy feel, though your character can be a bit of a drag--she's so insecure that you may want to shake some sense into her rather than going along with her schemes. Still, everything works well, and there's an enormously funny take on snooty waiters that makes the game worth trying all by itself.",
    id : 1012
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Planet of the Infinite Minds",
    author : "Garcia, Alfredo",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/planmind/planmind.gam",
    review : "Highly peculiar game that's heavy on the abstract math and physics. You're spun through a variety of cosmic absurdities to no obvious purpose--the author appears to be experimenting with the capability of IF to render concrete and interesting various concepts. In other words, your mileage will most certainly vary. The game itself is quite difficult if you're not on the author's wavelength; absurdism and in-jokes are plentiful. Still, the intentions are good, and those with a taste for abstract science may well enjoy this.",
    id : 1011
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Big Mama",
    author : "Barnwell, Brendan",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/bigmama/bigmama.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/bigmama.inf" ],
    review : "You're wandering around a beach, engaging in menu-based conversations and ruminating on the meaning of it all. Lots of branching available--there are dozens of endings--and the characters you meet are reasonably interesting. Since most of the action lies in the menus, the interactivity aspect is somewhat limited; once you've covered the major menu choices, the playing experience is limited to going back and searching for branches you might have missed (as opposed to, say, thinking creatively about new ways to experience the game). The beach itself is fairly well rendered, but it doesn't play much of a role. Competent, but limited by its format.",
    id : 1015
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The End Means Escape",
    author : "Kodat, Steve",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/endmeans/endmeans.gam",
    review : "Abstract and surreal little game. The first scenario--in which you interact with a variety of inanimate objects, most of which have complex relationships with each other and highly distinct personalities--works very well; the implementation is thorough and the whole thing is imaginatively done. After that, things tail off a bit--the puzzles get rather obscure and the implementation becomes rather slipshod in parts. Still, the first scene alone makes this one worth trying.",
    id : 1016
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Punk Points",
    author : "Munroe, Jim",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/punkpnts/punkpnts.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/punkpnts.z5" ],
    review : "You're a teenager trying to demonstrate to yourself and to your peers how angry and rebellious you are. The attitude comes across well, and the puzzles do a reasonably good job of conveying the challenges a would-be punk faces (and the punk's approach to overcoming them)--the main problem is that some of the solutions are a bit obscure and insufficiently clued (or encounter syntax problems). The implementation isn't perfect, but it's adequate, and the writing occasionally shines. A hint system and a bug cleanup from being a top-notch effort.",
    id : 1017
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Crimson Spring",
    author : "Sherwin, Robb",
    genre : "Superhero",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Hugo",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/hugo/Scourge.hug", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/hugo/scourge/scourge.hex", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/hugo/scourge.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/hugo/scourgdos.hex" ],
    review : "A thoroughly dark superhero game--you're a superhero out to avenge your girlfriend's (gruesome and minutely described) death. The multimedia aspect is good (the sound is better than the graphics), the writing's strong, and the plot is fairly complex--and the PC is nicely rendered as well; this is no stock jut-jawed invincible superhero. There are some implementation problems, though--at one point, SEARCH ROOM is a required command), and some of the event triggers are easy to miss. Plenty of sex and violence here, so this is not for the faint of heart.",
    id : 988
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Enlisted",
    author : "Berry, G.F.",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/enlisted/enlisted.z5",
    review : "A Sci-Fi puzzlefest, covering your joining the Space Troopers, your training  course, as well as your first mission. Includes a maze with a twist (however,  this twist doesn't make it easier to solve). You can choose your gender at  the beginning, though your choice barely affects the story or the gameplay.  Finally, there are two alternate winning endings, but reaching one of them  depends on a somewhat obscure move. The game suffers a bit from insufficient  beta-testing; I've rated it **** nevertheless, for a number of its puzzles  really are creative.",
    id : 1067
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Futz Mutz",
    author : "Simmons, Tim",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/futzmutz/futzmutz.gam",
    review : "You've somehow been turned into a dog and hauled off to a pet store, and you're trying to get back home. Reasonably well implemented, with fairly presentable multimedia, but lots of attitude--including some tasteless slaps at other IF authors--and a generally juvenile sense of humor. There are some reasonably good puzzles, though, and the writing is competent.",
    id : 1066
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Return to Zork: Another Story",
    author : "Canali, Stefano",
    genre : [ "Game", "Zorkian" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/rtzas/rtzas.z8",
    review : "A rather traditional text adventure set in the Zorkian universe. Well, it's not *entirely* traditional - for the author tries to inject RPG-elements into it - in form of quests the NPCs entrust the player character with; however, since these quests were trivial, they didn't add much (at least, for me). The game has got a branching story with two different \"winning\" endings, but since entering one of the plot branches depends on a pretty unmotivated and obscure action somewhere in the middle of the story, it's not very likely for the player to find it on his/her own. The setting is rich and detailed, though an assortment of randomly scattered minor bugs spoil the impression a bit. I think my main complaint about this work was, the puzzles just were too easy. On the other hand, going through familiar rooms of the Zork trilogy, the descriptions of which received a new interpretation, was a great feeling, so that a certain amount of nostalgic value surely was present.",
    id : 1068
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Unnkulia X",
    author : "Kopteltsev, Valentine",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/uux.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/uux/uux.gam" ],
    id : 1069
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Desert Heat",
    author : "Papillon",
    genre : [ "Mystery", "Romance" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/desert/desert.gam",
    review : "A CYOA tale of intrigue and sexual slavery--you're an Arab woman at the center of some nefarious plots and romantic entanglements. The branching usually doesn't go very deep--most of the branches rejoin the main story before long--but there's enough variety to justify several trips through the story, and the choices you make do affect the text you see later on. The sexual content is fairly explicit, though, I thought, not gratuitously so, and it does reflect the story. As with any CYOA story, there's not a lot of interactivity here, but it's still a pretty good story.",
    id : 1070
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Got ID?",
    author : "Valhara, Marc",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/gotid/gotid.z5",
    review : "You're a self-esteem-challenged teenager trying to buy alcohol to bring to a party. Fairly difficult puzzles--the steps you take are more than a little extreme given the object, though I suppose it could be argued that it's a wry comment on the the nature of teenagers' quest for popularity. The game misses no opportunity to heap derision on you and generally display its attitude, which gets wearying after a while. There are some funny moments, though, and in a way it's refreshing to find something that really accomplishes what it strives for--i.e., grunge and lots of attitude. Includes a hint menu, though not a very helpful one--fake hints outnumber real hints, and the real hints are often partial solutions at most.",
    id : 1118
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Castle Amnos",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/amnos/amnos01.z5",
    review : "Fantasy quest inside a castle. The contents of the castle are wildly diverse in the manner of very early fantasy quests, so the atmosphere suffers a bit. Reasonably solid, technically, but suffers from some poor game design choices, including a large and frustrating maze and a randomized elevator. There are some good large-scale puzzles, and the writing and overall plot are quite strong, but the game design makes things more difficult than they should be.",
    id : 1119
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Masque of the Last Faeries",
    author : "Ball, Ian",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/masque/masque.z5",
    review : "Intrigue at a masquerade ball. Interesting concept, hindered by poor implementation--there are lots of characters, but trying to interact with them intelligently is often an adventure, and it's easy to do something out of order and get lost in the plot. There's a play-within-the-game that's entirely in verse; unfortunately, the writing is not glorious. The author gets credit for ambition, since there's a lot going on and the plot comes together in a reasonably interesting way, but the technical details are pretty shaky.",
    id : 1120
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Pickpocket",
    author : "Weldon, Alex",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/ppocket/ppocket.z5",
    review : "Well-written game, mostly technically competent, but marred by some unfortunate design choices. Your wallet's been stolen by a young urchin and you're trying to get it back. Unfortunately, the game requires that you go to some rather extreme lengths to accomplish that end, and that, combined with the lack of hints or walkthrough, makes the game more difficult than probably was intended.",
    id : 1121
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Trip",
    author : "Wilkin, Cameron",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/trip/trip.gam",
    review : "You come to a small backwater town to meet your friends from high school who are as much losers as yourself. However, consciousness-expanding experiments (with drugs and hallucinogenic plants) trigger off a chain of events that finally make you change your whole life. I found some puzzles somewhat obscure, though the bulk of them can be bypassed - due to a bug. Since we're talking about puzzles and bugs - the game has several optional puzzles that are even more obscure, and is rather bug-ridden. The proper  rating for this work probably would be ***, but I'm adding an extra star for the game's unique atmosphere reminiscent of works by Carlos Castaneda, which I'm very fond of.",
    id : 1122
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Happy Ever After",
    author : "Camisa, Robert M.",
    genre : [ "Romance", "Time Travel" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/happy/happy.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/happy/happy.z5" ],
    id : 1123
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Prodly the Puffin",
    author : [ "Crawford, Jim", "Timpany, Craig" ],
    genre : [ "Cartoon", "Satire", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/prodly/prodly.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/prodly/prodly.z5" ],
    review : "A work spoofing a not too widely known parody on a cartoon that \"has long faded into obscurity\".  In spite of its second-hand (or, rather, third-hand) nature, Prodly the Puffin is a fairly solidly done  game. One of its memorable characteristics is the intense use of cartoon logic, though, again,  it certainly isn't the first game that does this kind of thing. Considering that it's quite short, and   thus won't take too much of your time, you probably should give it a try; just don't be too  exigent.",
    id : 1124
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Withdrawal Symptoms",
    author : "Carlsson, Niclas",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/withdraw/withdraw.z5",
    review : "Neither the premise (you're trying to get something from the bank) nor the puzzles (oddly designed and counter to what you might logically expect in this situation) offer terribly much entertainment, alas.",
    id : 1125
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Aftermath",
    author : "Somerville, Graham",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "37",
    numplacement : 37,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/aftrmath/aftrmath.gam",
    review : "A striking beginning--you find yourself at the bottom of a pile of bodies--but there's not much else that's good here. You're on a battlefield after the battle's over, solving arbitrary puzzles; to be fair, there's a semblance of a plot (you're trying to build a memorial), but it's more an excuse for a scavenger hunt than an actual story. Buggy, with lots of writing errors.",
    id : 1126
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Clock",
    author : "Kozlowski, Cleopatra",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "38",
    numplacement : 38,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/clock/clock.gam",
    review : "Your arrival at your friend Kitty's house is just the beginning of an action-packed story (admitted,   I found it artificially complicated rather than fancy, but that's probably just me). However,   to get to this story, you need to overcome many obstacles, including room descriptions omitting details  crucial for success, puzzles of the \"guess the author's mind\" type, and a maze you have to  master with a light source that lasts only a short time. A cat demanding food every 90 turns,   and a few randomly scattered bugs top it off. I know I made it sound like complete trash, but  it isn't; in spite of everything, it represents a quite ambitious (although somewhat amateurish) effort,   and the fact I didn't like it doesn't mean you aren't going to, either. Still, I suggest you'll keep a   walkthrough handy while playing it - otherwise, it'll take you much more time than it's worth.",
