Rendition (text adventure game)

rendition is a 2007 work of interactive fiction by "nespresso", written using Inform 7 and published in z-code format, in which the player performs an interrogation of a suspected terrorist. The game describes itself as a "political art experiment in text adventure form". It was submitted to the 2007 Interactive Fiction Art Show in the "Portrait" category.

The game divided opinion, with judging panel member Jon Ingold reflecting that "I think this is all very powerful. Even the score-line is threatening... As a demonstration of the power - the impact - that a "silly little text-game" can have, it works very well." and Adam Thornton stating "It had succeeded superbly in its aim", whereas Marnie Parker pronounced that "where it is really interactive is on the emotional level - it is rather repugnant" and Jacqueline Lott claimed "I did not enjoy this entry, nor, I hope, was I meant to enjoy it.".

The game was subsequently chosen as game-of-the-day by playthisthing, where it was described by Emily Short thus:
 * It presents in a single atomic example the emotive power of complicity in gaming and interactive story-telling. When the player reaches the point of questioning his own involvement in a story, that story takes on a new significance, one which is not possible in non-interactive media.

She subsequently used the game, along with Photopia, as an example of an "approach to tragedy in interactive fiction" at the Association for Computing Machinery's Hypertext 2007 conference. It was further discussed in a lecture at Cambridge University by Jorge Nathan Matias on 5 November 2007.