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Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I'd like to run a contest starting now through August 16th. The general theme is “Break!”

Using one of the provided prompts is not required, but if you wish to claim one reply with the number you wish to select, the prompt, and edit lock your post. Please double check that no one else has taken the prompt you want.

If you choose to make your own premise, it should revolve around a “break” of some sort, literal or figurative, as a key element of plot or setting. Something, someone, somewhen, or somewhere should be broken or breaking. Reply, “freeform” and edit lock your post.

As far as I know, there's no penalty for entering and then failing to produce a valid storygame. No pressure! But please don’t take a prompt from the list with no intention of making a storygame with it, as others might have wanted it.

Deadline: August 16th, 2020 at 11:59 P.M. Eastern
Entry Fee: None!
Rewards: It’s a mystery! Mizal will dole out rewards as she sees fit.
Minimum entries required: Five valid entries that meet site standards.


Prompt List:

1.  A woman goes on a journey to seek healing for a broken heart, and meets several eccentric characters along the way.

2. A sealed, domed city traps select citizens inside while keeping the rest out, but no one knows why. When someone close is taken into the dome, a reporter vows to break in and discover the truth.  

3. Two lovers are separated by a rift, able to send messages to each other but unable to cross over themselves.

4. A chronic rule-breaker seeks to change high-school for the better.

5. A vassal kingdom has just broken the treaty keeping the peace, and all ambassadors sent to the traitorous kingdom have not returned.

6. Aliens of diverse backgrounds come together to challenge the most secure financial facility in the galaxy.

7. A busy single with little time for love finds hope for romance on her daily coffee break at a local shop.
 
8. For years, Jewish revolts have been returned with severe and brutal countermeasures by Roman forces, blood running in the streets. But for now, the fighting has ended. Will you work with your Roman oppressors and negotiate for peace, join the Jewish zealots in a battle for freedom, or flee with the Christian sect through the mountains? (Historical, ~66-70 AD)

9. A rookie trains and competes to break a world record while dodging assassination attempts.

10.  Strange things are happening all over the universe, as if dreams and imaginings are manifesting. It seems the higher-ups don’t want anyone investigating these breaks in reality…

11.  A person wakes up in a deadly, maze-like building and is given 24 hours to break out.

12. Shards of the broken planet are held together by the mages, while the elite live in floating cities. But someone is assassinating the mages, one by one…

13. A normally by-the-book officer receives a strange object that allows him/her to break the mind-barrier and enter people’s memories and dreams in order to track down a serial killer.

14. An explorer finds the entrance to an ancient temple, but breaking in will not be simple.

15. A prisoner of war resists attempts to break his mind, body, and spirit while plotting escape.

16. Merlin breaks the rules of time by living life backwards. The first page is the ending of the tale, and choices trace back to the start.

17. A codebreaker works to intercept and decipher enemy messages in time to stop horrific events, but must be careful not to arouse suspicious.

18. A woman in rehab for a broken leg is recruited to be a spy – but she’ll have to use someone else’s body.

19. A person seeks to break the caste system and rise through the ranks by killing others and taking over their identities.

20. For millennia, Extra-Dimensional Authority officials have worked to change the multiverse by entering different worlds through “The Mesh” to alter them from the inside. But after one job leads to horrific consequences, an EDA officer is approached by rebels wanting to destroy The Mesh.

21. A car breakdown on an isolated road leads to a night in a mysterious cabin.

22. A starving, shambling zombie seeks brains to dissect – not just to eat, but in hopes of finding a cure.

23. A storygame that frequently breaks the fourth wall

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I WANT SIX!!! SIX. Also, Can I write more than one story, please?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Locked

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I just published my story the warped Castle

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
How is judging going to be handled?

I don't know if claiming prompts is necessary, since using them in the first place isn't necessary. Anyone could go with an original plot that just so happens to fit a prompt someone else already took.

Some of these look pretty good though, and the theme itself is a nice and open one on its own. I'm not committing to entering just yet but I know I'll probably break and do it anyway once I have some IRL stuff sorted out.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Name dropping the theme was unintentional.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Ninjapitka is going to help judge, and I'll ask 1-3 others (for a panel of 3 or 5) based off who would rather enter or judge. Basic things like creativity, writing, theme appropriate, etc.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Can I write more than one entry?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

If you think you can do two games, sure, though I'd really recommend just doing the second as a normal site entry and not part of the contest. I don't mind if you claim/use one of the other prompts for a regular story, I can always post more if people prefer the prompts and they run low.

