If you've never played interactive fiction/text adventure games then you don't know what you're missing. Sure, you have to type your actions but the plots, characters and puzzles of many games are on par with, and often better than, graphical adventure games.
Here are the best of the best of recent IF, for those interested in trying something new. All the reviews come from Baf's Guide to the IF Archive.
All Roads
Supernatural espionage thriller set in a quasi-medieval Venice (oh, that old genre again). You jump around in space and time through a series of apparently disconnected scenes, and eventually, if you're paying enough attention, things come together. Largely puzzleless, in the conventional sense; there's one puzzle toward the beginning of the game, but most of the rest of the story pretty much flows by. In another sense, though, the whole game is a puzzle, and it's a pretty clever one--the game drops progressively more obvious clues as you go along and fills in some, but not all, of the blanks at the end. You'll probably need to replay, and think a good deal, to figure everything out). Pleasantly confusing, though very much on rails--there's only one path through the game, and not much deviation is allowed for. Unusual and rewarding.
Anchorhead
Lovecraft-inspired gothic horror at its best: a small town full of secrets, a gruesomely deformed monstrosity, a vast uncaring force awaiting its day. Despite the overblown style typical of the genre, this game generally works, and can get quite unnerving at times (especially in some of the NPC interactions). Highly open and explorable environment (aside from an abundance of locked doors), puzzles well-integrated into the storyline (including many optional puzzles and alternate solutions), lots of backstory revealed in an impressive variety of ways. Gets a bit sticky towards the end, with many tight time limits. Has a Sierra-style time system: the day ends when a certain point in the plot is reached. Features a female protagonist, two small mazes (one optional), references to incest, and a certain amount of strong language, gore, and really bad things happening to people.
I actually got chills down my spine playing this one.
Delusions
Head games galore in this one. You're working in a Virtual Reality lab, helping to debug the next generation of sim technology, until a suave stranger forces you to confront the creeping air of inconsistency that's been in the corner of your consciousness. A dark one, with surprises up to the end, one of the coolest villains I've seen in a long time, and some quite impressive feats of Inform programming. The structure is unusual, with a nightmarishly looping midgame that resembles its frame in form but not in content. The puzzles are all clever, although a bit obscure towards the end. Has a built-in hint menu.
For a Change
"The sun is gone. It must be brought. You have a rock." So begins For a Change, one of the most unusual games in recent memory: the language is distinctly nonstandard, in an e.e. cummings sort of way, and figuring out exactly what's going on requires some lateral thinking. (Another example of the syntax: "This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows . . . walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite.") While it's not as accessible as most IF, it's still a richly rewarding playing experience; once you learn to think in the same off-kilter way as the game's written, it all comes together. The puzzles are a mixed bag--some make more sense than others--but generally this works both as a game and as a linguistic experiment, and rewards the imagination.
This one is especially strange but one of the most unique games I've ever played, both in content and puzzles.
Jigsaw
A whirlwind tour of the 20th century. Hunt for the jigsaw pieces that allow you to travel trough time, following a charming stranger who wants to "improve" history. Huge, difficult, exceptionally well-crafted. Lots of detailed research went into this game. The environment is highly interactive, with some extremely detailed gadgets (such as Alan Turing's Enigma machine.) Surprisingly enough, Mr. Nelson also found time to include some romance - and the love interest is that charming stranger whose plans you're foiling. The game is divided into partially-ordered chapters, which are mostly, but not entirely, self-contained. Trinity's influence is obvious in the layout: a central strange and fantastic land, from which you can temporarily escape to the past. Three warnings: Some of the puzzles are very difficult indeed (one requires elementary knowledge of Proust!), many of the chapters have time limits, and it is possible to lock yourself out of victory without realizing it. (For that last point: The Kaldecki Detector found on the Titanic helps a lot.) Has a crucial dependence on character graphics.
I don't think you can call yourself an adventure gamer until you've played Graham Nelson's magnum opus.
Lost New York
As a bored tourist in the Big Apple, you discover a time-travel device that lets you witness first-hand the development of the city in four centuries. A well-researched period piece with good wry descriptive prose, rather sad in many places about the passing of old landmarks and the ruthlessness of modernity. Good explorability, although towards the end trekking about and waiting for trains can get to be a chore. The puzzles are mostly (but not entirely) straightforward, but careful examination of scenery is required to obtain equipment. The geography is representative rather than exhaustive - walking north from 14th Street, for example, takes you to 23rd Street. It's easy to lock yourself out of victory, but also easy to predict when it's likely to happen (if not how to avoid it). Features an AGT-style EXITS command.
Metamorphoses
You're a slave girl on a mission of sorts for your master, though it's difficult to say what the mission is. The game's world is split between the literal and the figurative, and most of what you accomplish is significant more on the symbolic than on the concrete level. Idealized forms are a key thematic element, and most of the puzzles revolve around the transformation of those forms. The game provides two devices that can transform various objects, and the range and complexity of the transformations handled is impressive--the objects, by and large, behave sensibly in all their various forms. There are lots of puzzle solutions and a wide variety of endings, and the game manages to both tell a story and allow ample freedom in exploration. Beautifully described and impressively thoughtful.
This game has some of the best writing I've ever encountered in any adventure game, text or graphical.
So Far
In this haunting and dreamlike work, you discover unnatural shadows that allow you to travel to a variety of strange places, each with a different prevailing mood. A sprawling work, thick with prose, variously enchanting and disturbing. Has a definite recurring theme of near-misses and creative tension, as well as numerous less-identifiable undercurrents with plenty of room for interpretation and speculation. (Is the tribal dance you witness in the grasslands just another retelling of the play you watch in the prologue? Is there some connection between the sculpture in the park and the coming lunar conjunction?) Excellent puzzles, chiefly based on experimenting with unfamiliar objects. Lots of attention to detail, especially irrelevant detail, with the effect that the world seems much larger than it is. Highly emotional and pleasantly confusing.