    id : 1127
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Wrecked",
    author : "Wild, Campbell",
    genre : "Travel",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "39",
    numplacement : 39,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/adrift/wrecked.taf",
    id : 766
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Threading the Labyrinth",
    author : "Doughty, Kevin F.",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "40",
    numplacement : 40,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/ttl/ttl.gam",
    review : "An experimental work, in which you've got to address single words in a  sentence to advance the story (story? Uhm, rather, the game author's thoughts  and comments on various topics). Many reviewers pointed out it wasn't *that*  groundbreaking, since Andrew Plotkin's Space Under The Window had used the  same device a long time ago; however, I can't tell, for I haven't played the  latter. Anyway, TTL is done sufficiently well to be enjoyable on its own, and  is short enough to avoid making you feel bored. This piece represents what we  call \"puzzleless IF\" alright, but you might have some troubles getting ahead  nonetheless; to get around them, just remember that, in IF, some additional  exploration never harms.",
    id : 1128
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Void: Corporation",
    author : "Lim, Jonathan",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "41",
    numplacement : 41,
    platform : "AGT",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/agt/void/void.ins",
    id : 1129
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "1-2-3...",
    author : "Mudd, Chris",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "42",
    numplacement : 42,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/123/1-2-3.z5",
    review : "Short and highly linear game in which you're a serial killer (and your killings are described in graphic detail, so skip this if that's not your cup of tea). Creepy in places, but suffers from the straitjacketedness of it all--there's very little you can do for most of the game, and in the killing scenes you don't get any control at all, natch--as well as from a dreadfully clunky conversation system in which the NPCs give you elaborate prompts for you to ask them about certain topics. (As in, \"don't you want to ask me about...\") Not a total failure, but far from a success.",
    id : 1130
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Escape from Crulistan",
    author : "Smithee, Alan",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "43",
    numplacement : 43,
    platform : "Windows",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/windows/crulist/Crulist.exe",
    id : 1131
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stupid Kittens",
    author : "Valhara, Marc",
    genre : [ "Joke", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "44",
    numplacement : 44,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/kitty/kitty.z5",
    id : 1132
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Marooned",
    author : "Davis, Bruce",
    genre : "Travel",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "45",
    numplacement : 45,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/adrift/marooned.taf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/adrift/marooned/marooned.taf" ],
    id : 764
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Al Otro Lado",
    author : "Márquez Marín, Antonio",
    genre : "Abuses",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "46",
    numplacement : 46,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/msdos/otos/otos15.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/msdos/otos/source.zip" ],
    review : "For a change, you switch places with the computer: now, it's *your* task to  type in responses to commands it showers you with. The idea as such is very  interesting and original; however, due to the program's rudimentary AI (it  generates commands at random, and remains practically oblivious to the  player's input), OTOS hardly is enjoyable as a game.",
    id : 1133
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Jarod's Journey",
    author : "Emmerich, Tim",
    genre : "Religious",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "47",
    numplacement : 47,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/tads/jarod/jarod.gam",
    review : "As the young pilgrim Jarod, you visit various cities, and encounter a number of situations, each of them llustrating a postulate/commandment of Christianity. Since this game has got neither puzzles nor atmosphere, and only a rudimentary plot, I doubt it can be an enjoyable experience for anyone. For me, its most amusing feature is the HELP command, which, if entered several times, shows the ultimate in getting as close to telling the player \"you're a complete moron if you need help for *THAT*\" as possible, without actually saying it (in order to avoid offending people).",
    id : 1134
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Infil-traitor",
    author : "Charla, Chris",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "48",
    numplacement : 48,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/basic/infil/infila2.bas", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/basic/infil/infil.bas", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/basic/infil/infil3.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/basic/infil/infil2.exe" ],
    review : "This game is a mystification of sorts: its author passed it off as a text   adventure from the early 1980-s he'd found in a shop by accident. This   probably predestined the choice of the game's main theme - you're a CIA agent   who has got to steal some secret plans from the Soviets. The game parser seems   weak even by the standards of those old times; it's a very limited, two-word   one, and doesn't support system commands like SAVE, RESTORE, UNDO (heck, even   RESTART and QUIT aren't recognized!) Combined with a time limit, and only   occasional mentioning of available exits in room descriptions (this annoying   characteristic is diminished somewhat, because Infil-traitor is only aware of   the 4 cardinal directions), this almost inevitably provides for a few (and   with less clever players like myself for QUITE a few) program terminations,   which accompany the PC's death in this work of IF. The puzzles are trivial   for the most part (there has been one puzzle I've found enjoyable, but I   suspect it only has impressed me by contrast to other puzzles therein). On   the positive side, Infil-traitor featured some wonderfully rude jokes that   made it worth playing for me (I'm fond of black humour), and earned the   game's rating an extra star.",
    id : 1135
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Comp00ter Game",
    author : "Barnwell, Brendan",
    genre : "Joke",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "49",
    numplacement : 49,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/comp00tr/comp00tr.z5",
    id : 1137
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Little Billy",
    author : "Ikeako, Okey",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "50",
    numplacement : 50,
    platform : "Windows",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/windows/quest/quest.exe",
    review : "A laughably bad attempt at pathos and moral anguish: \"I just can't believe that dear little Billy, the kid I used to sit on my knee, became a murderer.\"  If the writing weren't bad enough, the only input the player has is at the very beginning and the very end.  The rest of the time, you just page through endless \"Click here to continue\" prompts.  It's all CYOA-style, and yet the author couldn't even be bothered to give us the occasional illusion of choice.  Instead, we have what may as well be a noninteractive short story, except you have to read it through an inconvenient hypertext thingy.    If you feel you must play it, the easiest way is to select the file Child.dxr using a Shockwave-enabled browser.  (You spare yourself two megabytes of download time that way, too.)  If you must play it offline, you'll need all of the files (including Child.dxr), with the files ending in .x32 in a subdirectory called \"Xtras\".  If you're going to be downloading the other Competition 2000 games, I suggest grabbing the complete set instead, which will have it already set up correctly when unpacked.  But no matter how you download this work, it isn't worth the trouble.      Also, be warned that some of the filenames have spaces in them, and thus might require special handling.  In fact, I had to rewrite sections of this Guide's back-end just to accomodate this lousy game, which leaves me not at all inclined to be charitable in this review.",
    id : 1138
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Asendent",
    author : [ "Farenheit, Sourdoh", "Flatbred, Kelvin" ],
    genre : [ "Joke", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2000,
    placement : "51",
    numplacement : 51,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/asendent/asendent.z5",
    review : "Asendent (the title is presumably deliberately misspelled) attempts to evoke the spirit of Rybread Celsius, though it's hard to tell whether the game is supposed to be an homage or a parody. Full of misspellings and grammar errors (again, presumably deliberate), nothing makes much sense, and the only saving grace is that it doesn't last very long. Even if you like this sort of thing, you'll probably prefer the originals, which, if nothing else, have a sort of warped sincerity; Asendent is just a misconceived attempt at humor.",
    id : 1139
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "What-IF?",
    author : "Ledgard, David",
    genre : "Historical",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "52",
    numplacement : 52,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2000/inform/what_if/what_if.z5",
    review : "A bunch of historical essays dealing with questions like \"What'd happen if Columbus didn't discover America\", or \"How would the world history develop if the revolution in Russia failed\". Might be interesting for fans of that kind of historical speculation; however, the analysis isn't   very deep.     And it isn't IF. By no means.",
    id : 1140
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Breaking the Code",
    author : "Schmidl, Gunther",
    year : 2000,
    placement : "53",
    numplacement : 53,
    id : 1141
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "All Roads",
    author : "Ingold, Jon",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Time Travel" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/AllRoads/AllRoads.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/AllRoads.z5" ],
    review : "Supernatural espionage thriller set in a quasi-medieval Venice (oh, that old genre again). You jump around in space and time through a series of apparently disconnected scenes, and eventually, if you're paying enough attention, things come together. Largely puzzleless, in the conventional sense; there's one puzzle toward the beginning of the game, but most of the rest of the story pretty much flows by. In another sense, though, the whole game is a puzzle, and it's a pretty clever one--the game drops progressively more obvious clues as you go along and fills in some, but not all, of the blanks at the end. You'll probably need to replay, and think a good deal, to figure everything out). Pleasantly confusing, though very much on rails--there's only one path through the game, and not much deviation is allowed for. Unusual and rewarding.",
    id : 1657
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Moments Out of Time",
    author : "Raszewski, L. Ross",
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/moments/moments.z6",
    review : "A poking-and-searching game about historical research via  time travel.  You have a limited time to explore an ordinary home in the days just before a major war turns nuclear.  Your main objective is revelatory documents, not so much about the political situation, which is well-known, but about how people lived.  After your return, you are quizzed on your findings and evaluated.  Loads of backstory, often given through large infodumps.  Good degree of detail in the environment, with the aim of giving a sense of the absent characters.  Decent prose, but no particular dramatic structure - the story is part of the setting, rather than vice versa.  Many, many locked doors and hidden keys.  One optional puzzle is rendered unsolvable by a bug, but I notied no bugs beyond that.    Exploration is aided by a variety of gadgets, including an automapper and a hint dispenser, but you can only bring a few of them with you in a given session.  Which tools you choose to bring will affect what parts of the game you can see, and it'll probably take you multiple sessions with different loadouts to get a satisfactoy picture of the family.  It's possible to get a favorable evaluation at the end with most loadouts, but some tools make it a lot easier.  (Perfectionists take note: A perfect mission is impossible.  Even the author says he's never gotten a mission evaluation above 93% or so.)    Features an ambitious extension of the user interface, adding an elaborate system of nested menus to the bottom of the screen.  This does not work properly on some interpreters, and can be disabled without affecting gameplay through the command \"MENU OFF\".  I personally liked the \"compass\" option, which turns the menu into a list of exits, but didn't use it for anything else.",
    id : 1673
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Heroes",
    author : "Barrett, Sean",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/heroes.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/heroes/heroes.z5" ],
    review : "Five stories in a fantasy city setting.  You play five stock fantasy characters, each pursuing the same goal, but with different abilities and limitations and (most interestingly) different ways of perceiving the world.  You'll have to see things from everyone's perspective to understand what has happened and what is about to happen, and even then, the details of the backstory can be confusing.  Good design and puzzles.  Each chapter can in theory be solved alone, but each contains information that makes other chapters easier; it's suggested that you switch between characters frequently.",
    id : 1671
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "No Time To Squeal",
    author : [ "Sherwin, Robb", "Sousa, Mike" ],
    genre : [ "Slice of life", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/ntts_src.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/ntts.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/ntts/ntts.gam" ],
    id : 1691
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Beetmonger's Journal",
    author : "Starkey, Scott",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/Beet/Beet.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/beet.zip" ],