 

But if you want to enter it officially, that's fine, too. 

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

10

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Locked

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Ok fuxk it gimme 21

No, freeform like my favorite Undertale RPs.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
*throws Pokeball*

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
*throws cowbell*

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I think I'll go ahead and enter this competition. Freeform.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Locked.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Good luck!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I love a lot of these prompts but I think I'll take prompt 13.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Locked

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Looking forward to it!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Well heck. If Digit's rejecting 21, I guess that means maybe I can whip something out.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

And... it's official.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Freeform

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

A

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I'm going to bump this thread a bit...

Just want to point out here that this contest is operating on a razor-thin margin here, by which I mean this:

Minimum entries required: Five valid entries that meet site standards

Yes, seven people have thrown their hat in, and if all seven of us manage to produce a story, then no worries.

But if this contest sees the same percentage of no-shows as most in CYStia.... Just sayin' that more participation would be a nice thing to see.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
It runs till August though, no one even has to think of it until the end of July.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I offered to write more than one But Camelon is not happy with that So I hope everyone else made their game.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

? Not happy? I said you could if you wanted to.

Break! question

3 years ago
Can I write a story for one of Mizal's contests, then expand it to enter into this one? It would be at least double in size.

Break! question

3 years ago

Normally contest entries can't be re-used for a different contest, from what I've seen, even if you modify them. But since Mizal's is a speed write, I'm not personally opposed to you expanding it for this if Mizal allows it.

Break! question

3 years ago
You'll be the one getting the recycled story so it's up to you. Just keep in mind you're setting a precedent for others to do the same thing if you okay it though.

I'll just say that personally, unless it's a total rewrite, reusing anything prewritten seems kind of against the spirit of things. There are infinite stories to tell, and there's plenty of time still for this one.

Also personally, there's nothing I loathe more than going back and trying to expand something from a contest. I've never pulled it off, I just don't want to look at it ever again by that point. This doesn't seem to be an uncommon feeling so you may not even want to anymore once you're done with the first version.




Break! question

3 years ago

Good points. O.K. then, no recycled contest stories.

Break! question

3 years ago
Well, great I discovered that before started to write as I was about to use one of my mini-stories for Break game in Mizals. I don't know if participate in Mizals now. Because waste 7 days in a story that is not going anywhere except to a speed writing is a total waste of time if I can reuse it in the real contest.

Break! question

3 years ago
*sad*

But okies I'll just start this one I have the idea for and see how long it takes and then decide where to put it.The contest in this thread or the newbie contest I should be more serious about it, but there's still a long time and I have plenty of ideas. I just want to do another small one for practice first before I try an epic.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I guess I'll go ahead and officially enter this. I have two old ideas that would be a good fit, I just need to see which clicks the most when I start writing it.

Later of course, because mid August might as well be forever from now. Like that's got to be at least one or two new major global disasters away.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Hmm when you put it that way maybe I'll just kms instead.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

12.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Lock.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Great. :) 

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I've been in a gigantic writing slump, but I recently got into a CYOA mood haha. Hopefully, this will be a kick in the butt to write something worthwhile. :D This means I have to review how advanced editor works though. T-T

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I haven't done one of these in a while. If 20 isn't taken (does not appear to be so), I'll try to produce a sub-par quality CYS.

Prompt 20. BTW what is this "freeform" stuff?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I shouldn't, I really shouldn't, but locked.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Nvm on the freeform thing. I have this habit of reading paragraphs backwards and skipping sentences altogether. This leads me to edit lock stupid questions from time to time.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

There's no word requirements or anything? ( 0_0)=3 You just make it as you please? That's what I'll assume...!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Most contests don't have word count requirements, that was just a thing I included for the newbie one to make sure we got serious efforts and to prevent certain common noob behaviors. My specialty is starting games four hours before deadlines, but I really don't recommend it until you've had lots of procrastination practice. The need to be rated highly enough to meet minimum standards usually prevents this, anyhow.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Mizal! You should join eventually! Don't worry, I'll prepare the pom poms in advance. :D

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

What the hell... I'll join. Freeform.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Lock.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Fuck it. Freeform.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Locked.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Glad to see so many people breaking down and joining.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Ha. Was that intentional?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

...maybe a little.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

number 16 looks epic, I'm going to give this a try.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Cool! It will be ineresting to see a 'backwards' CYOA.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

The deadline for this is less than two weeks away. How's everyone doing with theirs? How many haven't started yet? ;)

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Mostly done, just a few final loose ends to wrap up.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
"How many haven't started yet? ;)" That would be me but I can probably shit something out in the next couple of days.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I started mine today actually!

