jaclynhyde

I took it easy this year with only twenty-something played during the competition, but I'll keep going through them and add to my recommendations!

Favorites
Choice

• Saltwrack: Lead an expedition to the center of the apocalypse to find out what happened--or at least get out alive. Beautifully atmospheric polar expedition sci-fi/fantasy horror; survival is not easy, and you won't make it out unscathed.
• The Secrets of Sylvan Gardens (Walkthrough): Find out why you keep sleepwalking to a beautiful--magical?--garden while getting to know the garden's keepers. A lovely fantasy story with great watercolor art and music; the friendships and romances are great.
• The Tempest of Baraqiel: Translate an alien language to help the Terran fleet to defeat a terrifying enemy--or join a rebellion, watch some holos, or figure out what isn't being said. Fascinating worldbuilding, excellent writing, really cool art and music, and so many choices to make. Manual saving and loading doesn't work, so turn on the back button and follow where your choices lead.

Hybrid

• The Wise-Woman's Dog (Walkthrough): As the faithful dog of a Hittite wise-woman affected by a curse, use your affinity for curses and blessings to save her. Well-written with fantastic puzzles, and the setting is meticulously researched with tons of footnotes. The game is a hyperlinked parser and can be played as choice or full parser.

Parser

• The Little Four (Walkthrough): As Arthur Hastings, solve Hercule Poirot's low-stakes mystery during a day with your family. Extremely heartwarming with absolutely perfect Hastings narration; just examine everything and delight in the atmosphere.

Other Recommendations
Choice

• A Conversation in a Dark Room: You're sitting in front of a man you've just met who will soon die by your hands. Talk. This is nicely atmospheric, and it's fun replaying to find out what connection (or lack thereof) you can form over one conversation. 
• *OVER*: Survive a chaotic 90s vacation with your homophobic family while stress and insomnia takes more and more of a toll. Lou's story takes some time to ramp up, but it's really affecting; it's very long with no back button, so there's a lot of crucial story you'll miss without a very long replay. The family member you name apparently has her own queer awakening, but you can't experience both.
• A Rock's Tale: You wake up as a rock on the side of the road, with a cast of colorful characters with interesting problems who come walking by. Super charming and chill, with a bunch of fun endings to discover.
• Your Very Last Words (download only): While standing before a firing squad during the Mexican Revolution, think upon your last words. It's a little janky but short and very atmospheric.

Hybrid

• whoami (Walkthrough): Navigate a computer to upload your consciousness to its server before your body succumbs to radiation poisoning. Subtle, fascinating story and worldbuilding delivered through exploration of a file system, with some crazy formatting done in Twine.

Parser

• Frankenfingers (Walkthrough): You awaken by Frankenstein's creature, your body reduced to a hand; thus starts a poetic adventure of searching for one wedding band. Narration and puzzles together work splendidly as you go forth. Avoid the roadblock that annoyed me--at the West Side know you can go north.
• Mooncrash (Walkthrough): The end of the world is nigh; align yourself with four powerful individuals to do what you can in the face of the inevitable. This has four sections and a final route, each with different gameplay; a lot of it is under-implemented, but the conversational routes are excellent. I recommend starting with Watcher and ending with Fateweaver to end on a high note.
• Us, Too! (Walkthrough): Claim your inheritance through wordplay. Every wordplay Andrew Schultz game is a ton of fun that will have you muttering weird rearrangements of words for at least a day. This one only has one incredibly esoteric puzzle, and the rest is a lot of fun with a lot of hint mechanisms. Play now--your brain won't go "Plain ow!"

EDIT: 59 out of 74 games judged by end of comp! I'm planning to get through the rest to complete my recommendations. 

Favorites

Choice

• My Brother; The Parasite: A parasite allows you to speak to your abusive brother after his death; can you ever find closure for a lifetime of pain? Gorgeous art and presentation of a moody story where the horror accentuates the real. Mind the content warnings.
• Paintball Wizard (Walkthrough): As a pledge at a wizard fraternity, it's up to you to learn enough spells to win the wizard paintball game. A really fun magic system and surprisingly sweet story make this a blast to play, and the many Easter eggs are an incentive to use that magic system to the fullest.
• Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head: Sneak inside your abandoned studio to save your deceased boss's beloved puppets--but the puppets aren't the only things there. A surprisingly touching take on mascot horror, with fun gameplay and ridiculous amount of missable dialogue and interactions between the puppets.

Parser

• Citizen Makane (Walkthrough): As the last man on earth, reintegrate yourself into society and solve problems by leveling up your sexual prowess. It's a deckbuilder deconstruction of an old porn game that's hilarious and straight-up fun to play. There's a bunch of optional cards to find and alternate resolutions to quests, so worth replaying, too. Making a non-creepy game about a dude banging tons of women is impressive.
• Dr. Ludwig and the Devil (Walkthrough): As a mad scientist, make a deal with the devil (but not before figuring out how to wriggle your way out of it). Hilarious and delightful, and I love all the queer characters! 
• Gestures Towards Divinity (Walkthrough): In a gallery displaying Francis Bacon's art, learn more about its subjects. A haunting, heavy game diving into art, biography, and ethics; I recommend pulling up the works in question while you play. Definitely heed the content warnings!
• Honk! (Walkthrough): A phantom is haunting your circus; can a clown save the day? A hilarious game full of clever puzzles and charming characters--it's a joy to play.  You can pet the goose.
• LAKE Adventure (Walkthrough): At 13, a boy made a text adventure about going to a friend's sister's birthday party. Decades later, you play while he commentates. A really cool concept which, as far as I can tell, is actually an expanded game the author made as a teen. CW for
  spoilers

  a child dying of cancer.
• The Little Match Girl 4 (Walkthrough): The Little Match Girl, having been adopted by Ebeneezer Scrooge and become a vampire-slayer/general heroine, must collect pearls to prevent war between fairies and humans. A super-enjoyable Metroidvania with tons of fun puzzles, sidequests, and clever descriptions. There's five previous games in the series, but the introduction tells you the important backstory.
• Ribald Bat Lady Plunder Quest (Walkthrough): As a cheerfully amoral bat lady, conquer a suitable birthday present for your lover. The florid and hilarious fantasy prose makes exploring and examining everything a treat. It is extremely, explicitly horny; the particular style isn't my thing, but it has so much fun with sex that it just adds to the atmosphere.