    review : "Nicely layered plot--you're a professor's assistant on an archeological dig, and you discover a journal that flashes you back into another point of view--and the premise, which involves persecution of beet-sellers, is amusing. There are two paths through the game, both reasonably plausible (given the game's assumptions) and well implemented. A few minor glitches, and not very long, but on the whole a good effort.",
    id : 1683
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Vicious Cycles",
    author : "Mark, Simon",
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/cycles.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/cycles/cycles.z5" ],
    id : 1664
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Best of Three",
    author : "Short, Emily",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Glulx",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/Bestof3/Bestof3.blb",
    review : "Consists entirely of one conversation, as with the author's Galatea, but it's an extremely immersive and wide-ranging conversation; you meet up with an old flame of sorts, and the exchange that results is in various measures adversarial and revelatory. The conversation system is a further development of the one used in Pytho's Mask, which combines ASK/TELL and conversation menus to obtain the freedom of the former and the natural speech of the latter. Both your character and the lone NPC of significance are well developed; many have found the NPC irritating, but I thought he was interesting, at least, even if not always endearing. In short: not much as a game, but terrific as NPC interaction, PC characterization, and general storytelling.",
    id : 1652
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Earth and Sky",
    author : "O'Brian, Paul",
    genre : "Superhero",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/eas/eas.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/eas.zip" ],
    review : "Charming first installment in the Earth and Sky superhero series, involving a brother and sister who discover unusual powers and seek to rescue their lost parents.  Though brief, this episode establishes the characters, their powers, and the major motivation, and incorporates a couple of simple puzzles.  Upbeat and highly enjoyable.",
    id : 1665
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Triune",
    author : "Papillon",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Windows" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/triune.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/triune/triune.gam" ],
    id : 1693
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Film at Eleven",
    author : "Greenwood, Bowen",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/eleven.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/eleven/eleven.z5" ],
    id : 1667
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Prized Possession",
    author : "Fischer, Kathleen M.",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Romance" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/possess/Alys.z5",
    id : 1675
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Journey from an Islet",
    author : "Becroft, Mario",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/journey/journey.gam",
    id : 1688
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Grayscale",
    author : "Freas, Daniel",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/gryscale/gryscale.gam",
    id : 1687
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Chasing",
    author : "Raisanen, Anssi",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "Alan",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/chasing/chasing.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/alan/chasing.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/chasing/chasing.acd" ],
    review : "A pleasant and reasonably easy jaunt through the countryside of a sort of Edwardian fantasy world at a time when there's no great treasure to unearth or evil wizard to defeat.  You're a landed gentleman in pursuit of seven escaped horses, each named for a significant quality of character (Courage, Defiance, etc.)  I was impressed with how good-natured it all is: all the NPC's are friendly and eager to help, pretty much all the areas are described as pleasant, picturesque, or elegant (to the point where this constitutes a weakness in the prose), and everything the player does exhibits goodwill and strength of character.",
    id : 1649
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Coast House",
    author : [ "Newton, Dan", "Newton, Stephen" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/coast.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/coast/coast.gam" ],
    id : 1684
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Carma",
    author : "Parker, Marnie",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Glulx",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/carma/carma.blb",
    review : "The main idea of this game is, before starting writing anything (be it a novel or an adventure game), the author   should learn how to properly use the main tool of the trade - namely, the language. Since this postulate is brought home to the player not always by means of humane methods, it's recommended for the player to possess a sense of humour, a tolerance to critique, and the ability not to take her/himself too seriously. Some of the people also might be scared away by the rather unusual puzzles (one of them, for instance, represents none other than a grammar test), and some railroading. Those who decide to play Carma despite the aforementioned issues, will be rewarded with great graphic effects of highest quality (the word \"effects\" is an understatement; I'd call this work \"a semi-graphic adventure\", rather than a \"text adventure\", or even \"illustrated text adventure\"). Also, a couple of episodes were real masterpieces, which I'm never going to forget.",
    id : 1654
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Night Guest",
    author : "Kopteltsev, Valentine",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/ng/ng.gam",
    id : 1690
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fine Tuned",
    author : "Jerz, Dennis",
    genre : "Historical",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "MS-DOS" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/FineTune.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/FineTune.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/finetune/finetune.z8" ],
    review : "A light-hearted melodrama set ca. 1910 about a heroic manly autoist, his sidekick, and a beautiful young opera singer.  It features fairly easy and accessible puzzles and a good deal of humor.    The version of the game as originally released in the competition was beset by some unfortunate bugs, but the author has put in a lot of work and rendered out something that is now, as far as I could tell, more or less bug-free -- at least, I didn't run into any in the course of playing.  On the other hand, there are still a few ways in which its implementation seems to let it down, most notably in that the plot does not reach a full conclusion (and it is not entirely clear whether the promised 'continuation' will ever appear).    All the same, the setting is fresh and entertaining; several puzzles have multiple solutions, and many of the possible points are optional; and the NPCs are amusingly characterized and have quite a lot to say.",
    id : 1669
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fusillade",
    author : "Duncan, Mike",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/fusillad111.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/fusillad/fusillad.gam" ],
    id : 1686
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Evil Sorcerer",
    author : "Remoz, Gren",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/evil/evil.z5",
    id : 1668
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Gostak",
    author : "Muckenhoupt, Carl",
    genre : "Wordplay",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/gostak/gostak.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/gostak.z5" ],
    id : 1670
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Isolato Incident",
    author : "DeNiro, Alan",
    genre : [ "Science Fiction", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/isolato/isolato.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/isolato/isolato.acd" ],
    id : 1650
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Crusade",
    author : "Gorenfeld, John",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Satire", "Religious" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/crusade/crusade.z5",
    id : 1663
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "2112",
    author : "Algire, George K.",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Windows",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/windows/2112/2112.exe",
    review : "Standard-issue science fiction--you're a kid visiting Mars--but reasonably polished, especially considering it's a homebrew parser. Lots of puzzles, but most aren't all that hard. The game occasionally closes off without warning, however, so save often.",
    id : 1697
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "You Are Here",
    author : "Fisher, Roy",
    genre : [ "Literary", "Fantasy" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/URHere/URHere.z5",
    id : 1659
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Elements",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Cave crawl",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/elements/elements.z5",
    id : 1666
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Cruise",
    author : "Perlmutter, Norman",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/cruise/cruise.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/cruise.gam" ],
    id : 1685
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Bane of the Builders",
    author : "Baliuc, Bogdan",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/bb/bb.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/bb/bb.z5" ],
    review : "Mostly competent if uninspiring sci-fi effort in which you're looking for a professor who's disappeared on an alien planet. There's one nicely done sequence with an event that has effects in multiple directions at once, progressing over time, so that you see some of the immediate effects in some places and see the aftermath elsewhere. The rest, though, isn't particularly interesting--there's a maze (though a very easy one), and some puzzles whose logic is apparent only in retrospect. Standard sci-fi with a few good moments.",
    id : 1660
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "To Otherwhere and Back",
    author : "Ewing, Greg",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/toab/toab.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/alan/toab/toab.acd" ],
    id : 1651
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stiffy Makane: The Undiscovered Country",
    author : "Thornton, Adam",
    genre : [ "Satire", "Pornographic", "Space Exploration" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "Glulx",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/smtuc/smtucsrc.tgz", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/smtuc/smtuc.ulx" ],
    id : 1656
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Kallisti",
    author : "Mitchelhill, James",
    genre : [ "Pornographic", "Religious" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/kallisti/kallisti.gam",
    review : "Startlingly dreadful.  The pornographic elements are tasteless and banal; the narrative voice is turgid and self-consciously \"literary\"; and the gameplay consists largely of guess-the-topic puzzles (during the seduction) and guess-the-verb moments (during the culmination).  Other games that are merely incompetent have a hard time competing with the deliberate awfulness of this piece.",
    id : 1689
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Cave of Morpheus",
    author : "Silcox, Mark",
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "Adrift",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/adrift/tcom/tcom2.taf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/adrift/tcom/tcom.taf" ],
    review : "Amusingly written if somewhat on the short side, The Cave of Morpheus is a strange little game. You awake in your college dorm one morning to discover you have an exam in five minutes and your clothes don't seem to be anywhere around. Grab your clothes and get moving! Outside your room, the college is presented as a bizarre place: an endless corridor, a fountain in which can be seen the face of your sister. The Grim Reaper himself even shows up at one point!A very easy game to finish, TCOM contains no real puzzles but is well worth the 5-10 minutes it takes to run through.",
    id : 1647
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Colours",
    author : "Wheeler, J. Robinson",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/colours/colours.z5",
    id : 1662
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Silicon Castles",
    author : "Given, David",
    genre : "Non-IF game",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/castles/castles.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/castles-1.1.tar.gz", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/castles-1.1.z5" ],
    id : 1661
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Timeout",
    author : "Hilderbrand, Stephen",
    genre : [ "Game", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/Timeout/Timeout.z5",
    id : 1658
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Begegnung am Fluss",
    author : "Edlbauer, Florian",
    genre : [ "Adaptation", "Historical" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "T.A.G.",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/amflus/amfluss.tag", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tag/amfluss.tag" ],
    id : 1679
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "an apple from nowhere",
    author : "Barnwell, Brendan",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "37",
    numplacement : 37,
    platform : "Glulx",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/aafn.ulx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/aafn/aafn.ulx" ],
    review : "Free-association IF--essentially a stream of apparently random images and ideas, some interesting and many not. Virtually no interactive possibility and no way to win or anything, but hey, it's got interesting images. From the farthest edges of avant-garde IF.",
    id : 1653
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stranded",
    author : "Cummings, Rich",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "37",
    numplacement : 37,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/stranded/stranded.gam",
    id : 1692
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Schroedinger's Cat",