Feels good being ahead of the pack.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Cameron, I'm following your advice and rewriting the intro. This was a good idea anyway because now I can explain more things about the universe. Originally this wasn't going to be the first story in the setting so I didn't plan for a way to work all that in. Now there are computers you can read from to help.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I only have written 25k and is pure garbage. I don't know if I will dare to publish this crap or not.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Might as well, it's Pit O Shame any other way...

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

There's over a week left for proofreading or finding a beta reader. Your concepts are always really interesting, and I'm glad you picked the heist prompt - had you in mind when I came up with that one - so please do share it. Your stories are never boring.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I think you will be disgruntled by the fact that I don't follow the heist route at all. The text says break into a place of tremendous importance with the help of other aliens. And that is key part of the game but there is not a heist or anything illegal.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Well actually it says "most secure financial facility in the galaxy". I think most people would read that as a bank robbery or something along those lines, but I suppose prompts are more like just suggestions anyway.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Lol, You know me I am terrible at thinking like most of the people. I change it for a race , and a virtual reality show.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Breaking away from the text of the prompt is totally in the spirit of this contest. ;)

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I started for real August 1!!!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Just asking, is there a limit as to when it is too late to join the contest? As long as a storygame is submitted before the deadline, would it count if someone registered to this forum a few minutes before the contest is over? I'm thinking about breaking and entering (I won't steal anything but the motivation to write), yet I don't want to confirm this since I'm not very sure if I can complete my idea timewise.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
From what I recall, sometimes there is an 'enter by' date requirement. Otherwise, writing a story first and then entering (to avoid a chance at shame) has always been an option. The issue with such an act is that it is a bit cowardly.

At any rate, if you aren't double shamed already, I'd say just enter the contest anyway. It can serve as additional motivation.

You can also enter in a shitty version of your idea if you can't complete it in time, and then take down your entry when the judging is over to properly finish, and then not finish it. A popular move, I believe.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Heeeeeey. I feel kind of attacked here....

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
You shouldn't, you make awesome games in a few days. Meanwhile, I need a lot of time and my games are shit. :(

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I'm going to take your advice and officially enter the contest. Also, freeform.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Locked. And this is probably a lock I can't break out of.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Damn, forgot you were in this thing... :/

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
About to nap a couple hours and then stay up tonight to start the latest attempt. Fourth time's a charm, I can feel it. The fact there's a 77k story already entered means nothing. I have till 11pm tomorrow, easy peasy. Everything is fine. :)

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Everything was not fine. :( Pretty sure there's enough noob corpses lying around to craft some nice furniture for my SHAME cell at least.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
I trust in you Miz. You can do it.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Deadline is coming up!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Not sure what went wrong here, it was a good theme and prompts. But I think you might need to brace yourself for this turning out really pathetic...

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Everyone is really lucky I didn't consider this an important contest and haven't been paying attention to it at all.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

I wonder if the bit about there being no penalty for failure was a factor.  I feel like I remember someone mentioning how back before the addition of the SHAME pit, contests would end this way all the time.  
 

But seriously, only ONE person made it?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

There are actually three people now...unless the contest has already ended? I'm not the best with all this time difference thing. Did I submit it on time?

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Guess I spoke too soon, lol.  I forgot most people like to wait until the very last second.  Good job guys!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
We are four Entries not 1.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
The last time I was in a contest that had “no penalty” I ended up in the Pit of SHAME.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Not gonna lie, I was getting pretty nervous there. Kept telling myself everyone must just be polishing their stories until the very last second.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

That was stressful, but my story is finally complete: http://chooseyourstory.com/story/breaker

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Welp, you know exactly what I did, like 90% of everyone else. But here is my entry.

PSYOPS

http://chooseyourstory.com/story/psyops>PSYOP

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
The influence should be fairly obvious, if you get a particular ending.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Shorter than I wanted, but I completely forgot about this until 4 AM today. Had to edit a story I started a few weeks ago, because I forgot you need three days after starting to publish. Was very nearly fucked because of that, but I just copy and pasted all my pages. It wasn't very long, so hopefully I didn't screw that up.

