Hunter, in Darkness

"Hunter, in Darkness" is a 1999 interactive fiction game by Andrew Plotkin, written in Inform. It won the "Best Individual Puzzle" and "Best Setting" categories in the 1999 XYZZY Awards, and came in eighth overall in the 1999 Interactive Fiction Competition.

The game is inspired by Gregory Yob's seminal 1972 computer game "Hunt the Wumpus". As in "Hunt the Wumpus", the player's goal is to locate and defeat the titular beast within its cave. However, "Hunter, in Darkness" emphasizes the setting, describing the cave in much greater detail than the earlier work.

Plotkin states in the "About" section of the game:

"This game was conceived of and fully outlined in early June of 1999."

And it was, too. All that discussion of compassless games, and mazes, andwhether "Hunt the Wumpus" was really IF, made me giggle. I already had this onthe drawing board. I didn't start any of that discussion, either -- although Icontributed a few comments that I knew would turn out relevant.

The game features an experimental system of movement, being one of the few Interactive Fiction games where mapping is neither necessary nor useful. Instead of typing compass directions, players move between locations by following clues in their surroundings, such as sounds and locations of objects.

References

*cite web | author=Muckenhoupt, Carl and Duncan Stevens | year=2000 | title=Hunter, in Darkness | url=http://wurb.com/if/game/483 | work= [http://wurb.com/if/index Baf's Guide to the Interactive Fiction Archive] | accessdate=February 20 | accessyear=2006
*cite web | author=Stevens, Duncan | year=2000 | title=Hunter, in Darkness | url=http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/h.html#hunter | work= [http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/index.html SPAG: Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games] | accessdate=August 12 | accessyear=2008

External Links

* [http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Hunter,_in_Darkness Hunter, in Darkness at IfWiki]
* [http://www.ifiction.org/games/play.php?game=336&mode=html Play Hunter, in Darkness online] at ifiction.org