Looking ahead in the new year I was thinking about the different ways we can publish IF today: desktop, web, mobile, free, commercial, hosted, self-published…we’re blessed with many options. I started to summarize them and realized there was no way I could know all the ins and outs of the many IF platforms, and so this post springeth forth.
I’d like to know where to upload your game, how you can sell your game both self-published and hosted, etcetera. However I’m not planning to cover any of the competitions here, for now at least. This is definitely a work in progress so all comments gratefully accepted!
[size=120]This thread is about how to publish your game. So you’ve written some IF. Now what?
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[size=150]Community[/size]
[size=130]IFDB[/size]
[size=130]IFWiki[/size]
[size=150]Platforms[/size]
[size=130]Twine[/size]
desktop: via browser
web:
- self-hosted
- twinery.org/wiki/#publishing_your_work
- textadventures.co.uk
mobile: PhoneGap?
[size=130]Undum[/size]
desktop: via browser
web:
- self-hosted
- textadventures.co.uk (?)
mobile: PhoneGap?
[size=130]Quest[/size]
desktop: Windows
web:
- textadventures.co.uk
- self-hosted via Quest->JS converter (open source MIT license), github.com/textadventures/quest
mobile: DIY PhoneGap conversion or £200 per platform to iOS, Android, Windows Phone via PhoneGap.
[size=130]Inklewriter[/size]
desktop: no
web:
- free hosted
mobile: £5 conversion to Kindle
[size=130]TADS[/size]
desktop: yes
web:
- self-hosted server
- tads.io free hosted server
mobile: Son of Hunky Punk, etc.
[size=130]Inform[/size] (see also inform-fiction.org/)
desktop: yes
web:
- self-hosted
- free hosted iplayif.com/
mobile: - iOS and Android via iFrotz, Son of Hunky Punk, etc.
- native iOS converter:
- github.com/erkyrath/iosfizmo/ (Z-code)
- github.com/erkyrath/iosglulxe/ (Glulx)
[size=130]Choice of Games[/size]
desktop: via browser
web:
- self-hosted
- hosted (see below)
mobile: iOS, Android, Kindle Fire (see below)
CoG will host your game, if it passes their approval process, under one of two labels. “Hosted Games” works receive a 25% royalty. “Choice of Games” works are work-for-hire and receive $10,000, see choiceofgames.com/looking-for-writers/
[size=130]StoryNexus[/size]
desktop: no
web:
- hosted (see below)
mobile: no
Failbetter Games will host your work for free; if you add in-game purchases you get about 60% revenue share. See docs.google.com/document/d/1dQg … Qbygc/edit
[size=130]ChooseYourStory[/size]
desktop: no
web: hosted
mobile: no
[size=150]Self-publishing[/size] (will not work with all platforms)
[size=130]itch.io[/size]
[size=130]Patreon[/size]
[size=130]The Big List of Payment Processors[/size]
[size=130]Gumroad[/size]
[size=150]Magazines[/size]