The amateur text adventure competition IFComp 2026 has announced its winners, and first place goes to SCAVS by David Hunter, a choice-based sci-fi game with parser-style open-world exploration. The podium is completed by Tableaux Vivants, a Victorian fantasy-mystery set in a house full of paintings that come to life, and The Count and the Communist, a 1918 political intrigue built with an ASCII-style graphical interface. According to the contest's official listing, SCAVS' victory is recorded on the IFComp website, and this result comes from that single source.
The winning game puts the player in the role of an Operator guiding two Scavengers across a hostile world, avoiding deadly storms and gathering enough resources to justify an evacuation. A voice called 'System' urges the player to keep distance, but listening reveals the personal reasons behind the Scavengers' presence. The stated playtime is about an hour and a half, with an average score of 8.06 from 48 votes.
Image: moomoo.com — https://www.moomoo.com/news/post/66123334/five-entries-have-been-awarded-the-2026-if-design-award
Second place goes to Tableaux Vivants, scoring 7.91 from 56 votes. The protagonist, who has no memory, searches for his identity among animated portraits. The game's companion website includes in-game hints, a walkthrough, a command list and historical references. The Count and the Communist ranks third with 7.75 from 32 votes: the player is a Communist laundress who must expose a plot against the revolution while doing household chores. The game cannot be played on mobile devices.
The contest confirms its role as a showcase for independent interactive fiction, where short sessions and longer experimental works coexist. Further placings include Forensic Necromancy: A Murder in Nineveh by Daniel M. Stelzer, fourth with 7.74, and Ryan Veeder's Agatha Christie's The Murder on the Orient Express, fifth with 7.61. Full results and individual game pages are available on the official contest website.
Image: ifcomp.org — https://ifcomp.org/comp/2026
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