Interactive Fantasy 4
Interactive Fantasy was the first magazine devoted to the subject of interactive narratives and storytelling in games. It included articles by leading designers and game-thinkers of the time¸ and is cited in many academic works on gaming¸ but has not been properly available since its original release.
The magazine was published by Hogshead Publishing in 1994-5¸ and was edited by Andrew Rilstone. There were four issues. The first issue was titled Inter*action but was changed for trademark reasons.
Interactive Fantasy was an attempt to bring insight¸ intelligence and consistency to the discussion of narrative-based games¸ which at the time primarily meant tabletop RPGs. We were inspired by Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics¸ and in later issues by Chris Crawford's Interactive Entertainment Design. We tapped friends and contacts across the world and at all levels of the industry for articles¸ using the tendrils of fandom¸ conventions¸ APAs and the nascent internet RPG community to make links and spread the word. We were astonished by who responded.
Although Interactive Fantasy only lasted for four issues¸ its list of contributors is almost a who's-who of forward-thinking tabletop designers of the 1990s. From ground-breaking designers like Jonathan Tweet and Robin D. Laws to industry stalwarts like Greg Stafford¸ Allen Varney¸ Nicole Lindroos-Frein (now Nicole Lindroos-Pramas) and Greg Porter¸ we were very fortunate. People wanted a venue to share their ideas and philosophies of design¸ and IF was briefly it. In retrospect the jewel in our crown came in issue 2¸ with Greg Costikyan's masterful and often-cited essay ‘I Have No Words And I Must Design'¸ but every issue had high points¸ and some were very high indeed.
This digital reconstruction is not 100% faithful to the original printed edition. The layout has been recreated but the fonts are not exact matches¸ and lines and pages break in slightly different places. However¸ any page-references to the print edition should be applicable to this edition. Advertisements have been scanned and reproduced. A few schoolboy errors in typography have been tightened up and original typos corrected.
The original creators remain the owners of the copyright in their articles¸ and the covers remain the property of the artists. I have worked hard to contact them; I failed in a few cases but where I succeeded they have unanimously granted permission for this re-release¸ and they have my thanks for that. If you believe you are the rights-holder for any of the content of this publication but you have not been contacted by me about it then please let me know.