Game reference (style guide)

From IFWiki

Note: In 2025, this style guide underwent several changes from its previous version, and there might be more changes to come. For a summary of changes, jump to the migration guide.

IFWiki includes many lists of games, and ideally, a citation for a game can be generated automatically. For example, if you type

{{game citation|Counterfeit Monkey}}

it will display as

Counterfeit Monkey (Emily Short; 2012; Inform 7; Glulx)

The information below serves to document how automatic citations are meant to look on IFWiki. It can also serve as a guide for typing a citation manually, in case situations arise where that is necessary.

The format for a game listing is as follows:

A few basic examples:

Details and examples of each element appear below.

Game title

When citing a game on IFWiki, please use italics for the game's title:

If the game has no title, use the word "Untitled" instead, along with any parenthetical text appearing in its wiki page name that would be helpful in identifying it. (Advice for choosing a wiki page name is at Form:Game.)

Author

By authors, we mean individual people who created the game.

One author

Usually there's only one author, for example:

If the context makes it clear—if, for example, you're on the author's page—then you can omit the name:

Multiple authors

If there are two authors, separate them with "and":

Again, if the context makes it clear, you may omit the obvious author by prefacing the second author with "with". For example:

If there are three to six authors, separate the names with commas. Do not include "and":

If there are seven or more authors, list five, and add "and others":

Pseudonyms

Some authors are only known by their pseudonyms in the IF Community, or do not want their real name on IF sites. In this case, treat their pseudonym as if it were their real name:

If both the real name and pseudonym are known, enclose the pseudonym in quotation marks, and preface it with "as":

In context (for example, on the author's page), the real name may be omitted, but still use "as":

For a collective pseudonym that represents two or more authors, use quotation marks around the pseudonym as above, but preface with "both as" or "all as" as appropriate:

Unknown author

If you don't know either the real name or the pseudonym, credit the author as Anonymous:

Porter, translator, development company, publisher

Porters, translators, development companies, and publishers (in that order) should be listed after all authors, and before the year of release. Please preface the name with "development company:" or "publisher:" or "porter:" or "translator:"

Multiple porters or translators

When there are two porters or two translators, the two names are separated by "and."

For three to six people in one of these roles, separate the names with commas (do not include "and"):

  • Sample Game (Jill Jones; porters: Adrian Smith and Erica Garcia; translators: Tyler Brown, Jennifer Miller, Jo Riley; 2025; Inform 6; Z-code).

In the event of seven or more people in one of these roles, list five of the names (separated by commas) followed by "and others."

Multiple development companies or publishers

Two to six company names in one of these roles are separated with commas. Do not include "and":

In the event of seven or more companies in one of these roles, list five names (separated by commas) followed by "and others."

Year published

After the author's name (and pseudonym, if present), please include the year the game was published, in this format:

If you only have an approximate date, preface the date with "c." for circa, which means "about". Hopefully, someone will be able to fill in the missing info later:

If the publication year is unknown, please write "Date unknown" in the place where the publication year would usually go:

Authoring system

We are using authoring system to mean the programming language or specialized authoring tool used to create the work. The authoring system is listed after the year:

If the authoring system is unknown, it can simply be skipped.

File format and system

Most games will list either a file format or a system, but not both. This depends on what kind of platform is needed to run the game.

File format

The file format field applies mainly to games that are designed to run in an IF interpreter. It tells the player know what kind of interpreter is needed to play the game. (Note: If a game is in PDF format, we put "PDF" in the file format field, because that seems like the best way to communicate what the player needs to access the game.)

For Inform games, please use "Glulx" or "Z-code" as the format:

If the authoring system and the file format have the same name--for example, TADS 3--please do not list the name a second time:

Sometimes an author releases a parser game in two forms at the same time: as a story file (which players can run in various interpreters), and as a web page with its own interpreter. If the two forms are not significantly different, please use just the file format (for example, “Glulx”), and do not also include “Browser” as the system:

If the story file version and the web version are significantly different, include both the file type and the "Broswer" system:

System

The system field applies to games that are specifically designed to run in a browser, or on a certain operating system, or on certain computer.

If a game is designed specifically to run in a web browser, please use “Browser” as the system:

If a game is designed to run on a specific operating system or computer (for example, if it’s a Windows executable file, or if it's designed for an Apple II), please list that operating system or computer:

Language

By "language" here, we mean which human language like English, French, or Spanish is used to print the text of the game. Do not confuse this with a programming language like Basic or C++ that may have been used to write the game. For example:

If the language is English only, in most cases you should omit it, with the understanding that English is the default language for most games on this wiki.

If a list consists mostly of non-English games, it is acceptable to make a notation above the list, saying something like "Note: The following games are in Italian unless otherwise indicated", and then omit that language in the game references for simplicity's sake.

Migration guide

A summary of changes to how game references are handled, as of September 2025:

Automatically generated citations: Many citations can now be generated automatically.

Game titles:

  • We are no longer including multiple titles in the citation.
  • Games without a title now use the word “Untitled” in the title spot, along with any helpful parenthetical text that appears in its wiki page name. This is all italicized like a regular title.

Roles for people and companies:

  • The previous version of style guide included guidance about prefacing author names with specific roles (designers, implementors, etc.). We are no longer going to include labels in front of author names.
  • The following non-author roles will be included and labeled in the citation: porters, translators, development companies, and publishers.

Listing multiple people in a single role:

  • Two people in a single listed role (two authors, two porters, or two translators) are separated by the word “and.” (This is true even if the two people are represented by a collective pseudonym.)
  • Names of three to six authors (or porters or translators) are separated by commas. Do not include “and."
  • If there are seven or more authors (or porters or translators), list the names of only five people, followed by “and others.”

Listing multiple companies in a single role:

  • For two to six companies in a single listed role (development companies or publishers), separate the names with commas. Do not include “and.”
  • For seven or more companies in a single listed role (development companies or publishers), list five names, followed by "and others."

Publication year:

  • Game references will now include only the year of publication, not the month or day.
  • If the publication year is unknown, we are now writing “Date unknown.”

Authoring system: It is now standard to include the authoring system in every game reference.

File format and system:

  • What used to be called the “platform” in the previous version of the style guide has been replaced by two fields: a format field and a system field. A given game will usually have only one field or the other filled in, so this will not change the look of the game reference much. Why two fields? For consistency with our software database, which distinguishes between file format and system.
  • What was formerly called the "Web browser" platform is now the "Browser" system.
Retrieved from "https://www.ifwiki.org/index.php?title=Game_reference_(style_guide)&oldid=104210"