March 2023 ChoiceBeat is here!

General
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And now … the most exciting thing to be announced on this site in almost twelve whole hours.

Here’s the latest issue of ChoiceBeat, the visual novel and interactive fiction zine. As always, we have a bunch of reviews of games both old and new. (If the review of The Floating City, by six-time Hosted Games author Felicity Banks, has you wanting to give it a try, there’s a coupon code for 40% off). There’s an article by a game developer about his early love/hate relationship with parser games, and one about what game authors can learn from TTRPGs. There’s a flowchart (flowcharts are cool).

There’s an exclusive little game called You Are a Theme Park Mascot That Wants to Get Fired, in which you play a rocket scientist attempting to colonize Mars. (Just kidding!) It’s bleak and cynical and in extremely poor taste, and it made me laugh out loud several times.

You can download the zine or read it online here:

Check it out, and feel free to let us know what you think!

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That was a fantastic read! I always like finding out about games I didn’t know existed from ChoiceBeat, and I think the Everything I Know About Writing Visual Novels I Learned From Dungeons & Dragons article may be particularly useful for IF authors, especially when thinking about giving players enough self-expression and opportunities to affect the game world.

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I believe I speak for us all when I say we’re honored to count you among our regular readers!

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The D&D article was good – and I liked the Theme Park Mascot Trying To Get Fired mini-game. :slight_smile:

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Something tells me that you are going to be the next Wreck-it Ralph, especially if you give people candy but the recipe has lethal drugs inside.