Other Recommendations

Choice

• All Hands: Follow the songs and board the ship. A short, atmospheric horror story. The system (Texture) is less buggy on mobile for me.
• All the Troubles Come My Way: As a cowboy stuck in the future, find your hat. A short, hilarious game with a bit of Disco Elysium flair.
• Antony & Cleopatra: Case !V: The Murder of Marlon Brando: As Antony and Cleopatra, investigate the murder of Marlon Brando in a synchronous two-player mystery. The mystery is genuinely tricky to figure out, and the bizarre cast of characters adds to the fun of the setting. I recommend playing with a friend in-person or with voice chat, but it's possible to play in two windows to experience the writing.
• Detective Osiris: As a newborn god, interact with your loved ones and the Egyptian pantheon to solve your own murder. A fun little mystery with enjoyable characters and great art. You can pet the dog and crocodile!
• Dysfluent: An ordinary day of a person with a stutter. A really effective exploration of what it's like to have a stutter and how other people treat you.
• The Gift of What You Notice More (Walkthrough): You're packing to leave--but first you have to confront what went wrong. A surreal game of diving back into memories, solving puzzles, and figuring out what's important. I had to walk around trying everything on everything a lot, but the overall experience was worth it.
• Last Valentine's Day: You try to bring a Valentine's gift to your lover, over and over. An effective take on the end of a relationship told through a time loop. The Greek mythology trappings don't really work for me, but it stands well on its own.
• Lunium (Walkthrough): Free yourself from a locked room in order to catch a murderer. An impressive translation of an escape-the-room adventure game to Twine, with nice visuals and an entertaining mystery.
• My Pseudo-Dementia Museum (Download recommended): A museum of the author's time of mental health recovery. The focus on objects makes for an interesting perspective, and it meant a lot as someone with mental illness to see the little things that gave someone else's life meaning. Mind the content warnings and take it as an exhibition, not a game.
• One Does Not Simply Fry: Lord of the Rings meets cooking competitions as competitors attempt to fry the One(ion) Ring. Funny and super replayable with four contestants to choose from and a bunch of achievements.
• The Ship (Walkthrough): As a ship captain, follow a mysterious poem left by a parent to find your path. A really cool concept with a lot of minigames and a fun, surreal narrative.
• Tricks of light in the forest (Walkthrough): Take a walk through the woods, finding specimens and taking photos. A lovely exploration game, with the hints of worldbuilding suggesting a lurking darker story.
• The Whale's Keeper: You're a cetologist who has been swallowed by a whale. Do you try to escape or discover what truly lives in the belly of the whale? The mood of not-quite horror is perfect for the ocean setting. The platform is annoying but worth dealing with to play.
• The Whisperers: An interactive play taking place in Moscow, 1938, that allows the will of the people to decide the lives of four neighbors. I really want to see this as a play!
• Xanthippe's Last Night With Socrates: As Socrates' wife, spend one last night with him in his jail cell. Lots of bawdy, black humor, frank discussions of philosophy and death, and sex. 

Parser

• Bright Brave Knight Knave (Walkthrough): Hail, hold! This tale told through rhymes is a sale sold that will have you rhyming forever. The puzzles can be obscure, but a robust hint system (and lots of guessing) makes sure you won't have to bail bold.
• How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title (Download only): Help a prince become less useless in a  staggeringly detailed fantasy adventure. I've only finished the two-hour tutorial, meant for IFComp judging, but the amusing and wordy writing makes me want to luxuriate in the full adventure. You can pet the dog, but probably shouldn't.
• The Vambrace of Destiny (Walkthrough): Go dungeon crawling for spell gems with single-letter commands. An ingenious interface and control scheme makes for some fun puzzles, and the many optional treasures allow for some brainteasers.

It's the most wonderful time of the year~ https://ifcomp.org/ballot 

Loved

• Dr. Horror's House of Terror: Parser. You're a B-movie actor discovering the horror creeps much further than the styrofoam sets. Hilarious and delightful, with perilous situations that entertain without frustrating. 
• The Golden Heist: Choice. An entertaining romp to empty Emperor Nero's treasury, featuring three possible companions and many ways to bumble your way through.

Liked

• The Libonotus Cup: Parser/Choice. An entertaining pirate race with a fun mix of both parser and choice during different phases, and even feelies! The humor is fun and Monkey Islandesque, but the finicky parser makes some tasks frustrating (including using the hint system).

After finally finishing all the games, I figured I'd put my thoughts down. Check them out at https://ifcomp.org/ballot/ or https://ifcomp.org/comp/2018 (once judging is finished).

TL;DR, my top five choice and parser games:
Choice: Animalia, Cannery Vale, Dead Man's Fiesta, Erstwhile, Grimnoir
Parser: Alias 'The Magpie', Bascilica de Sangre, Diddlebucker!, StupidRPG, The Temple of Shorgil

( Games! Games! Games! )