Interactive fiction, often abbreviated
IF, is
software simulating environments in which players use text
commands to control
characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as
literary narratives, either in the form of
Interactive narratives or
Interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of
video game, either in the form of an
adventure game or
role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of
adventure game where the entire interface can be "
text-only", however, Graphical text adventure games, where the text is accompanied by graphics (still images, animations or video) still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is
by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on
puzzles.