    author : "Willson, James",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "39",
    numplacement : 39,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/schroed/schroed.z5",
    id : 1676
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stick it to the man",
    author : "Barnwell, Brendan",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "40",
    numplacement : 40,
    platform : "Glulx",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/sittmsrc.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/glulx/sittm/sittm.ulx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/sittm.ulx" ],
    id : 1655
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Jump",
    author : "Mudd, Chris",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "41",
    numplacement : 41,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/jump/jump.z5",
    id : 1672
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Volcano Isle",
    author : "DeWitt, Paul",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "42",
    numplacement : 42,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/tads/volcano/volcano.gam",
    id : 1694
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mystery Manor",
    author : "Crane, Dana",
    genre : "Haunted  House",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "43",
    numplacement : 43,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/adrift/Mystman/Mystman.taf",
    id : 1646
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Invasion of the Angora-fetish Transvestites from the Graveyards of Jupiter",
    author : "Rasmussen, Morten",
    genre : [ "Horror", "Satire" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "44",
    numplacement : 44,
    platform : "Windows",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/windows/angora/angora.exe",
    id : 1696
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "SURREAL",
    author : "Lowe, Matthew",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "45",
    numplacement : 45,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/surreal/ADVENT.COM",
    review : "Myst has inspired countless mediocre imitations, but this is the only mediocre Myst imitation I've ever seen attempted in text.  Consists mostly of scenery with a generally unplanned feel to it.  Some guess-the-verb; remember that this is in GAGS and therefore can only use the dozen or so built-in GAGS verbs.  Contains occasional character graphics.",
    id : 1681
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Goofy",
    author : "Dague, Ricardo",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "46",
    numplacement : 46,
    platform : "Java",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/web/goofy/Goofy.jar",
    id : 1695
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Test",
    author : "Matt Dark Baron",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "47",
    numplacement : 47,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/adrift/thetest/thetest.taf",
    id : 1648
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lovesong",
    author : "Georgostathis, Mihalis",
    genre : [ "Romance", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 2001,
    placement : "48",
    numplacement : 48,
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/quest/lovesong/lovesong.asl",
    review : "A short, uninteresting story of teenage metalhead love in very bad English.  A look at the source code suggests that it was meant to play sound files at certain points, but these are not included.",
    id : 1682
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Newcomer",
    author : "Love, Jason",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "49",
    numplacement : 49,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/newcomer/newcomer.z5",
    id : 1674
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Last Just Cause",
    author : "Carey-Dressler, Jeremy",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "50",
    numplacement : 50,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/TLJC/TLJCP2.EXE", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/TLJC/TLJCP1.EXE" ],
    id : 1678
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "You Were Doomed From the Start",
    author : "Carey-Dressler, Jeremy",
    genre : "Cave crawl",
    year : 2001,
    placement : "51",
    numplacement : 51,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/doomed/Pause1.h", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/doomed/Pause.H", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/doomed/Doomed.cpp", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/msdos/doomed/DOOMED.EXE" ],
    review : "Only the creator of this trivial programming exercise could explain why he thought it was worth releasing to the public, let alone entering in a competition.  It's a small collection of awkwardly-described rooms (the author is highly enamored of periods of ellipsis) in which anything remotely resembling a puzzle is solved automatically, leaving the player with nothing to do but enter the one command - the same command in every room - that toggles the room's one bit of alterable state.",
    id : 1680
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Gostak",
    author : "Muckenhoupt, Carl",
    genre : "Wordplay",
    year : 2001,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2001/inform/gostak/gostak.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/gostak.z5" ],
    id : 1670
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Earth and Sky 2: Another Earth, Another Sky",
    author : "O'Brian, Paul",
    genre : "Superhero",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Glulx",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/glulx/eas2/eas2.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/glulx/eas2/eas2.blb", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/EAS2.zip" ],
    review : "This game continues the charming vein of Earth and Sky, this time from the point of view of the brother in the brother-sister pair.  This episode is longer than the first one, with relatively easy but well-designed puzzles and a compact, memorable setting.  It features entertaining NPC dialogue, and advances the unfolding narrative arc quite nicely.  Uses Glulx's multimedia abilities to include comic-book-style sound effects -- a very satisfying touch.",
    id : 1901
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish Out of Me!",
    author : [ "Ingold, Jon", "Sousa, Mike" ],
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/tildeath.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/tildeath/tildeath.gam" ],
    id : 1914
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Photograph",
    author : "Evans, Steve",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/photo.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/photo/photo.z5" ],
    id : 1927
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Moonlit Tower",
    author : "Lee, Yoon Ha",
    genre : "Eastern",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/moonlit/Moonlit.z5",
    review : "A beautifully-written game based on Asian mythology.  To explain the premise would be difficult, but that's not really an issue -- the best thing about this game is simply enjoying the setting, which is full of rare and lovely imagery.  The puzzles are occasionally a bit elusive, but the built-in hint system helps somewhat with that problem. There are also multiple endings and an extensive set of notes describing the game's background -- quite a lot of polish for a (relatively) brief piece.",
    id : 1925
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Janitor",
    author : [ "Lynn, Kevin", "Seebach, Peter" ],
    genre : [ "Cave crawl", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/janitor/janitor.z5",
    review : "A terrifically entertaining cave-crawl parody in which you play a janitor whose job it is to clean up an adventure environment and reset everything for the next player.  Puzzles are a nice moderate level of difficulty, it is difficult to get too stuck, and the humor level is well maintained.  There are plenty of entertaining extras that make it worth going back and playing with the game further even after you have completed the main storyline.",
    id : 1922
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The PK Girl",
    author : [ "Goodwin, Robert", "Nekono, Nanami", "Oya-G", "Trevillion, Helen" ],
    genre : [ "Romance", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Adrift",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/adrift/the_pk_girl/the_pk_girl.taf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/adrift/the_pk_girl.taf" ],
    review : "Exceptional ADRIFT game and the first to bring the platform to a wider audience, The PK Girl is a giant of a game in every sense of the word. The storyline may bear more than a passing resemblance to a corny 60's sci-fi show but the writing is top notch and the character interaction - rampant sexism aside - first rate. With eight possible endings available there is a considerable amount of replay value and the game itself is far too large for the player to see everything in a single session.    Few ADRIFT games use sound and graphics as extensively as The PK Girl which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference. Personally I found the graphics cute but unnecessary and the sound irritating, but as both can be turned off this wasn't really an issue.    The PK Girl is a benchmark by which future generations of ADRIFT games will be judged and, for the most part, be found wanting.",
    id : 1897
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Tookie's Song",
    author : "Knoch, Jessica",
    genre : "Alien Visitation",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/tookie/tookie.z5",
    id : 1934
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fort Aegea",
    author : "Bova, Francesco",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/ftaegea/ftaegea.z8",
    id : 1917
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Temple",
    author : "Berntsson, Johan",
    genre : "Lovecraftian",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/temple.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/temple/temple.z5" ],
    id : 1933
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Jane",
    author : "Grzesiak, Joseph",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/jane/jane.z5",
    review : "A serious, story-heavy look at the problem of domestic abuse.  Similar to Photopia in its basic design, this doesn't have much by way of puzzles, but presents a narrative from the viewpoint of several different player characters.  Reactions have been somewhat mixed, but this is a moderately effective piece despite the generic characterizations of the major players.  Not particularly light-hearted or fun.",
    id : 1921
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "MythTale",
    author : "Seikaiha, Temari",
    genre : "Mythological",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/mythtale/MythTale.z5",
    review : "This game spins around two tightly entwined themes - mythology of Ancient  Greece, and cats. It is done very solidly, with well-constructed puzzles,  and an interesting plot. Don't get irritated by the fact that this review's  tone isn't as expressive as it might have been - MythTale is definitely  worth playing; the thing is, I just prefer dogs;).",
    id : 1926
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Unraveling God",
    author : "Watson, Todd",
    genre : [ "Religious", "Afterlife", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Adrift",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/adrift/UnravelingGod11.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/adrift/unravel/unravel.taf" ],
    review : "Unraveling God offers some fairly strong writing, making use of narrative techniques -- a high degree of linearity, switches between scenes, and movement back and forth in time -- reminiscent of Photopia.  It manages to achieve some highly effective moments.    At other points, it slips into the ludicrous and/or preachy, relies on some tired cliches of science fiction morality and What Man Was Not Meant To Know, and ultimately forces an ending that is not entirely satisfactory.",
    id : 1898
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Augustine",
    author : "Koch, Terrence V.",
    genre : [ "Historical", "Travel" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/augustin/augustin.gam",
    id : 1905
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Identity Thief",
    author : "Shaw-Fuller, Rob",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/idthief/IDthief.z5",
    review : "A story of a high-tech burglar with surgically-implanted identity spoofing tools getting more than he bargained for.  One of the few self-proclaimed cyberpunk games to grasp the attitude and prose style of cyberpunk, rather than just the gadgetry.  Puzzles are mostly straightforward, although I sometimes had difficulty communicating what I wanted to do, partly because of the way the vocabulary is overloaded.  Short enough that the plot development felt a bit too fast to me, with some opportunity to miss things important to the story.",
    id : 1920
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Rent-A-Spy",
    author : "Eriksson, John",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/rentaspy/RentASpy.z8",
    id : 1929
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Eric's Gift",
    author : "Mendes, Joao",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/EricGift.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads3/ericgift/ericgift.t3" ],
    id : 1903
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Granite Book",
    author : "Mitchelhill, James",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/granite/granite.gam",
    review : "A decidedly strange game that runs mostly on atmosphere.  It's often creepy, with a first-person-plural player character (or set of characters?) and an environment suggestive of (maybe) some kind of ancient religion. Exactly what all the peculiar imagery means is a bit less clear.  At times the writing is quite evocative, but there are also points where it seems to go over the top.  The gameplay is likewise mixed, with one action in particular that is unnecessarily finicky about exact phrasing and behavior.  In the end, though, it's the strange imagery that sticks in one's memory.",
    id : 1910
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "When Help Collides",
    author : "Berry, J. D.",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Eastern", "Satire", "Western" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Help.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/help/help.z8" ],
    id : 1919
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Constraints",
    author : "Bays, Martin",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/constraints/constraints.z5",
    id : 1916
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Evacuate",
