I really enjoyed Wishbringer as a prequel to the Enchanter saga, all by Infocom.

I played all 4 games in series and still occasionally think about the story and world they built.

Wishbringer is more of a gentle dip into that world, and the events in it have no bearing on the rest of the series, but if you like Wishbringer or find it too easy then you will really like or maybe even love Enchanter, Sorcerer, and Spellbreaker.

I tend to like games for their individual puzzles/tricks. I fondly remember the babel fish puzzle in HHGTTG, but my favorite was Leather Goddesses of Phobos. It was a bit risque (usually a draw for a teen), and the game "knew" if the player was male or female without ever asking. Took me several playthroughs to figure out how it managed to do that.

As a kid, I spent hours on https://www.materiamagica.com/

I don’t play it much any more, but it brings me joy to know that it is still online. The world is expansive and multiplayer. Best text based game I’ve played.

Vagrus: The River Realms[1] is excellent.

[1]: https://store.steampowered.com/app/909660/Vagrus__The_Riven_...

Curses by Graham Nelson

https://iplayif.com/?story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifarchive.org%2F...

It's worth giving Aisle a try. It's from Sam Barlow (creator of Her Story).

You only have one command, and then the story "ends". It's an interesting way to tell a narrative. You can feel the DNA of Her Story in there.

I'm a fan of the Thy Dungeonman series. Still haven't gotten ye flask...

nice! lots of new suggestions... I recently picked up torn again and remembered old text-based or interactive fiction games... I'm gonna play whatever is available online. thanks!

I remember really liking Bad Machine. You're a robot in a factory that's been in an accident, and you debug yourself.