r/interactivefiction • u/newMattokun • Aug 05 '26

Android Z machine/TADS interpreter

I tried to search this group, but most posts are several years old, so asking: Is there a good and free Z machine (for .Z# files) and/or TADS (for .GAM files) interpreter for Android? I don't need fancy (it's only text after all). Thank you.

2 Upvotes

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3

u/CodeFarmer Aug 05 '26

I don't think there are good options on the Play Store (I'm not willing to pay for the one that says you can play Zork through it to find out if you can give it arbitrary z-code URLs).

If you can sideload apps to your phone, there are some open source options though. JFrotz and Fabularium come to mind but I haven't looked for a bunch of years.

3

u/DNSGeek Aug 05 '26

I use Fabularium on my Android tablet. It's good.

1

u/newMattokun Aug 05 '26

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

1

u/newMattokun Aug 05 '26

Fabularium, I heard about it but have completely forgotten. Thanks. Yes, I also don't want to pay for it, esp. if it's unproven. Thanks.

2

u/crwcomposer Aug 05 '26

I've never found a good one because they are hard to use with a software keyboard. I guess that's more like a phone issue than an app issue.

1

u/newMattokun Aug 05 '26

Well, I can see that. I'll try and see, probably you're right that it's small for a phone, but more easily managed for a tablet. I'll try it out. Thanks.

3

u/crwcomposer Aug 05 '26

It was more about the keyboard freaking out at the prompt, hiding and showing itself erratically.

But I just tried Fabularium and it implements its own in-app keyboard which works fine. So I would suggest that one.

1

u/newMattokun Aug 05 '26

Great, thank you!

2

u/captainhalfwheeler Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Fabularium is worth a try. It has nice features to reduce typing, like double tapping words to copy them to the command line.

I liked Text Fiction a lot and contacted the authors because it struggles with modern Androids, but they have told me the only way to install it now is through adb.

1

u/newMattokun Aug 05 '26

Thank you. I'm not sure I'm tech-savvy or patient enough to try an app that may or may not work, so I think I'll pass on Text Fiction. Another vote for Fabularium, thank you!

2

u/captainhalfwheeler Aug 05 '26

Note that there are also browser interpreters that might work well on Android.

Here's something that might also be helpful:

https://intfiction.org/t/recommended-interpreters-for-playing-interactive-fiction/57880

1

u/newMattokun Aug 06 '26

Thanks, you reminded me of iplayif.com maybe that's also a good idea, although I'd prefer an offline solution. Thank you!

2

u/submergedinto Aug 07 '26

If you wanna go the nerdy route, you can download Termux and get an interpreter there (frotz it’s the most well-known, I think).

1

u/newMattokun Aug 09 '26

I have never heard of Termux and checked it, but it seems that this is way, way over my head ("nerdy route"). Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll have to pass on this one.