Adam Cadre
Adam Cadre (born February 5, 1974) is an American writer from Silver Spring, Maryland. He works in many forms—novels, screenplays, webcomics, and essays—but he is best known for interactive fiction (IF).
His 1998 IF piece Photopia changed the genre by removing puzzles and resource-management. It is widely seen as very influential to the development of interactive fiction and video games. His 1999 game Varicella won several XYZZY Awards and has been the subject of academic study. His 9:05 is also considered a strong entry point for people new to IF.
Cadre’s non-interactive work includes the novel Ready, Okay! (2000).
The Lyttle Lytton Contest, created by Cadre in 2001, is a playful contest to write the opening sentence to the worst possible novel. It is a lighter version of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest and emphasizes very short openings. The rules have changed over the years: initially 25 words or fewer; in 2008 the limit was raised to 30 words; in 2011 to 33 words; and in 2012 the limit was changed to 200 characters. There are usually other related contests as well.
A sample winning entry is: FADE IN EXT. FIELD DAY COW is standing in the field. NARRATOR: The cow is sad. (Pretending to be a mournful cow.) Mooooooo. — Sean Kernes
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:26 (CET).