(drawing by J. Robinson Wheeler)

"...a tight, brilliantly coded piece. It's not just the best game in the comp, it's one of the most important games written in years."
Emily Short

"...best 'in media res' beginning I've seen in an IF game yet."
Lucian P. Smith

"...positively the most brilliant IF game I have ever played."
Kristian Andresen

"There are moments that made me completely forget about the real world, and focus entirely on what was happening in the game. In short: you must play this game."
Jess Knoch

SLOUCHING TOWARDS BEDLAM
1st Place, 2003 Interactive Fiction Competition
Winner, Best Game, Best Story, Best Setting, Best Individual NPC; Finalist, Best Writing, Best NPCs, Best Individual PC, Best Use of Medium in the 2003 XYZZY Awards

In the beginning was the Word, and it was hungry.

Enter a steampunk adventure set in a London that might have been. The year is 1885. Bedlam Hospital still stands in Moorsfield, a decaying shell used to house the poor and the hopeless. Steam-driven mechanical wonders roam the streets. Gear-wheeled analytical engines spin out reams of thought onto punched paper tapes.

And in the darkness - in the alleys and the side shops - hide secrets.

Written with Star C. Foster for the 9th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, SLOUCHING TOWARDS BEDLAM faces you with a mystery that could change the very nature of mankind - and leaves the decision in your hands.

Available for download as a Z5 game file - requires a Z-Code interpreter, such as Gargoyle.