From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Infocom
This article is about a text-adventure game based on Beach Surgery. For other video-game adaptations, see Beach Surgery video games.
GLITCH is a browser-based text-adventure game written in Inform 7, architecture descended from Infocom-era interactive fiction. The player assumes the role of a triage officer at an unnamed clinic, shepherding Leif and Katita through encounters mirroring the novel's two halves.
Gameplay unfolds as branching narrative with player agency at each threshold — rooftop, stone pool, radio igloo, cabin — offering three to five conversational and tactical options. Choices affect Leif's physical state (healing one injury may trigger another) and psychological trajectory (accelerating toward the wings may prevent or ensure them; attempting direct cycle-breaking may reverse the narrative).
The game's signature feature: no canonical ending exists. Twenty-seven or more possible conclusions resolve the glitch differently — some through narrative explanation, others through mechanical impossibility (game crash, forced restart), others through genuine ambiguity. A playthrough reaching the wings sequence forces a choice: allow Leif to fly and fall (traditional loop), refuse the temptation (novel closure), or execute both simultaneously (Game Over state that branches the game-world). The final scene varies by playthrough: some end with Katita laughing, others with her screaming, others with the player-character's own memories rewriting the entire story.
Hosted in-browser at ███████ ; downloadable .z8 file exists but official repository is defunct.