    author : "Rissman, Jeff",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/evacuate/Evacuate.gam",
    id : 1909
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Not Much Time",
    author : "Ibele, Tyson",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/nmtime/nmtime.gam",
    id : 1912
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Hell: A Comedy of Errors",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Afterlife",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/hell0/hell0.z5",
    review : "A potentially amusing game about creating tortures for damned souls, ruined by poor implementation of the central idea.  This is basically a simulation in which you, the demon, are given various torture devices and the ability to create new rooms in the map, and are then rewarded for torturing souls by a certain number of Penance points.  Unfortunately, there is very little feedback about why souls respond better to one torture than to another, which makes it hard to make any intelligent choices, or, really, to do anything other than select tortures at random and hope they'll be effective.  Quite a pity, because some rather elegant coding must have gone into this piece.",
    id : 1918
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Color and Number",
    author : "Kollmansberger, Steven",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/color/color.gam",
    id : 1906
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Out of the Study",
    author : "Raisanen, Anssi",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/alan/study/study.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/alan/study/study.acd", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/alan/study.zip" ],
    id : 1899
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "BOFH",
    author : "Sherman, Howard A.",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/bofh.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/bofh/bofh.z5" ],
    id : 1915
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Case of Samuel Gregor",
    author : "Hilderbrand, Stephen",
    genre : [ "Surreal", "Travel" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/samuelgregor/SamuelGregor.z5",
    review : "As the psychiatrist Mikalina Efros, you are entrusted with the search for your   patient, Samuel Gregors, who disappeared along with a set of secret plans.  In addition to an interesting gimmick, the game features a rather  well-developed setting (it seems the author had got a pretty clear picture of  the game world in his mind when he was working on it), and some nice bits of  characterization in descriptions. Unfortunately, the work haven't been  completed properly; while the story requires a lot interaction with NPCs, the  latter aren't always adequate (for instance, there's a teller who, according  to the game, is inanimate). Also, \"The Case of Samuel Gregors\" is a pretty  good illustration for the fact that a sloppily implemented menu-based  conversation system isn't any better than a shoddily implemented traditional  \"ask about/tell about\" system. You might find some of the puzzles a bit  obscure, especially in the beginning phase of the game; later on, the  gameplay becomes more directed - to a no small degree because of the gimmick  mentioned above. All in all, this work isn't flawless, and it's probably not  to everyone's taste, either; still, you should give it a try - it has certain  charm, and there is a reasonable chance you're going to like it.",
    id : 1930
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Party to Murder",
    author : "Good, David",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/adrift/aparty/aparty.taf",
    id : 1896
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Screen",
    author : "Floren, Edward",
    genre : "Screen",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/screen/screen.z5",
    review : "A brief and rather disjointed game which presents a couple of scenarios based on classic television series, embedded in a frame story that seems to have little to do with these interludes.  There are some fairly egregious typos.  One of the embedded scenarios also involves timing so tight that it would be hard for any player to solve it on the first (or perhaps even second) try.",
    id : 1931
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Concrete Paradise",
    author : "Ibele, Tyson",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/concrete/concrete.gam",
    review : "A peculiarly implausible and amoral tale of your imprisonment and subsequent escape from jail.  Solutions to the puzzles are generally telegraphed well in advance, which is just as well since you would be unable to figure them out logically.  The game world doesn't make much sense and the setting isn't very thoroughly fleshed out.  The coding does meet some basic level of competence, however, so it could be much worse.",
    id : 1907
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Scary House Amulet!",
    author : "Dague, Ricardo",
    genre : [ "Haunted  House", "Humor" ],
    year : 2002,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/shamulet/shamulet.z5",
    review : "This one makes quite an effort to look like an amateurish work, but honestly,  I don't believe it is; it rather appears to be a very competently done parody  on a badly implemented horror story. Thus, it features a set of puzzles one  might expect to encounter in this kind of game (including a maze, which,  however, isn't too cruel), oh-so-frightful characters, and exaggeratedly  tasteless text formatting. You may (and almost certainly will) have ambiguous  feelings about The Scary House Amulet; in any case, don't take it too  seriously - it doesn't seem as it was meant to be; in fact, I think it  represents one big joke.",
    id : 1932
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Coffee Quest II",
    author : "Solitude, Dog",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/cquest.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/cquest/cquest.gam" ],
    id : 1908
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Four Mile Island",
    author : "Charla, Chris",
    genre : "Espionage",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/basic/four/four.bas", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/basic/four/fourmile.bas.sit", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/basic/four/fourmile.exe" ],
    id : 1900
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Moonbase",
    author : "Eckardt, Mike",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/moonbase/moonbase.gam",
    id : 1911
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Koan",
    author : "Peuha, Esa",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/koan/koan.z5",
    review : "A one-concept puzzle with minimal implementation of rooms and objects.  There's nothing to play with, no story, and not much to do: either you get it, or you don't get it.  Points for austerity, I suppose, but not many for entertainment value.",
    id : 1923
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ramon and Jonathan",
    author : "Gewurz, Daniele A.",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/ramon/ramon.z5",
    id : 1928
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Terrible Lizards",
    author : [ "Mead, Alan", "Mead, Ian" ],
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/tads2/terrible/terrible.gam",
    id : 1913
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Blade Sentinel",
    author : "Georgostathis, Mihalis",
    genre : "Superhero",
    year : 2002,
    placement : "38",
    numplacement : 38,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/quest/blade/blade", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/sentinel.asl" ],
    id : 1902
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Constraints",
    author : "Bays, Martin",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2002,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2002/zcode/constraints/constraints.z5",
    id : 1916
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Slouching Towards Bedlam",
    author : [ "Ravipinto, Daniel", "Star Foster" ],
    year : 2003,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/slouch/slouch.z5",
    review : "A rich Victorian steam-punk setting, low-key but intriguing NPCs,  atmospheric prose, and a plot that gives the player an unusual amount of free choice: it's little wonder that this piece won the 2003 IF Competition by the healthiest margin ever.  There are a few elements of implementation which could have been smoother (and will probably be cleaned up in future releases), but the overall effect of the game is quite impressive, and it offers considerable replay value.",
    id : 2186
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Risorgimento Represso",
    author : "Coyne, Michael J.",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "Glulx" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/risorg/risorg.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/risorg.ulx", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/risorg.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/risorg_src.zip" ],
    review : "The premise is a silly and familiar one: through inexplicable magic, you, an ordinary person from our world, are drawn into a fantasy universe.      But this one plays out with an unusual degree of charm and humor, and an assortment of tough puzzles.  Some of these seemed underclued in the competition version, but may be better supported in the subsequent release.  Most are solid and well-designed, however.    Implementation is quite strong throughout, and there are several well-written NPCs.",
    id : 2153
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Scavenger",
    author : "Stone, Quintin",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Windows" ],
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/scavenger.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/scavenger.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/scavenger/scavenger.gam" ],
    review : "Set in a fairly cliche post-apocalyptic environment, but with very solid game-play and a decent story.  You are a scavenger seeking to recover some valuable items from before the holocaust, and are allowed to take your choice of equipment.  (Each choice, as far as I was able to tell, will make one puzzle easier to solve; none is wrong.)  That option, combined with multiple puzzle solutions and branching endings, adds a fair amount of replay value.  There are a couple of good scenes with NPCs, as well.  Overall, a strong work, not exactly experimental but making good use of existing techniques and ideas, with some old-school puzzles.",
    id : 2162
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Erudition Chamber",
    author : "Freas, Daniel",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/erudite/erudite.gam",
    id : 2163
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Gourmet",
    author : "Reed, Aaron",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/gourmet.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/gourmet/gourmet.z5" ],
    review : "In this fast-paced and funny game, you're a chef and restaurant owner trying to keep the kitchen running smoothly in order to impress an important reviewer.  A wonderful example of IF comedy with an element of slapstick (something that's very hard to pull off well).  The writing is also excellent, and the puzzles fit very well into the wacky storyline.    In the competition version there are some bugs especially towards the end of the game that make things harder and less fun.  Subsequent versions may be better.  Even with this flaw, though, the opening portion of the game is extremely entertaining and worth a playthrough.",
    id : 2156
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Shadows on the Mirror",
    author : "Tzavelas, Chrysoula",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads3/shadows/shadows.t3",
    id : 2178
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Recruit",
    author : "Sousa, Mike",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/recruit/recruit.gam",
    id : 2172
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Baluthar",
    author : "Chris Molloy Wischer",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/baluthar/baluthar.z5",
    review : "A specimen of the horror genre, which, however, rather will entertain you with good puzzles than send a chill down your spine.   Very solid, careful implementation, yet it left me with the feeling that something was missing. It resembled an average  albeit well-budgeted Hollywood movie: you'd never regret the time and money spent on it, but you hardly would remember it  too long, much less go watch it a second time. I'm aware I'm getting pretty subjective, though.",
    id : 2181
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Cerulean Stowaway",
    author : "Descheneaux, Roger",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/Stowaway.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/stowaway/stowaway.gam" ],
    id : 2173
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Atomic Heart",
    author : "Blixt, Stefan",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/atomicheart/atomicheart.z5",
    id : 2180
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Episode in the Life of an Artist",
    author : "Eastman, Peter",
    genre : [ "Zorkian", "Humor" ],
    year : 2003,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/artist/artist.gam",
    review : "In most respects a rather odd game -- set somewhere between real life and a surreal fantasy universe -- and the story seems to end just when one might have thought it was getting rolling.  The opening scenes, in which the protagonist gets ready for work, may also turn off some players with their basic mundanity.    The chief interesting thing about the game is the player character, who does not seem to perceive the world in the normal way; some reviewers characterized him as an autist.",
    id : 2159
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Paper Moon",
    author : "Krywaniuk, Andrew",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/papermoon/papermoon.z5",
    id : 2185
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sardoria",
    author : "Raisanen, Anssi",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/alan/sardoria.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/alan/sardoria/sardoria.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/alan/sardoria/sardoria.acd" ],
    id : 2155
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Caffeination",
    author : "Loegering, Michael",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/caffeination/caffeination.z5",
    id : 2160
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Temple of Kaos",
    author : "Peter Gambles",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/templeofkaos/templeofkaos.gam",
    id : 2174
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sophie's Adventure",
