Digital Literature Annotated Reading List
Electronic Literature Collection
New Media Writing Prize (open "archive" to see all works)
Itch.io (home page)
Itch.io (Twine Games)
Itch.io (The Bitsy Essay Jam)
National Film Board of Canada Interactive
The New River Journal (open "archive" to see past works)
The interactive fiction competition
Your task is help build our list of works, including hyperlinks, brief summaries, stars, and tags. As our list grows, we can begin to organize the material differently.
Here's an example:
A Vast and Lonely Desert by Gavin G. See
In this Bitsy game, we travel through vast, empty spaces with a friend making our way through the desert toward a campfire and star gazing. The work is about friendship, grief, and poetry with a western vibe. It's sparse and powerfully moving precisely because of its sparseness.
Info: made in 2020; serious game; authoring tool: Bitsy; on the Electronic Literature Collection, vol 4 and itch.io
tags: spatiality, navigation, orientation, friendship, loss, LGBTQ
[entry posted by k.kelly]
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Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing by bun-tired and Shabbysparrow
This interactive Itch.io game is set up on a shepherd’s dilemma of finding his lost sheep. The shepherd has to find his way through a maze and solve puzzles to open locked doors as he gathers his lost sheep. Along the way, the shepherd fights with sheep that seems to be possessed by another entity, who is later discovered to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The saying of “wolves in sheep’s clothing” usually describes someone who looks innocent in appearance but not in personality; however, the second ending to this game may give the player another insight into this infamous quote.
Info: released in 2023; itch.io
Tags: Narrative, Puzzle, Maze, Pixel Art, Retro, Short, Singleplayer, Cute, 2D
[entry posted by b.lu]
Six Cats Under by Team Bean Loop and Mosu
In this game, the main character dies, but could not let go of her six cats that were still trapped in the house. Hence, she becomes a ghost and uses her poltergeist powers around the house to gain the attention of her cats. The player would interact with the house to see which places the ghost could disturb and help the cats open the front door to escape.
Info: released in 2020; itch.io
Tags: Narrative, Puzzle, Cats, Relaxing, Ghosts, Pixel Art, Short, Singleplayer, Cute, 2D
[entry posted by b.lu]
Misplaced by Calliope
In this game, the player is the child of a noble family who has been serving the crown for generations. The human kingdom has been fighting against creatures called fae which live in the surrounding lands. You have been training for years to become a knight and you are chosen for the position. But then you discover that you are a changeling, which is a fae child smuggled into a human family. A war between humans and fae is about to start and you have to prevent it.
Info: released in 2022; itch.io (twine games)
Tags: narrative, fantasy, romance, interactive, single player, whimsical
[entry posted by s.munukutla]
Space Frog by npckc
The player takes the form of a frog going into space. You take a spaceship with the goal of collecting a star. The player can determine what planets the frog stops on, how he interacts with the creatures there, and if he ends up with a star. This is a much more lighthearted and silly game than the other ones we've played before.
Info: released in 2020; itch.io (twine games)
Tags: narrative, adventure, space, interactive, single player, short
[entry posted by s.munukutla]
Unolingo by The Coding Sloth
This game is based on Duolingo, except it is a horror version. The game owner created Duo to be a murderer. It is created in response to many viral memes that made Duo the owl turn crazy. While playing this game, one can sequences through various horror acts committed by DUO.
Info: made in 2020; horror game, itchi.io
tags: horror, languages, dark, scary
Desktop Goose by Sam Person
This game is playable on your computer background screen. It is downloadable to your desktop. Then, one can move their goose through piles of leaves.
Info: made in 2022; itchi.io
tags: fun, desktop, animal
Tavern Crawler by CogsAndSpanners
In Tavern Crawler, you are tasked to go kill a dragon. However, once the deed is done, the story begins. Explore new towns, foster relationship with your party members, boost your stats and uncover mysteries in this RPG made entirely in Twine.
Info: Published in 2020, itch.io, Twine
Tags: medieval, fantasy, RPG, text-based, comedy
[entry posted by a.holden]
CLINT IS NOT AN INCEL: A WORD ON FATNESS AND MASCULINITY by Ian Martin
This Bitsy Essay explores stereotypes involving fatness, ugliness, incels and masculinity. The player will read about the nature of these stereotypes and how they impact those who are affected by them. The game also discusses Cint from Stardew Valley as a representation for the stereotypes the game is messaging against.
