Pass the Banana
From IFWiki
| Pass the Banana | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
 | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 1999 |
| Credits | |
| Author | Admiral Jota |
| Reception | |
| Events | |
| IFDB rating | 2 out of 5 (8 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genres |  Comedy  Surreal |
| Location |  One-room |
| Language | English |
| Cruelty scale | Merciful |
| Accessibility | Colour: none. Graphics: none. Sound: none. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring system | Inform 6 |
| Format | Z-code 5 |
| License | Public domain |
| IFID | ZCODE-1-990921-479F |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
How it begins
- Yes, we have no bananas.
You might be anyone carrying nine bananas. You are in the Adventurer's Lounge, which is decorated with candles, hand-drawn maps, a trophy case, plentiful seating, and there's a closet to the north. You also see a giant flaming head, a monkey and Melvin the Robot here.
(No goal is explicitly stated, but the game is called Pass the Banana. You might try that.)
Notable features
- Several IF and ifMUD in-jokes. For example:
- The setting, the Adventurer's Lounge, is from ifMUD. It is likewise normally decorated with candles, maps, trophy case, etc.
- The size of the story file is 69,105 bytes.
- Monkey jokes have always been popular on ifMUD, and passing bananas from one player to another was (once upon a time) an occassional activity there. Round brackets, "(" and ")", were sometimes called bananas, and some of the bananas passed would be just have a round bracket character for its name.
- The description of Melvin mentions Floyd, the robot first seen in Planetfall (Infocom).
- The response "Eat the banana? How unseemly!" is a nod to Varicella (Adam Cadre; 1999; Z-code).
- One secret ending's rank is a nod to Varicella (Adam Cadre; 1999; Z-code).
- The NPCs can be talked to via ask-tell, but it's mostly just "ask".
- The maximum score is 10, including one last lousy point.
Versions
Release 1 (Competition entry)
Date: 1999
- Pass the Banana (Admiral Jota; 1999; Z-code 5).
- Release 1 / Serial number 990921 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/7
- IFID: ZCODE-1-990921-479F
IFID links: IFDB - IF Comp 1999: 33rd place of 37 entries.
- Download banana.z5 from the IF Archive - The story file.
- Or play it online at ifiction.org.
Links
N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.
General info
- Pass the Banana (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
- Pass the Banana - at IFDB.
Reviews
"Other games in this year's competition might have more plot, more puzzles, or more elaborate settings, but none have more bananas." -- Mike Roberts
- Pass the Banana - at SPAG.
- Pass the Banana - at IF Ratings.
- Review - by Paul O'Brian.
- Review - by Mike Roberts.
- Review - by Dan Shiovitz.
Spoilers
- Download banana.wlk from the IF Archive - Plaintext walkthrough by the author.
Date: 1999