I am sorry, if the subject has come up before, but i cant seem to find anything.
Anyway;
What good and beginner friendly games would you recommend?
Just completed Lost pig, now that was a blast:-)
Great. Thanks.
I actually saw that site earlier, but when I saw Adventure on the list, I thought the rest of the game were to “advanced” too:-)
We try to distinguish the games on that page using tags…
Yeah, and if I only would open my sleepy eyes, I would have read the description of “The dreamhold”:
“The Dreamhold is a tutorial game. It’s designed for people who have never played IF before. It introduces the common commands and mindset of text adventures, one step at a time. There’s an extensive help system describing standard IF commands, as well as dynamic hints which pop up whenever you seem to be stuck.”
and had not bothered people with my silly questions:-)
Oh well, everyone was a noob at some point, I guess.
Thanks anyway.
There’s also a poll at the IFDB that you might want to check out:
ifdb.tads.org/poll?id=memavsp06v1oc571
Oh thanks again Tove:-)
Seems like I will be entertained for a loong time now.
don’t like this list
galatea will turn you off if forever faster than michael moore devoures a hamburger 
Why not? Which games don’t you like? Why don’t you feel they’re good games for beginners?
Turn you off what? IF? Conversation-based IF? Character-centric fiction? And why will it? Because it’s badly done? Pretentious? Simplistic? Over-ambitious? In defiance of all conventions? Not fun? Too much fun?
Your posts require more substance if you’re going to say things like that.
not fun, not interesting in the slightest (talking to a statue? how about talking to a PERSON 
), not even a game (more like a tech demo)
I mean what impact do you think it would have on a first-time player? I really don’t need to write an essay about why Galatea is not newbie introduction material.
the most important reason though is that it won awards.
I’ve nothing against Emily Short though, she has put out way better games
The whole point of the story is that Galatea does not have to be just a statue, she can be a person if you choose to treat her that way. Insofar as an IF game ever presents a “person” for interaction, Galatea is far more human than most. The detail about her being a living statue in a museum is window dressing, and very clever if you ask me; it adds a more overt layer to this whole “what is art and what is human” issue the game addresses. You can choose to treat her as a piece of artwork (every other human in the game does) … or you can treat her like a person, which gives much more interesting results. Kinda like real life, actually.
It’s a one-room game and it’s mostly conversation based, but the game is interactive, and it does have a backstory, characters, and a plot with multiple endings. It’s even got gently timed puzzles, if you will. You can also do more than just talk to Galatea (read the game instructions).
The impact it had on me was to make me say, “Holy shit, IF is a lot more than wandering around in caves looking for treasures, solving obscure puzzles, and getting eaten by grues. I need to find more of this stuff.”
This is a point so inane that I really don’t know where to begin with it. Love the eyeroll, though! Adds depth and authenticity to your lack of an argument!
These are not mutually exclusive categories.
You really don’t, because you’d be wrong. I’ve heard more enthusiastic first-time player stories about Galatea than about any other IF game. (Lost Pig might narrowly beat it out; I dunno.) Just yesterday I met a guy who unexpectedly turned out to be a newish IF player, and who had introduced non-gamers to Galatea with success. You may not particularly like it, but that doesn’t make you representative of new players in general.
photopia had that very impact on me.
yeah I really don’t care about your no-argument nonsense, go talk to statues (or walls) all you want
I think he already is.
What a coincidence.
ok, enough playing with the trolls
/ignore
What a coincidence.
[rant]I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t pass it up.[/rant]
So getting back to the topic of newbie games…
I strongly recommend Bronze for new players. Firstly, its tutorial mode is explicitly designed for a first-time player. Secondly, its gameplay is not too different from Zork (i.e. it’s not a one-room game, relatively little conversation, and otherwise not too “weird”), but it has plenty of modern niceties (GO TO a room, FIND an object, THINK ABOUT an object (glorified examine), and a few others I’ve forgotten) and a modern design (e.g. no maze of twisty little passages, IIRC zarf-polite or -merciful). Overall it’s a fairly “normal” modern work of IF, but quite compatible with an inexperienced user.
Just one warning: there are multiple endings, and you need to advance multiple goals to get the “best” ending; if you complete one goal and the rest aren’t far advanced enough, the game will end.