Info: Published in 2022, Bitsy Essay Jam Submission
Tags: masculinity, negative stereotypes, incel
[entry posted by a.holden]
You Are Jeff Bezos by Kris Lorischild (itch.io) by Kris Lorischild
This interactive game puts you into the shoes of billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. The central idea is to spend his money in ways that are beneficial to society. This includes things like building libraries, repairing Puerto Rico, ending homelessness, etc. The game is clearly a commentary on the absorbent, and what they claim is immoral, amount of money that billionaires possess. And, how this money could be better used to improve society.
Info: Published in 2018, itch.io, Twine
Tags: Role Playing, Comedy, Horror, Simulation, Twine
[entry posted by c.malcolm]
make sure it's closed by corpsepile (itch.io) by corpsepile
This is a short first person game about a simple task, closing a garage door. The author says that this task used to scare them as a child and that's what inspired the game. The garage door struggles to close because of some technological issue and there is a frightening ending.
Info: Published in 2019, itch.io, Twine
Tags: Horror, Creepy, Low Poly, Minimalist
[entry posted by c.malcolm]
Doki Doki Literature Club by Team Salvato (published on Steam)
This is a anime-infused visual novel that takes place in 1st person perspective. You are a good-for-nothing high school male who is invited by your childhood friend to join the literature club that she's in. Writing and sharing poetry and attending the club after school every day brings you closer to the other girls in the club. Your choice of words to write in your poetry affects your relationships with each of them, and your choices of what you do and say, even more. The consequences that follow are disturbing, enough to require "This game is not suited for children or those who are easily disturbed."
Info: Published in 2017, Steam
Tags: Visual novel, High School, Dating sim, Psychological horror, Anime
[entry posted by t.engquist]
Your Phone Dies in 20 Seconds by Crimson Arcade (itch.io)
This is a timed game where you must choose what to do with your phone's limited charge going home from work as you are being followed by someone. If you decide to dial a number, you have limited time to say what you have to say to make sure you get home safe.
Info: Published in June 2020, itch.io, Twine
Tags: Horror, Meaningful choices, Short
[entry posted by t.engquist]
24 years of sleepless nights (itch.io) by Gallus
This is a bitsy game which tells the story of a character suffering from insomnia. As the player traverses the characters house as well as their dreams, the player learns some of the struggles and hardships of insomnia. The game begins with the character teaching the player the keys to a good sleep. As the game progresses the character shifts to discussing how none of this has worked for them and the problems associated with a lack of sleep. The story concludes in a succinct and brief way as the character simply states that they should, "get some sleep". The game teaches the player about the issues associated with a lack of sleep as well as how to prevent these issues in an entertaining and creative way.
Info: Published November 21, 2020, itch.io, Bitsy Essay Jam Submission
Tags: narrative, interactive
[entry posted by b.wilhelmsen]
The Temple of No (itch.io) by Dominik Johann and William Pugh
This game, made in twine, allows player is able to choose several different paths and stories to progress through. For my play through Charles explored the jungle finding a map that grants him infinite wisdom. This rather simple plot is meant to be ironic criticizing twine games in a satirical sense for being simple, repetitive, and boring. The game concludes by saying, "Have you ever played a twine game that was really fun, not just fun for a twine game.". The satirical sense of the game points fun at most twine games by criticizing their basic and at times unentertaining aspects.
Info: Published in 2016, twine
Tags: adventure
[entry posted by b.wilhelmsen]
Go to Bed (itch.io) by Joseph Mularczyk
This is a game in which to player has to go to bed. This sounds simple, but there are certain tasks that the player has to complete before going to bed or the player will lose. This can make players relate to when they have a feeling that there is something that they have not done while laying in bed, or the anxiety of forgetting may lead to a horrific result. The tasks include locking the door, closing the window, and setting the home alarm system. There are multiple scenarios where the player has to complete these tasks, and the scenarios become more creepy and frightening. If the player forgets a task before officially going to bed, an intruder will break in. This game can show what some people feel could happen if they do not do the right thing, and this leads to ainxiety about it. The last scenario is a lot more outlandish, but a lot more frightening. It seems to be more of a horror scenario to spice up the game.
