Put up a (much briefer than usual) recommendation for 9:05 on Play This Thing!
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Put up a (much briefer than usual) recommendation for 9:05 on Play This Thing!
Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling 
Huh, my reaction to “Enlightenment” was “that’s kind of in-jokey, is that really the sort of thing we want to push on IF newbies? Next you’ll be recommending 9:05!!!!!”.
Admittedly, I think “anyone interested in interactive fiction” was probably meant to not target newbies, but… rar.
I recommended Enlightenment because I think it works even without the in-jokes, and because it seemed particularly appropriate for the kinds of things that the JIG crowd like: minimum mapping, lots of object interaction, responses to lots of peripheral actions, built-in hints, humor.
The feedback suggests that I partly misjudged, but not about the in-jokiness: negative responses are mostly to the fact that the hints have a bit of a sarcastic flavor, whereas new players especially at a place like JIG want the game to be as friendly as possible; and to the fact that there is no explicit introduction to IF commands built into the game.
Now, 9:05, on the other hand, I recommended for two reasons: (1) someone on PTT had requested that it be covered; (2) I’ve heard of a number of people trying and liking it relatively early in their IF careers, because it maintains a clear goal throughout and feels accessible and then they are entertained by the way it turns out.
Damn, that game is old. I’ve read about it long ago, so the surprise was half-spoiled for me. Nice trick nonetheless.
Apparently, JiG decided to try this too — the comments suggest that at least some of the players are finding it amusing even without a lot of IF experience. So, um, there. Or something.
Anyway, yay more JiG IF.