Jigsaw
Jigsaw is an interactive fiction (IF) game, written by Graham Nelson in 1995. The game begins on New Year's Eve of 1999, with the player discovering a time machine enabling them to travel throughout the twentieth century (including voyage of the Titanic, discovery of penicillin, codebreaking of the enigma machine during World War II, opening of the Suez Canal, and the recording of Abbey Road) to ensure history unfolds 'correctly' despite the activities of 'Black', a character who starts out as an antagonist but becomes the player's love interest. 'Black' has no explicitly stated gender, allowing players to choose that for themselves.
Also recorded as Jigsaw.z8
Jigsaw
- Date
- 1995
- Genre
- interactive fiction
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Jigsaw. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6192387
In this article
The object
The object
Jigsaw contains references to other interactive fiction games, including Trinity. Features of the game include attention to detail, and a romantic relationship between the player's character and another central character whose gender is never revealed (allowing the player to project the gender of their choice onto both). Described as "acclaimed," "epic..notable," and as "[perhaps] one of the most fun educational games in existence". The gameplay is challenging.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Jigsaw • Developer — Graham Nelson • Publisher — Self published • Designer — Graham Nelson • Programmer — Graham Nelson • Engine — Z-machine • Released — 1995 • Genre — time-travel romance, Interactive Fiction, Adventure • Platforms — Z-machine for PCs, plus later browser • Modes — Single player
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Named but not plotted · 1
Jigsaw is associated with United Kingdom.
Country
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Jigsaw (video game), revision 1276553310 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Andy Hughes. The 10 Best Time Travel Videogames (Jigsaw, #3 of 10). Topless Robot of Village Voice Media. February 16, 2011.
- 2.Edward Rothstein. TECHNOLOGY: CONNECTIONS; In the intricacy of a text game, no object is superfluous, no formulation too strange. The New York Times. 1998-04-06.
- 3.Dennis G. Jerz. Tasking Ariel in Graham Nelson's The Tempest. Seton Hill University website, also published in SPAG#24 newsletter by the Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games. 2000-02-07.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Jiahu gudiTerminology
- Jiangling MotorsOrganisation
- Jiangsu Yueda Kia MotorsOrganisation
- jieguTerminology
- Jikkyō Oshaberi ParodiusWork
- Jikkyō World Soccer 2002Work
- Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu '95Work
- Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009Work
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of Jigsaw?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.