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 2026 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: The game Pandora's Legacy, a jigsaw puzzle/tabletop escape game, played but reset like new, donated by Sarah Willson. Only available for shipping within the US
- #4: The game LISA: The Painful by Dingaling Productions, as a Steam or Humble key; donated by Mike Kleine
- #5: The game Dead Island 2 + Dead Island 2 - Expansion Pass by Dambuster Studios, as a Steam or Humble key; donated by Mike Kleine
- #6: The game Vampire Survivors by poncle, as a Steam or Humble key; donated by Mike Kleine
- #7: The game Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons by Secret Base, as a Steam or Humble key; donated by Mike Kleine
- #8: The game Trepang2 by Trepang Studios, as a Steam or Humble key; donated by Mike Kleine
- #9: An issue of Indiepocalypse of your choice. (Requires itch account). Two copies of this prize, offered by Dawn Sueoka
- #10: The game Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition as a Humble key; donated by merooo zerooo
- #11: The game Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and the DLC season pass for Pathfinder: Kingmaker as a Humble key; donated by merooo zerooo
- #12: The game Encounter: A 8-Bit Adventure as a Steam key; Two copies of this prize, donated by Mickael Pointier
- #13: Editing of text, up to 7,500 words, or about 30 pages double-spaced + 1 hour Zoom discussion of your writing. This can be a developmental edit or a line edit, depending on where you are in the stage of your project. This can be either for a game or for a traditional story. (I have an MFA in fiction writing, have worked in communications, and have published professionally.) Offered by Gina Rodriguez.
- #14: A handbound book by iaraya, either blank or printed by the donor, from size A5 to A9 (examples shown here). Donate by iaraya
- #15: A yellow kazoo to allow a decorated Spring Thing prize winner to humm around a favourite tune when celebrating the victory. Donated by Senica Interactive Fiction Team.
- #16: A custom soundtrack, composed of around 6 minutes of music, for one of the IF works entered into Spring Thing 2026 by the recipient. Donated by FLACRabbit.
- #17: 3 sessions (each of 3 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
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.