Info: Published in 2023, itch.io
Tags: creepy, first-person, psychological horror
[entry posted by e.durkee]
Please Answer Carefully by Litrouke
This game take style of a survey. The questions start out very normal, but they gradually shift to be more personal and specific. It is revealed that the survey is really method of communication between two parties of an estranged relationship.
Info: Published in 2023, itch.io
Tags: horror, text bases, twine
[entry posted by e.durkee]
OMORI by OMOCAT(Published on Steam)
This is a role-playing game where you play as a young boy traversing through altered versions of your memories as well as in real life to discover and choose whether to overcome the truth you find within. It uses RPG elements to emphasize moments where you have agency and where you do not, and the strategy that comes with using emotions as weapons is a fun concept to play through the game with. This game discusses mature topics, so player discretion is advised.
Info: Published in 2020 on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Mac operating systems.
Tags: Indie game, Role-playing video game, Adventure game
[entry posted by i.ladipo]
Twelve Minutes by Luís António(Published on Steam)
This is a third-person game where you play as a man stuck in a time loop, trying to stop the police from arresting your wife. As you repeat the dreadful cycle over and over again, you could learn how to protect the love of your life, or you might learn some more mysterious things...
This game discusses mature topics, so player discretion is advised.
Info: Published in 2021 on Android, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Mac operating systems.
Tags: Adventure game, Indie game, Puzzle
[entry posted by i.ladipo]
Horse Master: The Game of Horse Mastery by Tom McHenry (itch.io)
In this game your job is to take care of a horse-like creature. Your goal in the game is to win the Horse Master Tournament. As you go, you make some decisions that change the health and performance of the horse. You are presented with some challenges and have to navigate through them to have your horse succeed. Your choices also can affect your relationship with your horse.
Info: Released on HTML 5 on itch.io made with Twine.
Tags: Horses, Text based, Twine
[entry posted by i.muravchik]
Cozy Cafe by EmsterGoose (itch.io)
In this game, you have the role of being an owner of a café that has to manage the café. You make choices as you go on that affect the storyline leading to different endings. The point of the game is to create a cozy environment for the player, the gameplay is meant to be relaxing, and the graphics are fun. It acts as a peaceful escape.
Info: Released on HTML 5 on itch.io made with Twine.
Tags: 3D, Atmospheric, Cozy, Cute, Low-poly, Meaningful Choices, Narrative, Singleplayer, Story Rich
[entry posted by i.muravchik]
Stanley Parable by Galactic Cafe (Published on Steam)
A first-person game in which you embark on a journey in the office alongside the narrator. Stuck in an office cubicle, you realize that your co-workers have gone missing, but what if you opt not to investigate your circumstances? This game aims to challenge the player's obedience, moral dilemmas, and agency. Will you let the narrator dictate you or succumb to the power of your own free will?
Info: Published in 2013; Steam
Tags: Comedy, Narration, Indie, Walking Simulator, First-Person, Psychological, Adventure
[entry posted by r.lapurga]
Detroit: Become Human by Quantic Dream (Published on Steam)
What happens if we live with machines that can imitate humanity and grow to become more intelligent? This third-person game explores three characters as they face inequality from humans in Detroit. You're given multiple choices that lead to consequences (good and bad) and various endings. The purpose of this game is to immerse and test the perspective of players. This raises the awareness of prejudice and racism, but instead of race, it's between robots and humans.
Info: Published on June 2020, Steam
Tags: Choices Matter, Story Rich, Multiple Endings, Cinematic, Singleplayer, Emotional, Adventure, Sci-fi
[entry posted by r.lapurga]
Moves Away by Tropical Games(itch.io)
Moves Away is a psychological horror. The story is told from the perspective of Dave, an ordinary man who bought an auto repair shop. The story is about Dave who decided to move to a new place. Having bought an abandoned plot, he built a car repair shop. He had no idea how this would turn out for him. He felt like he was not welcome.
