ive heard of both and i ADORE DDLC! It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone talk about Spooky’s jumpscare mansion! I almost forgot about that game lol. I love the monsters and the detail to making it horrifying without having like one coherent plot with a deeper meaning. I mean, the monsters have lore, but you’d have to actively search for it. I’m going to make you able to learn the backstories of the ghosts living in the mansion, but I just don’t know how you’d get it. I’m leaning towards talking to them or the killer having souvenirs as most do irl.
2 Likes
In that case, I’d say we’re in for an amazing IF then. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. I don’t think horror is common in Choice of Games, but I’d love to see it fill a niche. There’s a chance I might help out with that.
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Ahhh, I know! Horror is so underrated in this platform, I’d love to see more stories like those!
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One more thing. House of Horrors interest me as well. I think that has a lot potential. 
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Thank you! I’m glad someone likes the concept!
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Hi all! Long-time lurker – but I’m trying to turn a new leaf over and am considering really pouring my heart and soul into drafting out a game this November. I have a couple of narrative projects going that weren’t originally interactive story-choice games, but I feel that they would make interesting threads worthwhile fleshing out. Getting any kind of positive feedback regarding interest in seeing one of these in-the-game-flesh would mean a lot to me.
CW: Some of these ideas touch on apocalyptic violence, depression, psychosis, suicide, and addiction issues. Immediately below in the summaries, nothing is talked about explicitly. In the MORE DETAILS section, there is a veils-style (in the Ron Edwards Lines and Veils meaning) engagement with some (if not most) of the aforementioned themes.
- PLAY-PAUSE-REWIND; a rogue-like repetition of a day that needs to be dusted off, searched for meaning, and taken apart in order for the player to be free from its curse – because every other pathway apart from the right one leads to the same thing: the end of your life.
- Red String; time-traveling detective obliged to try and track down a disappeared informant by searching a sleepy road-side gas station across the ages, and in doing so, receives clues that reveal the mystery of the informant’s vanishing.
- Ill Humour; you took a year off college to get your life together, but as is becoming more and more apparent, there’s something different about you. You have a living, manifested connection with your bodies humors – blood, phlegm, black & yellow bile. Your body speaks to you – and not metaphorically. It is both a gift and a curse.
MORE DETAIL:
- PLAY-PAUSE-REWIND is a really exciting idea to me; it’s also the most action-driven, a lot more like an old-school choose-your-own-adventure than the rest of these because it’s meant to illustrate the problem or the nature of its puzzle through incorrect player choices (in fact, since the player remembers each life, wrong choices afford them knowledge points that open up choices that wouldn’t have otherwise existed for them in ignorance, so failing is still progress). It’s also the thinnest plot-wise. I want to say you’re a delivery driver in a big city, on your e-bike, and it’s the last dispatch of the night via UnderEats, you accept the job, and you go through it mindlessly, most of the dialog talking about your frustrations over money, what you’re studying, hopes and dreams, and the way that working 16, 17 hours a day just to make $120 a day (before taxes) is zapping your body slowly and surly of all the energy it needs to keep hope for better times alive. You realize as you pick up the order, based on the order and the name, that you’ve had this customer before. This premonition is confirmed when you arrive at the building, and you begin to wonder why she stuck in your mind. You can’t remember, really – and the exhausted side of you hopes to hell it’s not because she’s a shitty tipper. You get upstairs, hand off the pizza, and she gives you a smile; it’s surprisingly genuine, and it comes with a cash tip. A good one. It’s a nice change to the pace of the evening, and you realize you probably remember because she’s kind. It helps, a little, against the frustration that’s been seeding itself in the pasture of your day. You’re back on your bike before you realize that there’s a slip of paper in with the cash tip – quick glance at it, you think it’s a receipt. Maybe from whatever purchase the cash was used for before it became your tip. You shove it in your pocket. You go home, your partner’s in bed already, you go to the kitchen. There’s leftover tamales in the fridge, and you pluck one out, debating whether or not to microwave it before eating it cold. Half-way through you realize the AC’s broken again – or at least not running; there’s sweat running down your back that’s foreign to you inside your own home. You get up to turn it on when there’s a knock at the door. Three slow, sharp knocks. You glance back in the kitchen to look at the time – it’s 01:13 AM. Before you can do much more than frown, a voice comes from behind the door. Hello? Mr. Oquendo? It’s Liliana from across the hall – did your power go out? I can’t get anything in the kitchen to turn on! The words are in Spanish, the voice is familiar enough, you think, and it offers an explanation – maybe the breaker that runs your AC connects to your neighbor’s apartment. It shouldn’t, you tell yourself, walking towards the door, but the electricians your landlord hires cut corners. You open the door, and there is a woman – young, in her late twenties – standing there. You’ve never seen her before. In her hand, she has a gun, and it’s pointed at your head. Before you can finish your next thought, she pulls the trigger and you’re surprised no pain comes with the sudden, deafening rush of black. You blink. You blink again. You’re back on your bike, summer night thick on your skin. Your phone goes off as a delivery order comes in via UnderEats. You decide this will be the last order of the night, especially if you’re falling asleep while waiting for work. Weird dream, you think, as you look up directions to where you’re going. The customer’s name rings a bell. A shiver works its way down your spine as you dismiss the half-remembered memory away as deja vu. You think you remember her because she’s a good tipper, actually, so there’s a plus to end your night.
