I-0: Jailbait on Interstate Zero (0)

I-0: Jailbait on Interstate Zero
First release date
1997-01-31
Platform
PC Browser

This "jailbait on the interstate" game, "based on several true stories and a couple of untrue ones", was the first piece of interactive fiction written and developed by in 1997, using the programming language Inform. The game received a Spanish translation in 2000 by José Luis Diaz, Antonio Márquez Marin, , members of the Interactive Fiction community who later continued their work creating ports of existing interactive fiction. The Spanish translation was distributed with the filename i-0esp.z5

The game would go on to win two awards user-voted Xyzzy Awards from interactive fiction news website XyzzyNews.com, including Best Individual Player Character, and Best Game of 1997.

The game is currently playable in a browser-based form

Plot

The story follows Tracy Valencia, a 17 year old first-year university student road-tripping back home on Thanksgiving to visit her family for birthday, which happens to be tomorrow. Two and a half hours into the four hour drive along the scorching desert highway, the car breaks down and she becomes stranded. Her quest is to get home in time for Thanksgiving, and more importantly, her birthday.

While there is only real ending to the story, there are many various ways to 'lose', with many story paths involving death or hospitalisation.

"It's beginning to look like Ed and Sandy Valencia's only daughter might not make it for Thanksgiving dinner..."