How do I play a parser game or text adventure?

Question

What are the commands used in this kind of interactive fiction? Is there a cheat sheet?

Answer 1

There's a handy postcard with standard commands and a strategy guide for beginners. It's written by Andrew Plotkin and designed by Lea Albaugh, and you can use it as a cheat sheet while you play: http://pr-if.org/doc/play-if-card/

You can also try typing HELP in the game itself to see if the game offers any instructions.

There are even some interactive fiction games that have a tutorial mode, for instance, The Dreamhold.

Here are some other games on IFDB that have been tagged "tutorial mode": http://ifdb.tads.org/search?searchbar=tag%3Atutorial+mode