Books and Other Resources

There are relatively few (physical) books intended for authors of interactive fiction, especially considering that it’s a relatively niche community. There are some print-on-demand manuals and many online design articles available (see the sidebar), and I have also reviewed a few books aimed at a broader audience that might be of use to IF authors.

A few worth mentioning that I have not reviewed more fully elsewhere (this list may change as I discover new books or write up longer descriptions of works that are already on it):

• Gaming Hacks contains some Inform tips and code from Adam Cadre and Andrew Plotkin
• Twisty Little Passages is not a how-to guide to writing IF, but it contains a history of the medium and some theory about what makes IF work, which may be of interest to authors; the only book on this list wholly devoted to interactive fiction
• First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. A somewhat more theoretical precursor to Second Person and perhaps offering less insight into craft. Nonetheless, First Person does contain some interesting material, including an article by Nick Montfort on approaches to interactive fiction.