(And so on, and so on.)
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Red String started out as a podcast idea, actually. I like the idea that a temporally mobile detective has very little to go off except a place and a time. Not a date, mind you, just a time. And keeps looking over and over again at the place listed at different times, hoping that the clue she’s received will one day turn up some kind of thread on an informant (maybe a lover, or a sibling) that’s gone missing. The day that she realizes she’s picked up on a clue, she doesn’t even realize what she’s seeing at first. The place is a gas station – the kind with a general store attached to it; and before it was a gas station, it was a small market place, a gathering, a nexus of transient human activity. It always has been, except for when humans weren’t around, and even then, the place has some kind of pull on the animals. The natural well of the gas when the station gets built is housed in the bones of a watering hole that flourished well through the Bronze Age. She arrives one rainy February day in 1911 and there’s a red string on the ground where there’s never been one before. She follows it, compelled oddly, and finds it attached to something buried in the ground. She digs it up, much to the chagrin of the owner, and it’s tied to a cell phone from 2002, a Hiptop Sidekick of all things. That’s when she knows the hunt is really on.
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Ill Humour is a really compelling story to me, and it’s very much inspired by games (the ones that come to mind are Disco Elysium, The Stanly Parable, Night in The Woods) where the relationship the player has with its narrator is one that can grow and change and develop in positive and uplifting, stabilizing ways, or in more pessimistic or outright delusional ways, and often the way in which the player develops a relationship with their in-game self is the tool through which they’re able to accomplish the solving of the mystery. It’s tricky to do: I think anytime you gamify symptoms of psychosis, you have to be careful with what you’re trying to get across here, and I think it’s important to say, the Four Humours are, in effect, a type of curse or gift given to the player through family blood. Balancing them is billed as the the best way forwards, rather than make choices that strengthen one or two over the rest, but balancing them to figure out the mystery plaguing the protagonist’s family requires that they do some heavy lifting in being honest and vulnerable in interpersonal relationships. Giving in to the pull of one particular humor allows them to skate by and retain a far more alluring sense of fatalism. The mystery concerns an estranged best friend. Your best friend through-out high school stopped talking to you out of the blue at the beginning of your last semester at school. It was difficult, because they were still pretty much your best friend – a talisman of familiarity and comfort as things got progressively more out of hand at college. Then – nothing. One day to the next, ghosted. It contributed heavily to a sudden depression, which it turn lead to the decision to take a year at home. The advice you’ve been given by your therapist is to leave it alone, but you’re not satisfied with that. A return home is enough to awaken the Voices of your Humours as well, and they give your nagging dissatisfaction a power and energy it otherwise might not have.
And that’s the three I have! Thoughts welcome.
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I like the second one the best: Red String. I like the idea of being able to explore a single location from multiple time periods. However, I feel that the idea would work best if this extends to more than one location, and is used more as a gameplay mechanic that’s accessible throughout.
I find that I’m making this decision based on limited info though. For the first idea, I’m given what looks like an excerpt of the story and for the third, it looks like just one of many gameplay mechanics within a game I know not the plot of.
Based on the info you gave me though, the Repeat idea looks like it could get stale if handled poorly. I still have no idea about Ill Humour…
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Thanks so much for the feedback.
I apologize that it didn’t feel like I didn’t give enough info regarding Ill Humour. I was torn between trying to give a concise blurb about everything and being unsure whether mechanics or plot would be of more interest to people in terms of expressing potential engagement with the idea.
