If you're getting too many irrelevant results, try searching
for a complete phrase in quotes rather than individual words:
"deep space drifter" rather than deep space
drifter.
By default, IFDB searches each game's title, author, and
description for the words you enter, and shows all of the games
that match at least one of your search terms. You can customize
the search with the special modifiers below.
Note that modifiers with ":" parameters
have to go last, after regular search words.
+word makes word mandatory - only items
that contain this word will be listed.
-word makes word prohibited - only items
that don't contain this word will be listed.
"phrase" searches for the exact phrase within
the quotes: all of the words have to be matched in the exact
order given.
author:name lists games by the named author or
authors.
tag:tag name searches for games containing
the given tag text. (What's a tag?)
series:name lists only games with the given
series name.
genre:genre name only shows games with the given genre.
If a game's listing has multiple genres, it will match as long
as genre name is found within the listing. For example,
genre:western will match a game listed with genre
"Science Fiction/Western/Romance."
rating:low-high lists games with average ratings
in the given range (inclusive). For example, rating:2.5-3.5
lists games rated from 2½ to 3½ stars. Leave out
an endpoint for an open-ended search:
rating:3- lists games with ratings 3 stars and above;
rating:-2 lists games rated 2 stars and below.
#ratings:low-high lists games with a total number
of ratings in the given range. For example, #ratings:3-
lists games with three or more ratings.
ratingdev:low-high lists games with a ratings
standard deviation in the given range. (If you use this option,
the standard deviation for each rating will be shown in parentheses
after the star rating, and you'll have the option to order the
results by it.)
#reviews:low-high lists games with a total number
of member reviews in the given range. (This doesn't count
editorial reviews.)
forgiveness:rating only shows games with the given
"forgiveness" rating (on the Zarfian scale: Merciful, Polite,
Tough, Nasty, Cruel - more information).
published:year-year only shows games with publication
dates in the given range. For example,
published:1990-2000 shows games published from 1990
to 2000. published:1990 lists only games published
in 1990. published:1990- lists games published in 1990
or later, and published:-2000 lists games published in
2000 or earlier. You can also search for games published within
the last few days. published:30d- searches for games published
within the last 30 days. published:90d-30d searches for games
published within the last 90 days, but more than 30 days ago.
added:year-year only shows games with
listings added to the database on dates in the given range.
For example, added:2007-2020 shows games added
from 2007 to 2020. added:2007 shows games added
in 2007. added:2007- shows games added in 2007
or later, and added:-2020 shows games added in
2020 or earlier. You can also search for games added within
the last few days. added:30d- searches for games added
within the last 30 days. added:90d-30d searches for games
added within the last 90 days, but more than 30 days ago.
language:code lists games written in the given
spoken language. You can use the English name of the language,
or a two- or three-letter
ISO-639
code ("en" for English, "fr" for French, etc).
system:name lists only games written with the
given authoring system (TADS, Inform, Hugo, etc).
format:name lists only games with downloadable
files available for the given format. To search for multiple
system versions, use * as a wildcard: format:tads * searches
for all TADS versions. Use an operating system name to search
for native executables for that system.
downloadable:yes|no lists games that
are/are not downloadable. A downloadable game is one that has
at least one story file or application download link.
bafs:id searches for the game with the given
Baf's Guide ID.
(What's a Baf's Guide ID?)
ifid:xxx searches for a game with the given IFID.
(What's an IFID?)
tuid:xxx searches for a game with the given TUID.
(What's a TUID?)
authorid:id lists games by the author with
the given id.
played:yes|no lists games that
you have/haven't put on your played list (i.e. "I've played it").
Only works if you are logged in with a user account.
willplay:yes|no lists games that
you have/haven't put on your "will play" list (i.e. "It's on my wish list").
Only works if you are logged in with a user account.
wontplay:yes|no lists games that
you have/haven't put on your "won't play" list (i.e. "I'm not interested").
Only works if you are logged in with a user account.
You can negate any of the special modifiers by putting a hyphen '-' in front of the modifier name (e.g., -author:bob). This excludes items that match the modifier's criteria.
You can combine these modifiers to create more specific searches.
For example, "outer space genre:science fiction published:-1990"
searches for games in the "science fiction" genre published in
1990 or earlier, with at least one of the words "outer" and
"space" somewhere in their title, author, or description.
Be sure to put all modifiers with ":" parameters after
any regular search words.