Info: Published in 2024, on Itch.io
Tags: 3D, Atmospheric, Creepy, First-Person, Horror, Psychological Horror, Retro, Short, Singleplayer, Unity
[entry posted by j.lee]
ClanGen by just-some-cat on Tumblr
ClanGen is a game that lets you generate a Clan and then follow their story as it unfolds, perhaps influencing some of their decisions along the way. With, quite literally, millions of unique cat appearances to generate, multiple biomes and camps to live within, and hundreds of events to discover, ClanGen is full of possibilities
Info: Published in 2023, on Itch.io
Tags: Cats, clan-gen, clangen, Fangame, Open Source, warrior, warriors
[entry posted by j.lee]
But You Seem Fine by KJAM(Itch.io)
But You Seem Fine is a game that puts players into the shoes of a 14 year old who has an invisible illness. You play along her story as her mother tries to find a cure to the disease that she has. There are multiple endings.
Info: Published in 2023 on itch.io
Tags: 2D, Coming of Age, Meaningful Choices, Story Rich
[entry posted by m.paterra]
Discomfort Zone by Alex Tomokow (itch.io)
Discomfort Zone is a serious game that's goal is to make the game not fun for the player at first. The game talks about things like depression and self harm as the player navigates through a 2D pixel world. The goal of the game is to bring more representation to things like self harm and self depreciating thoughts.
Info: Published in 2018 on itch.io
Tags: Bitsy, Pixelated, Trigger Warning, Dark, Happy Ending, Coming of Age
[entry posted by m.paterra]
A Witch's Word by RainbowStarbird (itch.io)
A Witch's Word is a choose-your-own-ending adventure game in which the player must navigate the treacherous dating world to find a husband after having sold their firstborn to a witch to save their mother's life. Regardless of which of the 3 love interests are chosen, a "better" ending is always offered, and a plot twist is uncovered once all possible endings are exhausted. The game teaches users about the power of forgiveness, the value of friendship, and that sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected of places.
Info: Published in 2018 on itch.io
Tags: Cute, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, LGBT, Minimalist, Multiple Endings, Romance, Text based, Twine
[entry posted by k.jaiswal]
Sentience by st.sleepy (itch.io)
Sentience is a narrative game in which the player is the main character in a post-apocalyptic world led by a fanatical group known as "The Religious." Having lost her memory a few years back, she works alongside her friend for a living but is slowly pulled into the mysterious underbelly of the world she lives in. The readers' choices do not have a significant impact on the story's ending, but there is a much deeper meaning to this interactive story. It addresses extremist beliefs and shows a different perspective on the happenings of our current world (in a dramatized way). It also allows users to introspect and consider the "cult-like" mindset of our government and religions that have otherwise been normalized as well as aims to teach important lessons about trust, emotion, and what it means to be human.
Info: Published in 2024 on itch.io
Tags: Fantasy, Horror, LGBTQIA, Sci-fi, Story Rich, Twine
[entry posted by k.jaiswal]
Can Your Pet? by GameAde
Can Your Pet is a short game where the player is role-plays as a care-taker of chick. The player is given options to groom the pet by dressing them and bathing them. They can also feed the chick and give it a ball to play with. However, the last option you can click on and the only way to end the game is to click on the "bicycle" option. However, the player quickly finds out that the "bicycle" is actually an upside down shredder and they have literally canned their pet. This game makes players understand where their food comes from and convinces some people to either eat less meat or no meat at all.
Info: Published in 2010
Tags: Short, Educational, Chicken Games, Animal Games
[entry posted by s.chandrasekaran]
Care by Gwen C.Katz in 2022 (itch.io)
Care is a short interactive game where the player has a friend in the game who is toxic. The player is given options to go through the town and explore their old home and their surroundings. Through exploring, the player will realize that they have lost a lot of things due to their "friend", like their pictures, contacts on their phone, their paintings, and more. In some endings, the player also loses their childhood home due to the friend. Overall, this game teaches the player how to detect toxic relationships and how hard it can be to get out of them.
Info: Published in 2022 on itch.io
Tags: 2D, artgame, Atmospheric, Dark, Hand-drawn, Narrative, Point&click, serious-game, Short, Story Rich
[entry posted by s.chandrasekaran]