I took some liberties with the prompt, because in my story the "mesh" is reality itself, so it is unbreakable. However, a certain hold a certain entity has on a particular universe is broken.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
A couple of stories are approaching or are over 100,000 words. Congratulations to those people. I wish I had your drive.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Looks like you made the minimum.

Guess this contest counts now.

Lol.

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

Going to put the entries all in the same post for easier access here:

Blow Your House Down by Bill_Ingersol
The Warped Castle by PoisonMara
PSYOPS by Fluxion
Driftwood High Theater Club by jodithewitch
Breaker by MysticWarrior

@NinjaPitka @MadHattersDaughter

 

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago
Ohh these look soooo good!!

Break! (The Contest)

3 years ago

They are good! I haven't finished reading through the last one, yet, - but they are all solid entries. Even if there are just five of them, they are a good five. The other two judges are already done, so results should be out soon.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago

Thanks to @ninjapitka and @MadHattersDaughter for helping judge.

WINNER: Blow Your House Down by Bill Ingersoll (275 total points)

Solidly written and polished, this storygame had a very real sense of place; the setting was almost a character itself - you could almost smell the rain. This was two judges' top pick. Slightly spooky, it's a more subtle take on the theme as a man attempts to identify and break out of a trap set for him.

2nd: Breaker by Mystic_Warrior (274 total points)

This fantasy adventure under the sea was not your typical mermaid fare, but a clever romp full of riddles and twists, some sociopolitical sci-fi elements, and some funny moments mostly dealing with artifacts from the Ones Above. It really captured the theme on many levels, from the overt story arc of breaking out of the Safe World and the function of a key item, but also in minor details like breaking windows or into safes, and even breaking your own preconceptions. This was one judge's top pick.

3rd: The Warped Castle by PoisonMara (242 total points)

Trippy and entertaining. Mara took the theme and mashed it up with a blender, coming up with an exciting science fiction piece complete with body switching, memory editing, metal planets, alien game shows, souped up motorbikes, and some interesting character studies.

4th: PSYOPS by Fluxion (237 total points)

This sci-fi had a slick look and a great premise reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's Eternity series. The beginning was strong, and the twist near the end was clever.

5th: Driftwood High Theater Club by jodithewitch (205 total points)

A lol-random storygame about a girl trying to stop a play from being put on - with a little potential law-breaking on the side. If Bill's was the most serious take, this is the most light-hearted one, breaking most expectations of what would happen in favor of spoofing typical high-school drama.
 

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Congratulations to all the participants! In Special to Bill and Mystic. It was a great experience.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago

Wow, that's a really, close call between Blow Your House Down and Breaker. Anyways, congratulations everyone! I haven't read any of the entries yet, but I'll probably get around to it... eventually.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Congratulations. Those top two are really close, wow.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago

Wow, that was close! I read all the stories and enjoyed each one. This was a fun theme to write for (it kind of preempted the other story or two I planned to publish this summer, but oh well) and I'm glad to see the quality was so top-notch that the margin between the top two stories was razor-thin.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
CONGRATULATIONS BILL!!

And the Winners are....

3 years ago

Thanks.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
This one may have barely squeaked by with the minimum number of entries, but there's some quality stories in there that are a great addition to the site. Congrats to all of you, Bill and Mystic especially, and thanks to the judges too. (As we all know, having to actually read things is the most annoying part...)

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Indeed, congratulations to Bill and to everyone who completed a story for this contest! Thank you for sharing your talents with us all here.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Congrats to Bill and everyone who published. I still have a couple to finish reading, but now that the contest is over I can finally fix the format issue in my own story. And maybe I'll one day make it what it was supposed to be and extend it... (lol)

And the Winners are....

3 years ago

Well done, everyone! Congratulations, Bill! Thanks for running this contest and thank you to everyone who made it possible, including the judges and the competitors. It was a great experience.

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Good effort from those that finished :)

And the Winners are....

3 years ago
Great work, everyone. All of the stories were entertaining to read through. In case anyone's interested, here's my scorecard (out of 100). Points were awarded from Camelon's sub-categories, so it's not exactly equatable to a traditional school grade. Blow Your House Down: 95 Breaker: 91 The Warped Castle: 76 PSYOPS: 73 Driftwood High Theater Club: 64