Interactive Fiction · Notes from the House
Text Adventure Guides
Guides to text adventure and interactive fiction games — what to play in 2026, browser games with no download, mobile picks, mysteries and how to start.
August 2026
Text Adventure Games: The Complete Guide
What text adventure games are, the full history from 1976, the 1980s mystery boom, Stugan, Zork vs modern games, and why the genre is popular again in 2026.
Read “Text Adventure Games: The Complete Guide” →August 2026
Text Based Games: What They Are and What to Play
Parser vs choice-based explained, browser games with no download, phone play, free classics — and eight text based games worth opening tonight.
Read “Text Based Games: What They Are and What to Play” →August 2026
Best Interactive Fiction Games to Play in 2026
Ten of the best interactive fiction games compared by style, length, price and device — mysteries, horror, wordplay, free classics and short one-sitting picks.
Read “Best Interactive Fiction Games to Play in 2026” →August 2026
Horror and Mystery Text Adventures to Play in the Dark
Ten horror, haunted house, psychological and detective text adventures compared by dread, length, price and device — from PARANOID to Anchorhead and Deadline.
Read “Horror and Mystery Text Adventures to Play in the Dark” →September 2026
Best Mystery Text Adventure Games
Ten mystery text adventures compared by case, length, price and device — real deduction, contradictory testimony and endings that judge you.
Read “Best Mystery Text Adventure Games” →September 2026
Choose Your Own Adventure Games for Adults
Branching stories written for grown-up readers: ten picks compared by tone, length, price and device — consequence instead of content warnings.
Read “Choose Your Own Adventure Games for Adults” →September 2026
Indie Horror Games You Read Instead of Watch
Ten text-based indie horror games compared by dread, length, price and device — what counts as indie horror, why words scare harder than pixels, and where to find them on itch.io, IFDB and IFComp.
Read “Indie Horror Games You Read Instead of Watch” →August 2026
How to Play Text Adventure Games (Full Command List)
Every command a parser understands, movement, save and undo, how to read a room, what to type when you are stuck, and how text adventures differ from visual novels.
Read “How to Play Text Adventure Games (Full Command List)” →August 2026
PARANOID Game Guide: Synopsis, How to Play & FAQ
A complete guide to PARANOID, the browser-based text adventure mystery: what the story is, how the parser works, how long it takes, what it costs and how to start playing.
Read “PARANOID Game Guide: Synopsis, How to Play & FAQ” →August 2026
PARANOID Review: A Spoiler-Free Synopsis of the Mystery Game
What PARANOID actually is before you buy: story setup, length, parser, price, platforms and who it suits — with no spoilers.
Read “PARANOID Review: A Spoiler-Free Synopsis of the Mystery Game” →July 2026
The Origin of PARANOID: From Radio Drama to Interactive Fiction
How a 2013 movie-script idea became a radio drama and, more than a decade later, a browser-based interactive fiction mystery.
Read “The Origin of PARANOID: From Radio Drama to Interactive Fiction” →July 2026
PARANOID vs. AI Dungeon: Authored Story or Generated Sandbox?
A feature-by-feature comparison of AI Dungeon and PARANOID — world memory, pacing, cost and payoff — for players who want story-driven text adventures.
Read “PARANOID vs. AI Dungeon: Authored Story or Generated Sandbox?” →July 2026
How to Create a Text Adventure Game (Step by Step)
Eight steps from blank page to a playable browser game — choosing an engine, mapping rooms, writing parser-friendly prose, testing with real players and publishing.
Read “How to Create a Text Adventure Game (Step by Step)” →