    author : "Whyld, David",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/adrift/sophie/sophie.taf",
    id : 2175
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Adoo's Stinky Story",
    author : "B. Perry",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Slice of life" ],
    year : 2003,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/adoo/adoo.z5",
    review : "The premise of this rather odd game is that you're a college student who has discovered your parents are planning to sell your beloved childhood home, and so to stop them you decide to make the house unsellable by setting off a massive stink bomb.      If you can accept that much, you probably won't have too many problems with the rest of the game, which continues along much the same lines.  It's not particularly a stand-out: the puzzles are mostly fine but not that memorable, and there are some clunky aspects to the implementation: certain objects that ought to be treated as scenery aren't, for instance.  There's some light harmless humor, though.  If you're in exactly the right mood and not feeling too demanding, this might entertain you.  ",
    id : 2179
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Domicile",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/domicile/domicile.z5",
    id : 2182
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Internal Documents",
    author : "Tom Lechner",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/internal/internal.z5",
    id : 2183
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sweet Dreams",
    author : "Papillon",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "Windows",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/windows/sweetdreams/sweetdreams.exe",
    id : 2188
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Adventures of the President of the United States",
    author : "Vuorinen, Mikko",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/alan/apus/apus.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/alan/apus/apus.acd" ],
    id : 2176
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "No Room",
    author : "Ben Heaton",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/noroom.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/noroom.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/noroom/noroom.z5" ],
    review : "The main idea behind this work was creating a game without even a single room definition. I've never coded in Inform, but from my TADS experience I can tell it must have been quite a feat. For players less versed in programming it's probably not as interesting; still, the only puzzle in the game (of the \"find a light source\" type) is worth the approx. 10 minutes it takes to solve it.",
    id : 2184
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Delvyn",
    author : "William A. Tilli",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/delvyn/delvyn.gam",
    id : 2171
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Little girl in the big world",
    author : "Peter Wendrich",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : [ "Windows", "HTML" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/windows/girlwrld/girlwrld.html", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/windows/girlwrld/girlwrld.exe" ],
    review : "A demo program illustrating the capabilities of the parser its author achieved to code. I'd rather refrain from calling this work a game, because it really isn't - the player just has got to dress, and to leave home. Thus,  it hardly is going to entertain you, or evoke strong emotions (except maybe  for the noble joy about the triumph of the human spirit that has found yet  another way to make this stupid piece of iron- and silicon-mongery understand  a basic set of commands). The parser itself seems to be adequate, though.",
    id : 2187
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Bio",
    author : "Linder, David",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/bio-v1/bio-v1.gam",
    review : "At least the competition version of this game is afflicted by some implementation problems, including an object in the starting room that is critical to winning the game, which is not named anywhere by the name the parser recognizes.  (The critical word is 'armoire'.)  The substance of the game would have to be fairly stunning to overcome these issues; unfortunately, it's not.",
    id : 2170
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Hercules First Labor",
    author : "Robert Carl Brown",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "HTML",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/html/herc1/herc1.html",
    review : "Yet another game using a non-standard (I prefer to use this term instead of  \"home-brewed\") parser, which, by the way, seems to be up to the task. In many  respects (e.g., descriptions, level of detail, puzzles, etc.) HFL resembles  old DOS adventures to be found at the Archive in masses. Compared to them, it  appears quite solidly done, although it hasn't got much kick; most of the modern players, however, will find it hopelessly outdated.",
    id : 2177
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Amnesia",
    author : "Rhodes, Dustin",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/tads2/amnesia/amnesia.gam",
    review : "At the very beginning, Amnesia claims to be made up on the spot. Judging by its quality (or, to be more precise,  by the lack of it), this might be true. The plot and puzzles are nonsensical, and the tissue of the story is   \"adorned\" with lots of misspellings and a few bugs. Sure, the game is spoofing itself, but here, in my opinion,   self-irony doesn't help much; in fact, it even fails to increase Amnesia's rating by a single star.",
    id : 2169
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Curse of Manorland",
    author : "James King",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "AGT",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/agt/curse/curse.agx",
    id : 2189
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Fat Lardo and the Rubber Ducky",
    author : "(unlisted)",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/zcode/lardo/lardo.z5",
    review : "The author uses his one-room game to scoff at a mentally handicapped person.  While, from the technical point of view, he demonstrates quite remarkable  writing and programming skills in doing so, the target choice for his jeer  seems inappropriate, to put it mildly. Thus, if things like, say, kicking  people who can't defend themselves in the teeth don't belong to your hobbies,  avoid this game at any rate.",
    id : 2161
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Rape, Pillage, Galore!",
    author : "Kirsfeldt, Kristian",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2003,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/windows/pig-rpg/pig-rpg.exe",
    review : "A parody on the RPG genre, with the set of verbs understood limited, for the player's convenience, to two commands -  \"slay\" and \"lay\". You definitely should have a look at it - while it isn't really a game, the joke is great   (although, judging by the results of the IF-competition, it didn't come across very well).",
    id : 2158
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sweet Dreams",
    author : "Papillon",
    year : 2003,
    platform : "Windows",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2003/windows/sweetdreams/sweetdreams.exe",
    id : 2188
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Luminous Horizon",
    author : "O'Brian, Paul",
    genre : "Superhero",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Glulx",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/glulx/eas3/eas3.blb",
    id : 2401
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Blue Chairs",
    author : "Klimas, Chris",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 5,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/bluechairs/bluechairs.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/bluechairs.z5" ],
    review : "My favourite game in IF-Competition 2004, Blue Chairs almost immediately won me over by a wonderfully surreal  (or, more precise, dream-like) atmosphere and setting. As it turned out later, they were combined with one of  the strongest stories I'd ever encountered in interactive fiction. On the other hand, it has been (deservedly,  it seems) criticized for somewhat obscure puzzles, so that someone could find enough reasons to take away a  star off its rating; someone - but not me.",
    id : 2396
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "All Things Devours",
    author : "half sick of shadows",
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/devours/devours.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/devours.inf", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/devours.z5" ],
    id : 2400
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sting of the Wasp",
    author : "Devlin, Jason",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/wasp/wasp.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/wasp.inf" ],
    id : 2392
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Square Circle",
    author : "Eve, Eric",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : [ "TADS", "TADS 3" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads3/squarecircle/SquareCircle.t3", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/SquareCircle.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/SquareCircleSrc.zip" ],
    id : 2390
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Orion Agenda",
    author : "Weisenberger, Ryan",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/orion.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/orion/orion.z5" ],
    id : 2375
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mingsheng",
    author : "Saunders, Deane",
    genre : "Eastern",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/mingsheng/mingsheng.z5",
    id : 2403
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Splashdown",
    author : "Furio, Paul J.",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/splashdown/Splashdown.z5",
    id : 2409
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Gamlet",
    author : "Pudlo, Tomasz",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/gamlet.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/gamlet/gamlet.z5" ],
    id : 2408
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Trading Punches",
    author : "Snyder, Mike",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Hugo",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/hugo/trading/trading.hex", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/hugo/trading.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/hugo/tpsource.zip" ],
    id : 2384
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Great Xavio",
    author : "Warner, Reese",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/GreatXavio.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/greatxavio/GreatXavio.z5" ],
    id : 2391
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Goose, Egg, Badger",
    author : "Rapp, Brian",
    genre : "Wordplay",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/geb/GEB.z5",
    id : 2402
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Big Scoop",
    author : "Berntsson, Johan",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/scoop/scoop.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/swedish/pangnyheten.z5" ],
    id : 2381
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "I Must Play",
    author : "Fortytwo, Geoff",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads3/imustplay/IMustPlay.t3", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/tads/IMustPlay.source.zip" ],
    id : 2374
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Identity",
    author : "Bernazzani, Dave",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/identity/identity.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/identity.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/identity.zip" ],
    review : "A decently-crafted short game in the crashed-spaceship genre.  The planet you're stranded on isn't all that alien, though: it's got primitive humans and at least one yak.  (Perhaps the \"Stellar Patrol\" is the same one as in Planetfall, with its mission of regaining contact with lost human colonies.)  The title is misleading: although you start the game with concussion-induced amnesia, your loss of identity is not central to the plot, which has more to do with finding out why the ship crashed and then arranging for a rescue.",
    id : 2386
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Murder at the Aero Club",
    author : "Wyatt, Penny",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/aeroclub/AeroClub.z5",
    review : "A mystery that made me dream of how wonderful our world would be if all criminals were like the murderer in this   game: their utter inability to hide or destroy crucial evidence would make the work of the police so trivial we'd  soon have them all locked in. Only one thing overshadows this idyll somewhat: the vision of Agatha Christie begging  on the church-porch. Speaking seriously, while Murder at the Aero Club certainly would fail entirely as a detective  story, it doesn't necessarily as a text adventure. Some of its aspects are quite amusing, and the puzzles are   logical, although not outstanding. Considering its shortness, this work could be put into the \"mildly recommended\"   category, although you certainly don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to beat it.",
    id : 2389
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Bellclap",
    author : "Herbert, Tommy",
    genre : "Religious",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/bellclap/bellclap.z5",
    id : 2379
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Magocracy",
    author : "Rheaume, Joseph",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/magocracy/magocracy.gam",
    id : 2398
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Typo!",
    author : [ "Lynn, Kevin", "Seebach, Peter" ],
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/typo/typo.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/typo.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/typosrc.tgz" ],
    id : 2380
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Kurusu City",
    author : "Venzke, Kevin",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/kurusu/kurusu.gam",
    review : "If there still were authoring systems' divisions in the IF Competition, Kurusu City would have won the one for TADS 2   games easily (the fact that the rivals were unusually weak in 2004 is a different thing, and certainly not the fault  of the reviewed work). As Miki Maeda, a teenage girl, you bid defiance to the robots governing your home city. The  overall light-hearted atmosphere of the game resembles that of the well-known Interstate Zero by Adam Cadre, and the   town is inhabited by lots of young female NPCs. You're going to encounter enough good puzzles, although the game is somewhat  disbalanced in this respect - in particular, the final puzzle provides for an anti-culmination. Besides, Kurusu   City is a good deal longer than two hours, which shouldn't stop you from giving it a try outside the Comp.",
