MJR Games

The author of TADS has used the system to create several full-scale adventures. The source code to all of these games is available, so authors might find them useful as real-world examples of complete, working games. But these aren't just code examples - they're also fully playable games that have earned good reviews from players.

(If you're a TADS Workbench user, you might be interested to know that the game-specific web pages linked below are the pages that Workbench generates using the Build Web Package command.)

The games are presented in chronological order of publication.

Deep Space Drifter
1990
Science Fiction
The first published TADS game is an old-school text adventure that's full of tricky puzzles and nefarious mazes, with just a veneer of plot to explain the bizarre situations. Puzzle fiends and fans of the early text games will enjoy the intricate but always logical obstacles.
Ditch Day Drifter
1990
Collegiate
The original TADS sample game. Ditch Day Drifter is a whimsical treasure-hunt all over - and under - the campus of a leading scientific university. This is a relatively easy game that's often recommended as an introduction for novice adventurers.
Perdition's Flames
1993
Fantasy
A sprawling adventure through a strangely modernized underworld. Perdition's Flames has slightly more plot than the earliest treasure-hunting text games, but just slightly. Fans of puzzle games will enjoy the many elaborate set-piece challenges.
The Plant
1998
Science Fiction
A mysterious industrial complex... terrifying events... a decades-old cover-up. The Plant is a science fiction thriller whose plot twists unfold as you solve its many puzzles. This was originally written for the 1998 Annual IF Competition, where it won third place.
Return to Ditch Day
2005
Collegiate/Science Fiction
When I thought about what kind of game to write as a major sample game for TADS 3, it seemed natural to create a sequel to the original TADS sample, Ditch Day Drifter. TADS and Interactive Fiction in general have come a long way since the first Ditch Day, and I tried to reflect some of that evolution here. Return to Ditch Day is a story as much as it is a game, full of mysteries and eccentric characters. It's also very much a game, with plenty of logical puzzles to solve.

	Deep Space Drifter 1990 Science Fiction The first published TADS game is an old-school text adventure that's full of tricky puzzles and nefarious mazes, with just a veneer of plot to explain the bizarre situations. Puzzle fiends and fans of the early text games will enjoy the intricate but always logical obstacles.
	Ditch Day Drifter 1990 Collegiate The original TADS sample game. Ditch Day Drifter is a whimsical treasure-hunt all over - and under - the campus of a leading scientific university. This is a relatively easy game that's often recommended as an introduction for novice adventurers.
	Perdition's Flames 1993 Fantasy A sprawling adventure through a strangely modernized underworld. Perdition's Flames has slightly more plot than the earliest treasure-hunting text games, but just slightly. Fans of puzzle games will enjoy the many elaborate set-piece challenges.
	The Plant 1998 Science Fiction A mysterious industrial complex... terrifying events... a decades-old cover-up. The Plant is a science fiction thriller whose plot twists unfold as you solve its many puzzles. This was originally written for the 1998 Annual IF Competition, where it won third place.
	Return to Ditch Day 2005 Collegiate/Science Fiction When I thought about what kind of game to write as a major sample game for TADS 3, it seemed natural to create a sequel to the original TADS sample, Ditch Day Drifter. TADS and Interactive Fiction in general have come a long way since the first Ditch Day, and I tried to reflect some of that evolution here. Return to Ditch Day is a story as much as it is a game, full of mysteries and eccentric characters. It's also very much a game, with plenty of logical puzzles to solve.