Sunset Over Savannah

Sunset Over Savannah is a medium-sized text adventure by Ivan Cockrum, winner of the 1997 XYZZY Award for Best Writing. Your week-long vacation in Savannah, Georgia is ending and the dreaded job awaits, so you walk the beach one last time hoping to find something that will let you change course.

Premise

The game opens on the final afternoon of a beach vacation. Heavy of heart at the prospect of returning to a hateful job, the protagonist sets out to wander Savannah's coastline in search of whatever inspiration or magic the place might still hold. The framing is reflective rather than puzzle-driven in tone.

Style and lineage

The author describes the work as being in the tradition of Infocom's Zork, Planetfall, and Trinity - parser-driven interactive fiction with literary ambitions. Its 1997 XYZZY for Best Writing reflects the strength of the prose rather than mechanical novelty.

Player support

The game ships with a full set of online (in-game) hints, so players who get stuck can request progressive nudges without leaving the story.

Author

Ivan Cockrum was, at the time of release, a WWW Producer at U S West Creative Services. The Info-Mac contact addresses are ivan@cockrumville.com and icockru@uswest.com.