WordPlay 2014 was our second year at the palatial Toronto Reference Library, attracting over 150 folks interested in writerly games.  Here Keith McNally is introducing…

…Andrew Plotkin, the Boston-based interactive fiction luminary who discussed his new game Hadean Lands.  (Stream intro, talk & q&a / Download mp3)

Coffee! A Misunderstanding was very well received, with both “puppets” and “drivers” from the audience performed an interactive play designed by Deirdra “Squinky” Kiai.

We showcased 25 of the most interesting writerly games — this one requires the players to write on their body. Another Porpentine game was debuted for the first time ever, catch a clip of the audience playing it here.

After ChoiceScript was demoed by Jason Stevan Hill, Aaron Reed (pictured above), gamemaker and author of Creating Interactive Fiction With Inform 7, did a great 15 minute tool demo of Inform 7. Texture, a touchscreen friendly interactive fiction writing tool, was released at WordPlay.

The creators of Dungeons of Fayte did a great talk about the accidental and intentional narrative aspects of their cult jam game. In their introduction, Miguel Sternberg and Damian Sommer coined the term “Faytelike”.

And our closing ceremony included our first awards, with WordPlay juror D. F. McCourt being aided by envelope rippers Randal Ball, Will O’Neill, Sarah Chu and Alexandre Parizeau.