    id : 2395
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Blink",
    author : "Waddell, Ian",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/blink/blink.z5",
    review : "Blink clearly has been conceived as an antiwar piece, but the overall effect is pretty weak. The reasons for that are the paper-thin implementation, but mostly the fact the author seems to know only roughly what he wants to say. Although the game has almost no puzzles, there's at least one spot to get you stuck.",
    id : 2382
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Chronicle Play Torn",
    author : "Attila, Penczer",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/torn/torn.z5",
    id : 2378
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Day In The Life Of A Superhero",
    author : "Whyld, David",
    genre : [ "Humor", "Superhero" ],
    year : 2004,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/adrift/hero/hero.taf",
    id : 2377
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Order",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/order00/order00.z5",
    id : 2388
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Who Created That Monster?",
    author : "Horvath, N. B.",
    genre : "Humor",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/whocreated/whocreated.gam",
    review : "A mystery taking place in \"post-Hussein\" Iraq of a more or less distant future; however, the scenery   is so cliched and inexpressive, and does affect the gameplay so little it could be almost any time   and any country. If amateurish attempts of writing about a topic the author doesn't understand a thing   about don't annoy you as much as they do annoy me, there are chances you're going to like this game; however, speaking   objectively, its puzzles aren't the strongest ones, either.",
    id : 2404
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Blue Sky",
    author : "Fugal, Hans",
    genre : "Travel",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/bluesky/bluesky.z5",
    id : 2393
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Realm",
    author : "Sheldon, Michael",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/realm/realm.gam",
    id : 2394
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Redeye",
    author : "Pitchers, John",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 3,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/redeye/redeye.gam",
    review : "A nice sketch of Australian solitude turns, as the story develops, into a rather stereotyped mystery.  Besides, personally, I'd prefer if the author spared at least a part of the efforts he invested into  fancy text formatting and other visual effects for a more detailed implementation of the game world,  better animated characters, and the removal of small glitches in the game. Still, a few samples of  apt characterisation made it worth playing for me.",
    id : 2387
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Stack Overflow",
    author : "Shatrov, Timofei",
    genre : [ "Alien Visitation", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2004,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 2,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/stack/stack.z5",
    review : "In spite of its many flaws, this work has got potential: making the players repeatedly getting out of a room   with seemingly no exits - only to find themselves trapped again in a slightly modified version of it - could result,   if done properly, in a stylish and atmospheric game, which, among other things, would justify its title.   Unfortunately, instead of consequently following this way, the author seemed to be carried away by   \"embellishments\", burying a basically good idea under piles of underimplemented areas and obscure puzzles. Also,  Stack Overflow has been criticized harshly for bad English, but I'd rather leave that to native speakers.",
    id : 2405
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Zero",
    author : "William A. Tilli",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/zero/zero.gam",
    id : 2399
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Zero One",
    author : "Plant, Edward",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/alan/01/01.dat", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/alan/01/01.acd" ],
    id : 2385
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Light's Tale",
    author : "Flynn, Zach",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/lighttale/LightTale.gam",
    id : 2383
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Getting Back to Sleep",
    author : "Evans, Patrick",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : ".NET",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/windows/exige/Exige.exe",
    id : 2376
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ruined Robots",
    author : [ "Dudek, Gregory", "Dudek, Natasha", "Dudek, Nicholas" ],
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/ruinedrobots/ruinedRobots.gam",
    id : 2406
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "PTBAD3",
    author : "Berman, Jonathan",
    genre : "Surreal",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/tads2/ptbad3/PTBAD3.gam",
    id : 2397
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ninja",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    genre : "Eastern",
    year : 2004,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/ninja.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/ninja.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/windows/ninja/ninja.bas", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/windows/ninja/ninja.exe" ],
    review : "A very short game, with the main challenge of making the parser understand what you actually mean.  The bad quality of this work might be deliberate; however, even if it was, this fact wouldn't add   anything to the game's charm (or its rating, for that matter).",
    id : 2407
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Gamlet",
    author : "Pudlo, Tomasz",
    year : 2004,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/gamlet.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2004/zcode/gamlet/gamlet.z5" ],
    id : 2408
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Vespers",
    author : "Devlin, Jason",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/vespers.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/vespers/vespers.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/inform/vespers.inf" ],
    id : 2860
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Beyond",
    author : [ "Grassi, Roberto", "Lucchesi, Paolo", "Peretti, Alessandro" ],
    year : 2005,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : [ "Z-code", "Glulx" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/glulx/beyond/beyond.blb", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/glulx/beyond/beyond.z8", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/Beyond.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/Beyond.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Beyond_txt.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/Beyond.exe" ],
    id : 2817
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A New Life",
    author : "Muniz, A O",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/goblin/goblin.z5",
    review : "A game with a very thoroughly worked out world and a fancy plot (in fact, so fancy I had troubles   following it). Features quite a few (sometimes rather obscure) puzzles, and several paths to   play through. All in all, it reminds of a commercial RPG series with a more or less long-standing  story full of cobwebs only true fans could find their way through. Fortunately, the similarity   doesn't end just here, and also includes the overall \"quality of finish and polish\".",
    id : 2846
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Distress",
    author : "Snyder, Mike",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Hugo",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/hugo/distress/distress.hex", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/source/hugo/dist_src.zip" ],
    id : 2821
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Tough Beans",
    author : "Dee, Sara",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/toughbeans/ToughBeans.z5",
    id : 2858
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Colour Pink",
    author : "Street, Robert",
    genre : "Space Exploration",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/pink/pink.z8",
    id : 2853
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Unforgotten",
    author : "Pan, Quintin",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/unforgotten/unforgotten.z5",
    review : "A game with an interesting plot about clairvoyants and attempts of their military application, a     \"non-standard\" romantic strand, logical puzzles... To put it short - it has everything to make it     outstanding, and, although it didn't \"grapple\" me enough for a top rating, it gets its four stars     with a considerable reserve.",
    id : 2859
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Snatches",
    author : "Weir, Gregory",
    genre : "Horror",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/snatches/snatches.z5",
    id : 2855
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Chancellor",
    author : "Venzke, Kevin",
    genre : [ "Fantasy", "Surreal" ],
    year : 2005,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/chancel/chancel.gam",
    id : 2823
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Internal Vigilance",
    author : "Christiansen, Simon",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/vigilance/vigilance.z5",
    id : 2861
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Escape to New York",
    author : "Otter, Richard",
    genre : "Historical",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/adrift/escape/escape.taf",
    id : 2811
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mortality",
    author : "Whyld, David",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    platform : "Adrift",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/adrift/mortality/mortality.taf",
    review : "After taking a job of a bodyguard for the beautiful wife of the old millionaire Gamble, you fall in  love with her; together, you work out a plan of killing her husband and your employer - but whose  plan is it, after all?..  A plot-oriented game without any puzzles, but with mystic elements. Unfortunately, I couldn't  reach an optimal ending - neither the first time, as I played it on my own, nor for the second one,  as I resorted to the enclosed walkthrough. Maybe I've just chosen the wrong option somewhere, but,  to be honest, I've just hadn't the patience to check it. Anyway, the critical decision points seem to be hidden very carefully; those of them that should have affected the outcome of the game, for some  reason have not.",
    id : 2812
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "History Repeating",
    author : [ "Choba, Mark", "Choba, Renee" ],
    genre : "Time Travel",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/history/history.z5",
    id : 2848
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Vendetta",
    author : "Hall, James",
    genre : [ "Espionage", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 2005,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/adrift/vendetta/Vendetta.taf",
    id : 2815
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Son of a...",
    author : "Woodrow, C. S.",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    platform : "Z-code",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/soa/SOA.z5",
    review : "Another variation on a classic text adventure theme. Your car has broken down on some dreary spot,   not far away from an abandoned hotel. Your goal is to get out of there. The author hasn't taken any  risks by complicating the plot with elements of the horror genre (like axe-armed maniacs, etc.)  that suggest themselves for such a setting. As a result, the game turns out to be quite solid and     without any \"crimes\" against good taste; yet, on the other hand, it's not very memorable.",
    id : 2856
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Gilded",
    author : "Evans, John",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/gilded/gilded.gam",
    id : 2824
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Xen: The Contest",
    author : "Shlasko, Ian",
    genre : [ "Collegiate", "Science Fiction" ],
    year : 2005,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/xtcontest/xtcontest.gam",
    review : "The game has one of the strongest plots in IF-Competition 2005. However, the  impact of the game is to a no small degree diminished by a not thorough enough  implementation, as well as by repeated driving the player through lengthy  sequences of mundane and obvious actions (for instance, in the early stages  of the game, the PC has to go to the cafeteria every day, stand there in  line, order his food, and pay for it at the cash desk). Still, it has plenty  of atmosphere, and the characters are sketched out nicely, although they are -  well, underimplemented. I'd like to repeat it - personally for me, the story  of Xen: The Contest made up for most game design flaws; still, I'm aware it  might be not to everyone's taste.",
    id : 2827
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mix Tape",
    author : "Witty, Brett",
    genre : "Slice of life",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads3/mix_tape/mix_tape.t3",
    review : "A very good love story; however, it looks like static fiction converted to IF  in such a way that, if the player comes off the prescribed path, the game  doesn't really know what to do about it. This shows through in parts of the  setting not being implemented properly, and in NPCs acting dummy-like in  unforeseen situations. At one point, the game progress depends on guessing a  pretty obscure command. Still, if you like love stories, you should  definitely give it a try.",
    id : 2828
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Waldo's Pie",
    author : "Arnaud, Michael",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    platform : "Alan",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/alan/waldo/waldo.a3c",
    id : 2816
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Off the Trolley",
    author : "Kaldi, Krisztian",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    platform : "TADS",
    bafrating : 4,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/offthetrolley/offthetrolley.gam",
    review : "This story of a promenade trolley driver who has become  mad will probably most attract those who love  puzzles, for there are pretty many of them, they are pretty logical, and are pretty well linked   together. Unfortunately, the efforts of solving them won't be rewarded adequately - the ending   proves to be pretty lame.",
