The question on r-g-i-f1 is, is Adam Cadre a genius or a madman. I’m settling for genius, but as Andrew Plotkin said "If he snaps and starts barbecuing the neighbors, of course, we'll have to pencil in some corrections."
- Christine Baker, reviewing Shrapnel2

Shrapnel is an unsettling piece of interactive fiction from Adam Cadre. To even begin to describe the plot would be a spoiler - this is a game which must be experienced. As no small part of its impact depends on breaking the existing conventions of text adventures, however, it is not a game I would recommend as an introduction to IF. Specifically, one should probably have at least passing familiarity with the Zork universe before playing this game.

Shrapnel won "Best Use of Medium" in the 2000 Xyzzy Awards.

Related Sites:

  • Shrapnel can be found at the IF Archive at http://ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/shrapnel.z5.
  • Cadre's own website - found at http://adamcadre.ac/ - includes an essay on the "making of" Shrapnel.

1.) i.e. the newsgroup rec.games.int-fiction.
2.) The review is available at http://sparkynet.com/spag/s.html#shrapnel. It contains several spoilers, however, so I'd highly recommend that you play the game before reading it.