Alabaster

Alabaster
Game
Main links	Play onlineDownloadSource code IFDB IF Archive
Published	5 June 2009
Credits
Authors	John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, Kazuki Mishima, Sarah Morayati, Mark Musante, Emily Short, Adam Thornton, Ziv Wities
Artist	Daniel Allington-Krzysztofiak
Reception
Events	XYZZY Awards 2009 Winner: Best Individual NPC, Best Writing XYZZY Awards 2009 Finalist: Best Use of Medium
IFDB rating	4 out of 5 (128 ratings)
Gameplay
Interaction style	Parser
Literary genre	Fantasy
Location	One-room
Language	English
Cruelty scale	Merciful
IFDB play time	1 hour 45 minutes
Accessibility	Colour: none. Graphics: optional. Sound: none.
Technical details
Authoring system	Inform 7
Format	Glulx
License	Creative Commons
IFID	0D966160-1B42-4CB5-9F67-85DE527ECCFE
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How it begins

The Queen has told you to return with her heart in a box. Snow White has made you promise to make other arrangements. Now that you're alone in the forest, it's hard to know which of the two women to trust. The Queen is certainly a witch -- but her stepdaughter may be something even more horrible...

Notable features

• There are some eighteen possible endings to this fairy tale. Some of them are even almost happy.
• The result of an experiment in open authorship. Emily Short wrote and released the introduction to the story; other authors then contributed conversation text. Afterward, the game received further editing to improve continuity and add endings.

Versions

Release 1

Date: 5 June 2009

• Release 1 / Serial number 090604 / Inform 7 build 5Z71 (I6/v6.31 lib 6/12N)
• XYZZY Awards 2009: Winner of Best Writing and Best Individual NPC (Snow White). Also was a finalist for Best Use of Medium.
• IF Archive
• The Source code button on this page relates to this version.

Release 3

Date: 2009

• Release 3 / Serial number 090609 / Inform 7 build 5Z71 (I6/v6.31 lib 6/12N)
• IF Archive: "Alabaster, a fractured fairy tale by John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, Kazuki Mishima, Sarah Morayati, Mark Musante, Emily Short, Adam Thornton and Ziv Wities, and illustrated by Daniel Allington-Krzysztofiak. Release 3 / Serial number 090609."
• The Download and Play online buttons on this page relate to this version.

Related games

• Part of "Fractured Fairy Tales series":
  • Bronze (Emily Short; 2006; Inform 7; Z-code).
  • Glass (Emily Short; 2006; Inform 7; Z-code).
  • Alabaster (John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, and others; 2009; Inform 7; Glulx).
  • Indigo (Emily Short; 2011; TADS 3).

Links

N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.

• Official Website - includes walkthrough, Inform 7 source, and design documents.
• Announcement on author's blog; 05-Jun-2009.

Reviews

• Review by Jess - at Jay is Games.
• Review by Allen Cook - at Gamers With Jobs.
• Review by Matthew Erazo.
• Review by Carl Muckenhoupt.
• Review by Tracy Poff.
• Review by Jenni Polodna.
• Review by Massimo Stella.
• Review by Derek Yu - at TIGSource.

Spoilers

• SPAG #55 - Contains a SPAG Specifics analysis by Conrad Cook.

Note: To refer to this game from another page, you can type {{game citation|Alabaster}}. This will display as Alabaster (John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, and others; 2009; Inform 7; Glulx).

Date: 5 June 2009

Date: 2009