Counterfeit Monkey
| Counterfeit Monkey | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
 | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 31 December 2012 |
| Credits | |
| Author | Emily Short |
| Reception | |
| Events |  Winner: Best Game, Best Implementation, Best Individual PC, Best Puzzles, Best Setting |
| IFDB rating | 5 out of 5 (288 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genres |  Espionage  Wordplay |
| Location |  City |
| Language | English |
| Cruelty scale | Merciful |
| IFDB play time | 9 hours |
| Accessibility | Colour: yes (optional). Graphics: yes (map). Sound: no. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring system | Inform 7 |
| Format | Glulx |
| License | Freeware |
| IFID | 7B5A779B-4653-43DB-A516-F475DDC12987 |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
Notable features
Unusually, the game source has been released under a Creative Commons licence and has been maintained as a community project since 2016, so it has continued to receive occasional releases with (minor) new content and bugfixes over a decade since its original release, driven by people other than the original author (especially Dannii Willis and Petter Sjölund). See the change log (spoilers!).
As well as its XYZZY awards, Counterfeit Monkey has won multiple events ranking the greatest interactive fiction of all time, including the Free IF Playoffs 2024, both the 2019 and 2023 editions of the Interactive Fiction Top 50, and many versions of the IFDB Top 100. As of August 2024, Counterfeit Monkey was the highest-rated game with at least 20 reviews on IFDB.
Versions
Release 1
Date: 31 December 2012
- Counterfeit Monkey (Emily Short; 31-Dec-2012; Glulx).
- Other contributors: A. Short (created the Atlantida poster).
- Testers: Jacqueline Ashwell, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Richard Evans, John Ferguson, Admiral Jota, Kate McKee, Jim Munroe, Mark Musante, Chris Nelson, Graham Nelson, Peter Nelson, Toby Nelson, Zach Samuels, and David Welbourn.
- Release 1 / Serial number 121231 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib 6/12N)
- IFID: 7B5A779B-4653-43DB-A516-F475DDC12987
IFID links: IFDB, IFDB cover - Announcement.
- XYZZY Awards 2010: Finalist for Best Supplemental Materials (the teaser poster).
Release 2
Date: 2013
- Announcement (4 January 2013).
Release 3
Date: 2013
- Announcement (7 January 2013).
Release 4
Date: Date unknown
- Release 4 / Serial number 130109 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib 6/12N)
Release 5
Date: 2014
- Release 5 / Serial number 140316 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib 6/12N)
- Announcement.
- Download CounterfeitMonkey-r5.gblorb from the IF Archive.
Release 6
Date: Date unknown
- Release 6 / Serial number 160520 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib 6/12N)
- GitHub release notes and download.
- Announcement on intfiction forum.
- Download CounterfeitMonkey-r6.gblorb from the IF Archive.
Release 7
Date: 2017
- Release 7 / Serial number 171224 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)
- "the first major release of the open source, community version of Counterfeit Monkey"
- GitHub release notes and download.
- Announcements: Emily Short, intfiction forum.
- Download CounterfeitMonkey-r7.gblorb from the IF Archive.
Release 8
Date: 2018
- Release 8 / Serial number 181204 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)
- GitHub release notes and download.
- Announcement.
- Download CounterfeitMonkey-r8.gblorb from the IF Archive.
Release 9
Date: Date unknown
- Release 9 / Serial number 200810 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)
- GitHub release notes and download.
- Announcement on intfiction forum.
- Download CounterfeitMonkey-r9.gblorb from the IF Archive.
Release 10
Date: Date unknown
- Release 10 / Serial number 210312 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.34 lib 6/12N)
- GitHub release notes and download.
- Announcement on intfiction forum.
Release 11
Date: Date unknown
- Release 11 / Serial number 230220 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.41 lib 6/12N)
- GitHub release notes and download (for tag "r11.1").
- Announcement on intfiction forum.
Links
N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.
General info
- Artwork:
- Customs poster: small (as seen as a Xyzzy-finalist teaser in 2010), big.
- Dental Consonants Ltd advertisement.
- Atlantida poster (by A. Short).
- An experimental Listed Action adaptation (demo of first section only), by 'memalign' (2021).
Reviews
- Xyzzy awards 2012 commentary.
- Exploring the 'Best Games': Counterfeit Monkey, by E. Short - by Mathbrush, July 2016.
- The Short Game podcast, August 2019.
- Interactive Fiction: Learning from the Best episode 3 by Arcweave, February 2022.
- PC Gamer - Dec 2025
Spoilers
- Invisiclues, on the intfiction forum.
- Puzzle chart (direct link to image).
- Making of Counterfeit Monkey:
- Worldbuilding from a Mechanic (2018)
Date: 31 December 2012
Date: 2013
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Date: 2014
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Date: 2017
Date: 2018
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