What is Interactive Fiction?

One of the oldest genres of computer games is Interactive Fiction, or "IF". The 1980’s game player launched the game from a 3.5” floppy disk slipped into the drive of an early personal computer, such as an Apple II or a Commodore 64. A page or more of text describing the fictional story’s background and minimal clues for the player’s first challenge introduced the game. Using simple sentences at the command prompt, the player would type instructions for the computer and receive immediate feedback based on their decision and command. Every player’s game was different and was determined by their own choices, actions, puzzle solutions, and careful reading. These Interactive Fiction games, also known as “IF’s”, offered a new challenges for the experienced novel fanatic. More importantly to educators, it inspired reluctant readers and writers to engage in these skills interactively. Having been one of those reluctant readers myself, who experienced Interactive Fiction in my preteen years; I understand the impact of interactive texts on my own literacy.

Why Use IF In a Classroom?

Through the game play of programs such as Infocom’s Wishbringer and the original text-version of Oregon Trail by MECC, I began to enjoy reading, writing, and dramatically changed the way I perceived “reading time” in school. As a middle school teacher, I see my students struggling with many of the same reading difficulties that I had at their age; inferences, sequencing, attention to detail, and critical thinking. Reflecting on this media that has been outdated only by aesthetics, but not its functionality, I now have chosen to utilize the game Wishbringer in the classroom to challenge and inspire my students in reading and writing skills, as it once did for me.

While designing the lesson for my class, I was surprised at the amount of literature and actual IF gaming is still going on in the world. In addition to the primary player audience, many researchers have published supporting materials for educators. A study conducted by Brendan Desilets (1999) reports that about 70% of the students preferred to study IF texts, in part because "it challenges them to recognize and solve problems in ways that no textbook seems to be able to match" (¶8) In an earlier report (1989), he describes scenes from IFs, such as "Planetfall" and "Wishbringer," and evaluates the problem-solving strategies of middle-school students playing IF in class. The fundamental part of an IF is the puzzle set. The puzzles create the interactivity which motivates the reader to achieve a solution. On IF puzzles, Marnie Doe, author of "An IFFY Theory", explains the following:

"Solving puzzles reveals new information: information that would not have become available unless the player collaborated in untangling a game's knotty problems. Sometimes this information can almost seem to form out of thin air, giving the impression that it would not have sprung into existence at all, i.e., been created, unless the player "connected the dots" in an apparently new and inspired way. The player's resulting sense of discovery and mastery, emulating a real-life eureka!, combining both insight and achievement, is the hallmark of puzzles and games, especially computer games. It is no wonder they are so seductive."

In addition, she is currently studying the relation between various personality types and specific tasks of an IF player. This interesting data can be found on her site Appendix, "Interactive Personality Types Cross -Indexed with IF Structures."

on her site. It is clear to see that there are an expansive amount of educational benefits that can be derived from playing interative fiction games.

Since introducing this Interactive Fiction to my class, I have been pleased with the results and collaborated with our Special Education Reading teacher to fine-tune the activities and maximize our results. It is now being implemented in both of our classrooms and has inspired many students to continue IFs even from home. Eventually, I even created an upload/download site for my students to transfer their Wishbringer game files to and from home! Many have gone on to other IFs available free on the Internet. The students who were once only impressed by games with the “best graphics”, now enthusiastically engage in these text-only interactives and even some multiplayer IFs. We are excited to see this and hope you will benefit from the success of using Interactive Fiction in the classroom as well.