I’m glad Red String spoke to you though, and I appreciate knowing that having one location would feel too restrictive.
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I guess it depends on how long the story itself is going to be. If its going to be a short story at maybe 40k words (short for Hosted Games), then one location works the same way the cabin in Evil Dead works. If it’s going to be a full-blown criminal case that could span a series if it’s a series, to the tune of maybe 400k words, then multiple locations work best.
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Interest check in an Attack on Titan esque dark story game that is very choice and branch based
11 Likes
House of horror or Date a God sound the most interesting to me
Interest check for an esports based around Smash Bros with choices that highly matter for endings and winning games
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Okayy sooo, some people have already showed interest in this project on my tumblr, but I’m curious to see if anyone on here would be interested in this, too!
Dogma is a high-fantasy fic where you’re NOT the Chosen One. But, after accidentally interrupting a ritual linked to an eons old prophecy, you’re blessed - or cursed - with the mark that the REAL Chosen One was supposed to receive. Then, you’re thrust into a world oh-so different from your own - one full of danger, politcial intrigue and assassins waiting at every corner.
Features
- accidentally (or not) become the chosen one!
- full character customization (gender, hair style, etc)
- choose your species, from human, elf, orc and dwarven!
- choose your fighting style! warrior, rogue, or mage!
- romance one out of several unique and special characters! from a cold-hearted warrior to a mysterious elven mage! orrr, begin a poly romance with two or three of them!
- choose a weapon and create a special bond with it!
- attempt to deal with author’s shitty humor <3
- and more!!
Romance Options
I plan to add nine, with several ways of romancing them. Romance, friendmance and rivalmance, BUT I am incredibly dumb so who knows what’ll happen. I’ll add them in the big post, if anyone’s interested in this. I may or may not add more, though it depends on how I feel LOL
ALSO before I lead anyone on… this fic is gonna be jam-packed of shitty humor and puns, because I can’t write anything serious for the LIFE of me, so if you’re wanting a serious, no nonsense type of fic then this isn’t for you!
28 Likes
Fantasy and humor would be a good combination that I don’t see often. Would love to see it.
Hello everybody!
I’ve been lurking on this thread for some time now and I’ve had this type of story in my mind since I realized I could make my own Choose Your Own Adventure game/book about the kinds of things I want to read/play. There’s no stable plot thought out at the moment but I wanted to get some opinions on the concept/synopsis and characters right now. This will be a very big project for me so it will most likely take a long time for there to be anything solid for me to post as a WIP but nonetheless I want to read any initial reactions to what I have now.
The characters that will be a part of the story are very near and dear to my heart and most of the ones I have thought up are going to be romantic options, however I would love feedback/opinions on all of them as well if you’d like to give them.
In advance, I’d like to apologize for the amount of reading this post will be but this is how I think of things and how it’s formatted for me to understand even if it’s a bit lengthy…
The current title is (tho it feels a bit bland and unoriginal): The Global Defense Bureau
Genre: Action, Romance, Drama
I want the Global Defense Bureau to be a thrilling interactive fiction that takes inspiration from some of my favorite action movies such as the James Bond and John Wick series and the popular Hitman and Assassin’s Creed video games series. But like, all the action and drama and romance in a book.
Concept/Synopsis
You’re one of the newest agents of the Global Defense Bureau, a top-secret agency that was recently formed about 5 years ago, that is neither a part of a single government nor a criminal organization, based on an artificial island off the East coast of the U.S. that seeks to root out corruption in the governments around the world and eliminate any threats to society. The GDB remains hidden from everyone except the highest powers of each government, and they have eyes and ears everywhere, from the luxuries of the highest class to the lowest of the slums.
Disclaimer: This story will use different names, personalities and reputations of political leaders of countries and such so any references to real persons, alive or otherwise, and their respective countries, history, relatives, etc. are unintentional and not meant to offend.
Track corrupted politicians, potential enemies, and other targets and get information about their resources and connections through deception, seduction, or intimidation. What will you bring to the table and how will you execute your missions?
Disguise yourself (or don’t) and attend the largest political summit in the world where you can sneak around for leverage on your targets, charm the guests with your shining charisma and collect the hottest gossip (and a secret or two), or stage a confrontation for all to see!
