Prizes have always been a fun part of IF events. Rather than give numerical rankings and tiered prizes, we like to do something different: gather interesting, useful, quirky, or funny prizes into a general pool. When the festival closes, authors will rank prizes in order of desirability, and our resident PrizeBot will do its best to pair prizes and authors. (Depending on the number of prizes and entrants, not everyone may receive a prize.) Being awarded a ribbon does not change your chance of receiving a prize.
The prizes donated for the 2025 festival so far are:
- #1: The game Choice of Robots, as a Steam key, donated by Brian Rushton
- #2: The game Never Gives Up Her Dead -- Commercial Version, emailed directly, donated by Brian Rushton
- #3: Choose Your Own Adventure #49: Danger at Anchor Mine, donated by Sarah Willson
- #4: The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, donated by Sarah Willson
- #5: A handbound book by iaraya, either blank or printed by the donor, from size A6 to A9 (examples shown here). Donate by iaraya
- #6: An illustration of up to 3 of your game’s characters interacting with each other, donated by Aster Fialla @pieartsy. Portfolio
- #7: A physical “Spring Thing” fabric badge, designed to be sewn onto clothing. Offered by Senica Thing Team.
- #8: An issue of Indiepocalypse of your choice. (Requires itch account). Two copies of this prize, offered by Dawn Sueoka
- #9: One itch.io key for Hadean Lands, donated by Vivian Rose
- #10: 12 hours of QA work for a game of the winner's choice, assessing potential bugs at design stage and doing bug hunting/bug fix verification. Donated by Loressa
- #11: A 1 year voucher to articy:draft X, the narrative design tool that has been used to create staple games such as Broken Roads, The Talos Principle 2, Disco Elysium and more. Donated by articy Software.
- #12: The game 1000xResist, as a Steam key, donated by Autumn Chen
- #13: One copy of The Quantum Contingent, delivered via Amazon gifting as an e-book, offered by Gregory Simpson, the author. Only in countries that allow Amazon gifting.
- #14: One copy of Quantum Time, delivered via Amazon gifting as an e-book, offered by Gregory Simpson, the author. Only in countries that allow Amazon gifting.
- #15: One copy of A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Ralph Koster, paperback bopy of the 10th anniversary second edition, offered by Vivienne Dunstan.
- #16: A poem about a topic of the prize-winner’s choosing (reserving the right to ask for another topic if the prize-giver can’t do the suggested topic). Donated by Aster Fialla. Poem samples.
- #17: An analysis of the thematic puzzles in a game of your choice that you created (Note: must be a game with puzzles that you think support the themes of your story. Must be alright with an honest critique.) More explanation of what a thematic puzzle is here: Narrascope 2023 slides. Donated by Aster Fialla.
- #18: Three copies of Leadlight Gamma, delivered as itch keys. For PC, Mac, and iOS (via iFrotz). Donated by Wade Clarke.
If you're interested in donating a prize, you are an excellent person, and you should please contact the organizer. Need ideas for prizes? Check out the prize list for past Things (such as ’23 or ’22), or look at the current or past prize lists for IF Comp.
Keep in mind that part of your prize donation, if it's a physical item, is the cost of shipping it to the recipient, who may be from a different country than you. Delivery of prizes won't happen until after the festival closes in May. Please prioritize prize donations you think an interactive fiction fan would be excited to receive.