    id : 2825
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Psyche's Lament",
    author : [ "Sichi, John", "Sichi, Lara" ],
    genre : "Mythological",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/psyche/psyche.z5",
    id : 2854
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Plague - Redux",
    author : "Moore, Laurence",
    genre : "Zombie",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/adrift/plague/The", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/Plague", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/-", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/Redux.taf" ],
    id : 2813
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sabotage on the Century Cauldron",
    author : "de Graaff, Thomas",
    genre : "Science Fiction",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    platform : [ "TADS", "Windows" ],
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/sabotage.gam", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/pc/sabotage.exe", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/sabotage/sabotage.gam" ],
    id : 2826
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "On Optimism",
    author : "Lane, Tim",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/onoptimism/OnOptimism.z5",
    id : 2851
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Space Horror I",
    author : "Jerry",
    genre : "Alien Visitation",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    platform : "HTML",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/windows/space/space.exe",
    id : 2831
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Cheiron",
    author : [ "Clelland, Sarah", "Polli, Elisabeth" ],
    genre : "Educational",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "Glulx",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/glulx/cheiron/cheiron.blb",
    id : 2818
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Neon Nirvana",
    author : "Woods, Tony",
    genre : "Mystery",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/neon_nirvana/neon_nirvana.z8",
    id : 2850
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Sword of Malice",
    author : "Panuccio, Anthony",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/swordofmalice/SwordOfMalice.z5",
    id : 2857
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Dreary Lands",
    author : "Lee, Paul",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/dreary/dreary.z5",
    id : 2832
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Hello Sword",
    author : "Rezzonico, Andrea",
    genre : "Fantasy",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/hs_eng/hs_eng.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/HelloSword.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/hs_eng/hs_ita.z5", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/HelloSword.zip" ],
    id : 2849
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Phantom: Caverns of the Killer",
    author : "coker, brandon",
    genre : "Cave crawl",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/phantom/Phantom.z5",
    id : 2852
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Amissville II",
    author : "(unlisted)",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    platform : "TADS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/tads2/am2/am2.gam",
    id : 2822
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "FutureGame",
    author : "(unlisted)",
    genre : "Joke",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/zcode/futuregame/FutureGame.z5",
    review : "Ideologically, this is a remake of Rape, Pillage, Galore, an entry in the IF-Competition     2003, yet the original has been stripped to the bare essential. This, combined with the fact it's a   repeated joke, makes it no fun at all.",
    id : 2847
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Jesus of Nazareth",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    genre : "Religious",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/windows/jesus/jesus.exe",
    id : 2829
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "PTBAD6.5: The URL That Didn't Work or Have You Seen the Muffin Man?  He Is Quite Large",
    author : "Berman, Jonathan",
    genre : "Joke",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    platform : "Adrift",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/adrift/ptbad/ptbad.taf",
    review : "A work that can call itself an anti-game pleno jure. As such, it's OK; unfortunately, the genre has     already been explored thoroughly enough as long ago as 1995 by Neil deMause in his Undo.",
    id : 2814
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ninja II",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    genre : "Eastern",
    year : 2005,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    platform : "MS-DOS",
    bafrating : 1,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2005/windows/ninja2/ninja2.exe",
    review : "This is essentially the same Ninja game entered a year before, which the author expanded by exactly one     puzzle (however, it didn't improve things in any way). It's arguable whether it was a legal entry  for the IF-Competition, since its rules admit newly released games only; however, considering the  ranks both Ninja and Ninja II earned in the Comp, this argument is mostly of purely theoretical  interest.",
    id : 2830
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Floatpoint",
    author : "Short, Emily",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "1",
    numplacement : 1,
    platform : "Glulx",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/glulx/floatpoint/Floatpoint.zblorb",
    id : 2941
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Primrose Path",
    author : "Bonvouloir, Nolan",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "2",
    numplacement : 2,
    id : 2942
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Elysium Enigma",
    author : "Eve, Eric",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "3",
    numplacement : 3,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    url : [ "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/tads/Elysium.zip", "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/tads3/elysium/Elysium.t3" ],
    id : 2943
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Traveling Swordsman",
    author : "Snyder, Mike",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "4",
    numplacement : 4,
    platform : "Hugo",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/hugo/tales_ts/tales_ts.hex",
    id : 2944
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Moon-Shaped",
    author : "Ermer, Jason",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "5",
    numplacement : 5,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/zcode/moon-shaped/Moon-Shaped.z8",
    id : 2945
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Delightful Wallpaper",
    author : "Plotkin, Andrew",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "6",
    numplacement : 6,
    id : 2946
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Legion",
    author : "Devlin, Jason",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "7",
    numplacement : 7,
    id : 2947
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Madam Spider's Web",
    author : "Dee, Sara",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "8",
    numplacement : 8,
    id : 2948
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Mobius",
    author : "Clemens, John",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "9",
    numplacement : 9,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/zcode/mobius/Mobius.zblorb",
    id : 2949
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Unauthorized Termination",
    author : "Otter, Richard",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "10",
    numplacement : 10,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/adrift/unauthorized/unauthorized.taf",
    id : 2950
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Game Producer!",
    author : "Bergman, Jason",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "11",
    numplacement : 11,
    platform : "Z-code",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/zcode/producer/producer.z5",
    id : 2951
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Sisters",
    author : "revgiblet",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "12",
    numplacement : 12,
    id : 2952
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Star City",
    author : "Sachs, Mark",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "13",
    numplacement : 13,
    id : 2953
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Strange Geometries",
    author : "Chambers, Phillip",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "14",
    numplacement : 14,
    id : 2954
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Tower of the Elephant",
    author : "Andersson, Torbjörn",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "15",
    numplacement : 15,
    id : 2955
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Aunts and Butlers",
    author : "Johnson, Robin Douglas",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "16",
    numplacement : 16,
    id : 2956
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Xen: The Hunt",
    author : "Shlasko, Ian",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "17",
    numplacement : 17,
    id : 2957
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Labyrinth",
    author : "Preuninger, Samantha Casanova",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "18",
    numplacement : 18,
    id : 2958
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Requiem",
    author : "Whyld, David",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "19",
    numplacement : 19,
    platform : "Adrift",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/adrift/requiem/requiem.taf",
    id : 2960
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Carmen Devine: Supernatural Troubleshooter",
    author : "Myall, Rob",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "20",
    numplacement : 20,
    id : 2961
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Bible Retold",
    author : [ "Celestianpower", "Morgan, Justin" ],
    year : 2006,
    placement : "21",
    numplacement : 21,
    id : 2962
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Another Goddamn Escape the Locked Room Game",
    author : "Conner, Riff",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "22",
    numplacement : 22,
    id : 2963
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fight or Flight",
    author : "Krauss, Sean",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "23",
    numplacement : 23,
    id : 2964
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "MANALIVE, A Mystery of Madness - I",
    author : "Powell, Bill",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "24",
    numplacement : 24,
    id : 2965
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Hedge",
    author : "Richards, Steven",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "25",
    numplacement : 25,
    id : 2966
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "A Broken Man",
    author : "Fortytwo, Geoff",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "26",
    numplacement : 26,
    platform : "TADS 3",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/tads3/abrokenman/ABrokenMan.t3",
    id : 2967
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Polendina",
    author : "Lewis, Christopher",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "27",
    numplacement : 27,
    id : 2968
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Initial State",
    author : "Barton, Matt",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "28",
    numplacement : 28,
    id : 2969
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "MANALIVE, A Mystery of Madness - II",
    author : "Powell, Bill",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "29",
    numplacement : 29,
    id : 2970
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Pathfinder",
    author : "Woods, Tony",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "30",
    numplacement : 30,
    id : 2971
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "The Apocalypse Clock",
    author : "GlorbWare",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "31",
    numplacement : 31,
    id : 2972
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Wumpus Run",
    author : "Elfindor",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "32",
    numplacement : 32,
    id : 2973
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Ballymun Adventure",
    author : "Cribbin, Brendan",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "33",
    numplacement : 33,
    id : 2974
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Tentellian Island",
    author : "Wood, Zack",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "34",
    numplacement : 34,
    id : 2975
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Lawn of Love",
    author : "Santoonie Corporation",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "35",
    numplacement : 35,
    id : 2976
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Beam",
    author : "Eddy, Madrone",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "36",
    numplacement : 36,
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/quest/beam/Beam_1_10.cas",
    id : 2977
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Enter the Dark",
    author : "Shushmaruk, Peter R.",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "37",
    numplacement : 37,
    id : 2978
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Green Falls",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "38",
    numplacement : 38,
    id : 2979
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Sisyphus",
    author : "Koutz, Theo",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "39",
    numplacement : 39,
    id : 2980
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Visocica",
    author : "Koutz, Theo",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "39",
    numplacement : 39,
    platform : "Windows",
    url : "http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/competition2006/windows/visocica/Visocica.zip",
    id : 2981
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Simple Adventure",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "41",
    numplacement : 41,
    id : 2982
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "Fetter's Grim",
    author : "Panks, Paul Allen",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "42",
    numplacement : 42,
    id : 2983
  },
  { type : "Game",
    label : "PTGOOD 8*10^23",
    author : "Malvolio, Sartre",
    year : 2006,
    placement : "43",
    numplacement : 43,
    id : 2984
  }
  ]
}