Inform

Inform provides a natural‑language programming environment for creating interactive fiction. Authors write story logic using sentences that read like ordinary English, while the system translates this prose into executable code that governs game behavior, state, and player interaction. The language draws on linguistic concepts and literate programming techniques, allowing narrative text and program structure to coexist in a single source.

The tool is used by literary writers, game developers, and educators who need a prototyping or teaching platform for digital narratives. It is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and its source code is open‑sourced. Documentation, community forums, and a database of over a thousand published stories support learning and distribution. Inform’s long‑standing presence in the interactive‑fiction community is reflected in its inclusion in programming‑language rankings and its adoption in university courses on digital storytelling.

Distinctive aspects include the reliance on natural‑language syntax rather than traditional code, the integration of documentation within the source (literate programming), and a history of community‑driven evolution through conferences, bug‑tracking systems, and a public repository on GitHub.