Interactive Fiction Database vs LaunchBox

Interactive Fiction Database (IFDB) is a free community catalog that helps players find interactive fiction games and decide what to play. Members can add and edit listings, search by title, author, or description, and narrow results with filters for genre, language, authoring system, format, rating, and publication date. Discovery tools include personalized recommendations, lists, polls, reviews, ratings, competitions, and member profiles. For supported titles, a Play Online option opens a game in a browser without an interpreter download; IFDB catalogs game information rather than hosting the games. Developers can use HTTP APIs that return JSON to search, retrieve listings, edit tags, or publish iFiction XML. Those APIs are intended for low-volume, user-driven applications, not frequent crawling or high-load mirroring. Full SQL exports excluding personal information are available through the IF Archive and updated roughly quarterly. IFDB also has web access and supports Z-machine, TADS, Hugo, and executable applications. It is maintained by the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation and funded by supporter donations.

LaunchBox is a game collection frontend and manager for modern PC games and emulated console games. It can import Steam and GOG games, ROM files, and MS-DOS games, then retrieve box art and metadata from its Games Database along with fan art, screenshots, and logos. Collections can be arranged and filtered by genre, platform, ESRB rating, developer, and publisher, with custom status and source fields. The Windows app supports Windows 10 and higher, with Windows 10 and 11 described as fully supported. LaunchBox for Android is free for collections of 100 games or fewer; it shares the games database, media, and portable XML data with Windows, and Windows data can be exported to Android. Premium adds themes, Big Box mode, gamepad automation, startup and pause screens, and display customization. The Regular Windows license costs $30 as a one-time purchase and includes a year of free updates. The maker says Premium is DRM-free and can be deployed to as many personal devices as desired. Windows data can also be moved by copying the app to another folder or computer.