[danielmarkbruce]

In my mind a graphics based game was strictly better. Your example is more obvious in that it has a choice but no one would say one is strictly better (even a surfer).

So I was wondering what I was missing. Because the graphics based game can't be strictly better if people are playing these text based games. My mental model and the evidence didn't match.

I think I have a better handle on it now, your explanation above was a good one.

[RodgerTheGreat]

To expand on this a bit, even when it comes to graphics, more complex isn't necessarily "better".

Sometimes a simpler presentation helps focus on what matters most. Sometimes leaving things to the audience's imagination is more impactful than showing them explicitly. Relying on "closure" from the audience is a common technique in horror, for example.

Sometimes interactive fiction can express abstract concepts or subtle detail through prose which would be tremendously difficult to convey visually. The IF titles "9:05" and "Spider and Web" do very interesting things with unreliable narrators, for example. Less can be more.

[krisoft]

Thank you for asking the questions! It really helped me clarifying my thoughts too.

If you are interested in how these games look like / play, but don’t want to invest too much effort into it you can take a peek at a game play video: https://youtu.be/fFqg5gAbeAw

This one is someone playing Overboard. In this game you play an actress in the roaring twenties who just thrown her husband overboard from a trans-atlantic ship. Your goal is to get away with the murder before the ship docks in New York. (Perhaps by framing someone else.)