Will you be able to keep your head on your shoulders? Or will you be the reason everyone’s hard work crumbles to dust?
MC
- You can choose from male, female, nonbinary, trans
- You can be gay, straight, bi, ace or pan, whatever you want
- You’ll be able choose from three different backstories that would affect stats and relationships
- MC is around mid-late twenties
Romantic Options:
All the ROs are around mid-late twenties, some early thirties
(There might be more idk and you can choose not to romance any of them and just be friends, there will also be polyam options)
Nakia Gamal Verardi
The gentlemanly and cunning founder and Chief of the Global Defense Bureau. His open-mindedness and charm knows no bounds but he will not hesitate to switch to being ruthless and cold hearted when protecting his loved ones and fellow agents of the GDB. Can you become one of this ambitious man’s priorities?
Description:
- He’s half Egyptian and half Italian (mom’s Egyptian and dad’s Italian, he does whatever he can to stay connected to both of their cultures, such as through tattoos)
- 6’ 1’’ with broad shoulders + long legs, big hands
- Tan skin
- Long, dark brown hair that reaches the middle of his back (usually tied in a high ponytail or bun)
- Graceful facial features: high cheekbones, pointed nose, slightly upturned eyes with long lashes, slightly arched eyebrows and plush lips (clean shaven)
- Hazel eyes with bright specks of gold and green (always observing and seem to see right through you)
- Lobe piercings (will occasionally wear earrings, like simple silver dangling ones)
- Wears simple silver rings and his family’s ring on his right index finger
Nakia has several tattoos spanning the space of his back, shoulders, and neck. They all symbolize protection, eternity, life, or leadership in some way. He has a bear tattoo in the middle of his shoulder blades. He has a tattoo of the eye of Ra above the bear, at the base of his neck. He has a tattoo of a tjet, also known as “the Knot of Isis” or “Blood of Isis” on his right shoulder blade. He has a tattoo of an ankh on his left shoulder blade. And, he has a tattoo of the crossed crook and flail at the middle of his back, below the bear.
Alix Mao
This stoic and enigmatic Vice-Chief who always seems to melt into the shadows will keep you on your toes. The mask they constantly wear only shows their eyes, which seem to never betray any of their emotions. Will you be able to crack this person’s mask, even just a little?
Description:
- Filipino-American (born to a Filipino mom and dad whose parents immigrated to the states before they were born)
- 5’ 1’’ with a lithe, athletic build
- Short, slightly wavy black hair in a bob cut
- Bronze skin
- Almost emotionless dark brown eyes
- They have tattoos but you’ll have to find that out for yourself
Zephyr Kumagai Ryneheart
The imposing and aloof Executive in charge of all things tech when it comes to the GDB. His distinct lack of interest in everyone other than Nakia and helping the GDB is something of note. If you’d like to try, can you worm your way into this man’s heart?
Description:
- Zeph’s African-Japanese-American (born from an African-American dad and a Japanese-American mom)
- 6’ 5’’ with a strong build and big hands (which don’t seem to deter his typing speed at all)
- Strong jawline, thick lips, almond-shaped eyes and light stubble along his chin
- Dark brown eyes (piercing and calculating)
- Short, kinky black hair
- Medium brown skin (almost seems to glow in the sunlight)
Zeph has a tattoo of his back in between his shoulder blades, which is a tribute to his parents with both his mother’s name in Japanese and his father’s name in English underneath their wedding date.
Blaze Gusard
Blaze is your fellow agent of the GDB who joined a few years before helping recruit you. She’s if flamboyant was personified, bold and loud, with her clothing and her words, so it’s easy to get annoyed or sweeped up in her excitement, especially since she’ll be your partner. But why would she help recruit you and what does she know?
Description:
- Blaze is Irish-American (her mom’s Irish and her dad’s Irish-American)
- 5’ 6’’ with a lean, toned build
- Pale skin and freckles dotted across her cheeks and nose
- Medium-length, curly hair with bangs that almost covers her eyes
- Ginger hair
- Deep sea blue eyes
- Small tattoos along her arms and shoulder blades
- Has helix and lobe piercings on both ears, an industrial bar on her right ear, and an stud piercing on her left eyebrow
Emery Walker
Intimidating and fiercely loyal to the GDB, Emery is the Executive in charge of security and combat. Well-versed in several martial arts and weapons, he’s someone you should never cross, not that he’d let you get away with it if you did. Once you’ve gotten past his prickly shell, will you be someone he can open up to?
