Frotz 9+
Interactive Fiction Adventures
Craig Smith
Designed for iPad
-
- Free
Screenshots
Description
[*Warning* Playing Frotz involves reading, thinking, and typing. If you just want to blow stuff up, this is not the app for you!]
Burned out on all the new-fangled graphics and dazzling eye candy on your shiny new iPhone or iPad? Nostalgic for a simpler time? Then take advantage of those crisp high-resolution fonts to relive the glory days of the Great Underground Empire, or play any of hundreds of great works from the Interactive Fiction archive.
Frotz lets you play hundreds of free works of Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. text adventure games) on your iPhone or iPad.
Frotz plays titles written in the Z-Machine format (which was invented by Infocom and was used to produce classic text adventures from the 80s such as the Zork Trilogy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Trinity), as well as glulx and TADS formats.
In the past couple of decades, text adventures have experienced a renaissance of sorts due to the efforts of a diverse Internet community of talented interactive fiction writers and fans. Many of these games are written using the same engine that powered Infocom's titles, thanks to the Inform compiler and authoring system created by Graham Nelson.
NOTE! If you have suggestions for improving Frotz or encounter bugs, please go to the support link and report them.
Frotz for iOS - Interactive Fiction at Your Fingertips
What’s New
Version 1.8.8
- Fixed arrow key support for Bluetooth keyboards
New in 1.8.7:
- Better support for Unicode/non-Latin alphabet stories.
- Updated to git glulx interpreter version 1.3.7 (conforming to Glulx VM standard 3.1.3.)
- New IFDB search options, updated search URLs and built-in bookmarks.
- Dropbox API update, sync improvements.
- Option to swap text/background colors in color picker.
- Improved handling of ZIP file downloads from IFDB: you can now select which stories to install.
- Enable 'iTunes File sharing: supported story files and saved games dragged into Frotz will be automatically installed.
- Restored keyboard long-press hide/lock functionality.
- Other bug fixes/minor UI tweaks.
Ratings and Reviews
The best
I am under the age of 20 meaning I wasn’t even alive during the age of interactive fiction when Infocom was actually a company. Yet most video games today don’t offer the player the random and sporadic thinking required to win, making those games boring and repetitive. I love reading as well and can’t get enough of a good story. When I discovered interactive fiction it satisfied both of those desires. So many of these games are extremely challenging and hold a unique story that always has something unique. These games take a lot of time and effort however this is the best app in the App Store I’ve ever had.
Wonderful app that could use a couple small updates
First off, let me say that Frotz has given me hours of enjoyment delving into so many different worlds created by the IF authors, and I’m so grateful to be able to experience all the creativity through it. There’s only two minor things keeping me from giving it a full five stars, one of which is lately there’s been a bug when I download a game it shows in my library, but with a stock image icon instead of the game’s own icon. This seems to happen when the game is in a zip file. The other thing is that I’d like to have a way to sort through games in the library other than the search bar, preferably a folder system that you can drop games into (make them your own based on type, progress, etc.)
Aside from that, this app is wonderful, and keep up the good work!
Fun to play, functional, some improvements can be made.
I have enjoyed Frotz for the most part. My only complaint is that many games are intended to be played with specific features that are not included here. For instance: The Dreamhold is intended to have a built in map that develops as you explore, which is not included. This made the game more difficult, however, I was able to finish (with some help from the interweb). Another example: Photopia is intended to be played with multicolor text which is not included here. I have not played much Photopia yet, so I'm not sure how this will affect gameplay. My experience has been that these problems make the games convenient, but never impossible. As for praise: I have had nothing but fun playing the games here, and the app moves smoothly. The catalog of games is very impressive and I can't wait to play them all!
App Privacy
The developer, Craig Smith, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Usage Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Craig Smith
- Size
- 47.7 MB
- Category
- Games
- Compatibility
-
- iPhone
- Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 11.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
- Mac
- Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
-
English
- Age Rating
- 9+ Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Copyright
- © 2008-2023 Craig Smith
- Price
- Free