Repeat the Ending
Experience an all-new "critical edition" of a 1996 Inform 5 game about mental illness, magic, and the second law of thermodynamics. Features original artwork by Callie Smith.
When D, a psychiatrically disabled chaos wizard, learns that an estranged family member is near death, he must brave the dangers beyond the trailer park to see them one last time. Can D reach the hospital in time? Can he escape a seemingly endless cycle of guilt and misery? Or is he doomed to forever repeat the ending?
Play along with a playlist of 90s songs that inspired this game!
CW: mental illness, severe depression, self-harm, death of a loved one, references to drugs and alcohol, mild profanity.
Repeat the Ending was awarded a "Best in Show" ribbon in the 2023 Spring Thing festival of interactive fiction and appeared in the 2023 Best Interactive Fiction of All Time poll.
The playable web version is an Inform 7 game running in the Parchment interpreter. It is recommended that web players select small image sizes in-game.
For those who prefer offline play, a downloadable version is linked below.
Story Mode:
Repeat the Ending features an optional "story" mode that allows players a way to progress through the story, pausing whenever they wish. It is designed as an accessibility and tutorial feature, but it should also provide a comfortable experience for players who do not enjoy parser gameplay.
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Development log
- Release 4 Complete!Nov 16, 2023
- Version 3.6 UpdateSep 12, 2023
- Release 3.5 for Repeat the Ending, reader mode, and more.Aug 13, 2023
- Thoughts on Learning Inform 7, and so onMay 26, 2023
- News: Post-Festival Release of RTEMay 05, 2023
Comments
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Wow, what an adventure! I know very little about IF and the community, so I was not aware of too much of the background going in. The parafiction elements blended perfectly, added to the overall narrative, and made the game very manageable to navigate despite limited knowledge of IF mechanics. Big "House of Leaves" vibes. Do agree with playing with the included playlist. Recommending to others for sure.
Thanks for engaging with my game! I'm glad you had a good experience. Especially the playlist! Not many people have mentioned it, but I did try to make it relevant to the game. I will probably release a game this time next year. I hope you'll check it out when the time comes! Thanks again for spending time with my work.
Incredible game drew. Myself and my partner played it along with Art from Arcade Idea while I was visiting the united states recently. One of the best times I've had playing an IF game.
Highly recommend playing this game on a big screen in a room with your friends and at least one person who has a good handle on IF history, pausing constantly to talk and discuss what the game is doing. There's SO MUCH to talk about!
Art mentioned that they played with friends! I thought it sounded like a fun way to experience IF. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and I sincerely appreciate you telling me.
It was so great. We kept on stopping to talk about things we liked, and what we thought of all of the different characters (especially the characters in the annotations)