Description:
- Emery is German and was born in America
- 5’ 5’’ with a muscular and powerful build
- Rectangular face shape, slightly sharp jawline, thin lips and eyebrows, wide eyes
- Light, olive colored skin
- Dark blonde hair in a short undercut style
- Dark emerald green eyes
Emery is a female to male trans character and since I personally don’t know about the processes/experiences that trans people go through, if you’d like to share any sources on writing realistic trans characters or things I should avoid when writing him, please feel free to do so.
Maria D'Angelo
Stunning and dangerous describes Maria quite well, the Executive in charge of reconnaissance and infiltration. As a spy herself, she’s a formidable foe, able to change her appearance and behavior easily to better ingratiate herself to her targets. If her beauty doesn’t make you fall first, her flirtatious words are sure to fluster you. Will you be able to get close to the real her, without losing any limbs?
Description:
- Maria is Spanish-Italian (Her mom’s Spanish and her dad’s Italian)
- 5’ 4’’ with a curvy build
- Round face shape, round upturned eyes, high cheekbones, thin lips and arched brows
- Light brown skin
- Long, wavy light brown hair usually left down or in a low bun
- Light green eyes
- Beauty mark near her left eye
- Occasionally wears earrings and jewelry but usually for formal events/missions
Maria has a red rose tattoo with thorny vines snaking down her left bicep
Christian Ambrose
A very handsome and charming man, Mr. Ambrose is, and his teasing knows no limit. What he does for work, you’ll find out in time, so let’s just say he’s an intelligent businessman. Will be able to see past the dazzling smiles and hear more than the pretty words that spill past his lips so easily?
Description:
- Chris is British-American (Dad’s British and his mom’s British-American)
- 5’ 11’’ with a slim yet sturdy build
- Cream-colored skin with light freckles along his shoulders and upper back
- Bright sky blue eyes
- Straight, smooth facial features, slight upturned eye shape, and long lashes
- Clean shaven
- Medium-length (slightly covers his neck), slightly wavy hair
- Chestnut brown hair
Again, I apologize for all the reading but if you read through everything then thank you so much and I look forward to any opinions/critiques/questions you may have regarding my idea and characters.
31 Likes
Interesting. 
in regards to the RO, I hope that we are not forced to swoon or blushing uncontrollably over them, especially towards the gender that the MC/reader not attracted to. I hope there is a choice to react dismissively/uninterested over their “attractiveness” and flirtatious attempt and just be a stoic poker face/unfazed don’t give a fuck attitude over them.
I want to know if the MC is a competent, experienced and skilled agent, I don’t like it if the MC is a noob agent and a total wuss that always overshadowed by the other characters/RO, not a fan of that one.
3 Likes
Thank you for asking about this!
For all the ROs you can choose what reaction you can have towards their personality, looks and words, such as when ROs like Maria or Chris are flirting with you, you can choose to have an impassive expression, flirt back, be friendly, be disgusted, even make fun of them.
I want the reader/MC to have the choice of their own reactions/opinions on the RO, regardless of the description I give of them/other characters’ opinions.
I also dislike if the MC isn’t competent by themselves when I play IF so the MC will be an experienced agent and you would get to choose exactly how skilled/what they are skilled in (ex. combat/intimidation, persuasion, etc.) via their backstory and other choices in the beginning.
12 Likes
Will there be threat levels at this agency? Because it reminds me a lot of the third Criminal Case game and that Interpol-like agency. And in that game or at least in this type of story they face threats not only in the form of supervillains but also in networks of smuggling things like art, animals, diamonds or other activities carried out by criminal organizations such as assassinations or terrorist actors.
1 Like
Thanks for your question and apologies for the late reply!
First of all, yes, the GDB will be dealing with threats similarly to Interpol in terms of on a global scale.
However, I think there wouldn’t be ‘levels’ of threats because the scale they’re dealing with will envelop global issues such as smuggling (of any kind), human-trafficking, terrorism (cyber-terrorism, bioterrorism, etc.), assassins/hitmen and major organized crime syndicates.
I don’t know but I don’t think you can really logically scale that kind of potential to harm society y’know? But give me any ideas you may regarding ‘threat levels’ as it could be a possibility for me to add into how the bureau works.
6 Likes
Interest check for realistic game about parenting with tons of branching potential and options
4 Likes