The IF Archive
Every interactive fiction file anyone thought worth keeping since 1992, in a directory listing that has never once been redesigned.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
The IF Archive sits in Text Adventures under Play, filed as rabbit hole.
- Open it when the evening is free. It has no natural stopping point.
- Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- No account needed — you can start without signing up.
- Go in expecting something nostalgic and brainy.
About this category: Interactive fiction, MUDs and choose-your-path stories. Some are forty years old and still better written than most things released this year.
Good for
- A long evening with nothing planned
- A trip back to the older internet
- Giving your brain a workout
- A quiet break at your desk
- Trying it with zero commitment
The IF Archive: quick answers
Is The IF Archive free?
Yes. The IF Archive is free to use and needs no account.
Do I need an account to use The IF Archive?
No. You can use The IF Archive without signing up for anything.
Does The IF Archive work on a phone?
Not well. We file The IF Archive as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.
Is The IF Archive safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does The IF Archive take?
We file it as "Rabbit hole": Clear your evening. We warned you.
More in Text Adventures
All 17 in Text AdventuresThe listing that has catalogued live text MUDs since 1994, and still tells you which of them have people logged in tonight.
- 10 min
- Desktop
The tool behind half the interactive fiction of the past decade, running in the browser and learnable in about twenty minutes.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Starts as one button beside a dying fire and quietly becomes something much larger. Best played without reading anything about it first.
- 1 hr+
Enormous free MUD with hundreds of areas and a browser client, so you can be killed by a wandering mob without installing anything.
- 1 hr+
- Desktop
Same mood: nostalgic
All nostalgic sitesCoin-operated arcade cabinets from the seventies onward, emulated in a tab, attract mode and all.
- 10 min
- Sound on
- Desktop
A student sold a million pixels of advertising at a dollar each in 2005. The mosaic is still up, and most of the links now go nowhere.
- 2 min
- Desktop
A proxy that serves archived pages as period browsers expected them, so a 1998 machine can still get online and see 1998.
A hand-maintained index of free books online, run out of Penn since before search engines were any good.
- 10 min
Keep exploring
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