External Links


babel-31.hqx
Mac OS Application (Encoded in Macintosh Bin/Hex format.)
Babel.exe
Windows Application
Babel31.gam
Requires a TADS interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
babel.gam
as entered in 1997 competition
Requires a TADS interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
BabelMap.pdf
map
To view this file, you need an Acrobat Reader for your system.
hints.txt
hints
walk1.in
solution
Walkthrough and map
by David Welbourn
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Babel

by Ian Finley

Mystery, Science Fiction
1997

About the Story

In this game, you play as an amnesiac inside Babel, an abandoned Arctic facility devoted to biological research. You soon discover that you have the unusual ability to witness scenes from the past by touching various glowing items. But can you discover who you are, what happened to the station, and then how to escape from Babel?


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG
Babel combines science fiction and horror imaginatively, so that the separate elements of each genre support and enhance rather than fight each other.
-- Laurel Halbany
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SPAG

In the realm of science fiction, very trodden ground indeed, Ian Finley's Babel does not seem profoundly original; you have an experiment in an isolated lab that goes wrong, an unscrupulous scientist, dramatic confrontations, even a countdown of sorts. But the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts, and there is more to Babel than might appear from a thumbnail sketch. The puzzles are few and not particularly remarkable, but for simple storytelling power, this one ranks among the best in the competition.
-- Duncan Stevens
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>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

Babel is not only one of the best competition games I've ever played, it's one of the best pieces of interactive fiction I've ever seen, period. The game starts from a well-worn IF trope: you awaken alone, with no memory of your identity. Then, Babel unfolds into a breathtaking, emotional story.
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ferkung
Babel (1997) by Ian Finley - Full Playthrough
2nd Place in the 1997 Interactive Fiction Competition, winner of a bunch of Xyzzy awards from the same year.

Finley was 17 when he wrote Babel. An interview with him from the time is here: http://www.spagmag.org/archives/backi...

Watch streams of text adventures and other narrative games live at https://twitch.tv/ferkung
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Page Update History

  v.12: 05-Feb-2024 03:07 - JTN (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed download links
v.11: 17-Sep-2022 10:49 - autumnc
Changed external review links
v.10: 05-May-2022 04:25 - Paul O'Brian
Changed external review links
v.9: 06-Nov-2021 16:46 - jakomo
Changed download links
v.8: 06-Nov-2021 16:36 - jakomo
Changed download links
v.7: 06-Nov-2021 16:35 - jakomo
Changed download links
v.6: 06-Nov-2021 16:34 - jakomo
Changed download links
v.5: 29-Oct-2019 09:09 - David Welbourn
Changed description, download links
v.4: 09-Apr-2013 02:56 - Edward Lacey
Changed external review links
v.3: 13-May-2008 15:28 - Paul O'Brian
Changed external review links
v.2: 19-Feb-2008 17:10 - Emily Short
Changed cover art
v.1: 16-Oct-2007 01:50 - IFDB
Created page