The Guild of Unhinged Makers (WIP) - A "pick your own path" experience for burnt-out creatives and recovering perfectionists

Off-Topic Other Interactive Fiction
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Hey new friends!

I accidentally (on purpose) built a strange little world full of glowing objects, unfinished ideas, and a frog in a hoodie named Chaos. It’s called The Guild of Unhinged Makers, and sharing it with you feels thrilling, terrifying, and exactly right. It’s in a “preview” state-- I’m still trying to figure out how best to build out the story from here.

I’d be so grateful if you’d help me see it more clearly by offering your thoughts as you explore!

Synopsis: The Guild of Unhinged Makers*

Imagine a place stitched together from forgotten dreams, half-finished projects, and cosmic to-do lists scribbled in the margins of a star chart.

The Guild of Unhinged Makers is a narrative-based creative experience that blends introspective creating, storytelling, and whimsy into a choose-your-own-story format—designed especially for burned-out creatives, soft weirdos, and perfectionists learning how to play again.

Every corridor holds a different creative energy. Some are rooms to rest. Some are places to burn things. Others are quiet archives that catalog your unfinished dreams with care.

-Who Is This For?
- Quiet creatives who need gentle encouragement
- Curious leaders looking for inspiration
- Passionate makers who want to connect beyond algorithms

What You’ll Need:
-A notebook, a Notion account, or your favorite medium for reflection
-An open mind, a kind heart, and a tolerance for mild chaos
-Snacks encouraged. Dragons optional.

What This Game Is (and Isn’t)
This is a creativity based journaling game that unfolds over a choose-your-adventure style story.

• Each scene includes a short *story segment* that sets the mood and moves the narrative forward, 
• Forked paths to choose from, depending on your mood/response/reaction/creative itch, 
• The freedom to go at your own pace

Specific Questions + Feedback

  • Did the story unfold in a way that felt natural and easy to follow?
  • Were the scene transitions smooth or jarring?
  • Did the world feel immersive and clear in your mind?
  • Do you think this type of story will fit in this space?
  • I still haven’t done skill trees or points systems yet. Would love thoughts/feedback on that!

[FIND THE GUILD [[story version] HERE!]

I’m also thinking about doing a zine/graphic novel version? But I don’t know if this is the right place for that?

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Please also find my [Substack] which is a collection of my essays and writings that have been a stepping stone to The Guild.

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This is beautiful. I absolutely love it! Your descriptions of specific moments in the creative process are striking, and gorgeous in their brevity.

Here's my responses so far for your feedback questions
  1. The story feels lovely. Easy to follow, natural in that dreamy/intentionally-unnatural way that it’s going for. No complaints.
  2. Scene transitions feel smooth.
  3. Yes, it’s immersive and clear.
  4. I feel like it fits in well here, yes. It plays like IF, and there are some games here that take a less traditional-story approach and instead work with personal growth themes. Besides, the more the merrier!
  5. I actually really enjoyed not having to worry about stats when I played it. It fit the theme of there’s no pressure here, it’s purely for creative nourishment. But if other players prefer skill trees/points, it’d be pretty simple to just let people choose whether or not to have that feature turned on or off. Best of both worlds. That’s my two cents, but I also always tell people they should just do what they want lol.

I’d love to see the zine version, if you decide to make one. Also, I like the way you structured the UI. It’s very nice.

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thank you so much!! i appreciate for the feedback. i think i figured out a way to make a PDF with hyperlinks for a zine version!

i also want to make it “full-length”. (details tbd.)

in order to make this project longer-- do you think the narrative could be longer? or do you like the idea of more forks and prompts?

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