Clearstone was a peaceful place where a man could forage his own path in life, but that was before Mad Dog Roberts took it over. Now Clearstone is owned by the Roberts Mining Co. and the people are little more than cogs in Roberts golden machine. This traveling cowboy isn't a part of that machine, and he isn't about to leave without a fight.

Matthew Mercia had never believed in the Day of the Dead the way his mother did. He didn't get excited to wake up on November second to celebrate the lives of relatives who had passed--until he was one of those relatives. Now he can only wake up on the day of the dead, so he only has tonight to walk among the living. How did I die? Who killed me? Why? These questions may just keep Matthew from celebrating this Dia de Muertos.

Authors Note:

This story was written in four hours for Ectocomp 2019 with 4,500 words, 7 unique endings, and one epilogue. It is based on the All Souls Procession Weekend in Tuscon Arizona. No additional knowledge is needed to read the story, but if you want more information on anything look up the event! 

Edited on 12/06/19: the tense switch on the first page was fixed. Everything else was left the way it was for the contest.

Image from: http://clipart-library.com/day-of-the-dead-clipart.html

A suspense/horror story. It is about a cabin you inherited from your creepiest uncle (yeah you know the one). There are two possible endings. Good luck.

Tips:  Use the link at the end to go back to the beginning, even if you die you can continue to play. Hit "Drive to cottage" after each play through and look for the room that changed. You will face a choice in that room that will decide if you live or die, again.

Note: A special thanks to Chris113022 and Gower who play tested, and proofread this story.

Let's write a poem together,

about nature or the weather.

Alternating lines, you and me,

 writing in perfect harmony.

I will write a line, you the next,

our lais is a river of text.

Leroy and Mika are parting ways for two years. They have signed up for the Peace Corps and are going to opposite corners of the globe to make a difference in the world. Their shared loves are poetry and the environment. This lais is the perfect poem to remind them what they mean to each other; they just have to write it.

Authors Notes:

A 1,000-word story written for a contest with the theme of nature environment. The game is a craft your own poem game. A lais is a poem written with octosyllabic couplets (8 syllable lines that rhyme in pairs). You get to craft the poem that expresses these two characters' love, and you get to decide if their love is strong enough to survive two years apart.

Actual word count is 936.

A special thanks to  Ogre11 and mizal for proofreading and play-testing! Their feedback was instrumental in making this game what it is.

Merlin Ambrosius was just an electrician working in Britain. His last job was on an archeological site doing the lighting for what was believed to be the home of Merlin the Magician. He accidentally got himself sent back in time to the days of King Arthur, where Merlin Ambrosius became the sorcerer of legend. Did he serve King Arthur well as a trusted advisor? Was he a feared but well-respected as a sorcerer? Or did he get caught trying to fool the medieval prince?

Author's Note:

This game was made for the Year's End Contest - Choose Your Own Prompt II. The theme was "8) This story has an original and sensible magic system, built from the ground up. The plot is up to you."

Magic is defined as the power to influence reality by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Rather than having characters learn to shoot fire out of their hands, my magic system is based on having limited technology in the past.

There are two main branches, which focus on different types of "magic." One caution is that some of the smaller pathways are similar, differing only by the puzzle you have to solve and ways you can fail. Also, when choosing between the "Lady of the Lake" myth or the "Sword in the Stone" myth, please note that these tales both involve Excalibur, so the story remains the same until after you make the sword of legend. After that part, these two branches have a different (second) puzzle, which can lead to various endings.

An answer guide is provided for electrical puzzles. For an added challenge, do not use it. Additionally, there is a walkthrough here if you want help finding all 12 endings. Good luck!

Special thanks to Reader82 and poison_mara for proofreading and play-testing for me. Without them, this story would have a few million more errors. Reader82 fixed most of my bad grammar, and poison_mara thought of adding the guide for the electrical puzzles.

Professor Gower sits in his big, big oak desk, glasses perched precariously on his nose. He lays a fountain pen down atop his grade book and steeples his hands with something of a patient sigh.

He has warned his students:

The purpose of this thread is to have a place to talk about smallish issues of language, style, syntax, grammar, word choice, paragraph structure, or whatever. This is for microlevel issues, not big stuff like "what should I write about?" or "how do I make interesting choices?" or "is that mole bigger than yesterday?"

Bring a piece of your work-in-progress, and let's all discuss it together.

It's worth 40% of your grade, and you may not have an extension.

Alas, no one has come to his office today. This is not an issue though: Professor Gower has better things to do.

Authors Note:

Time travel story-game requested by Microblue with permission from Gower.

Special thanks to TheChef for play-testing and proofreading.

The Description was mostly written by Gower, and the rest is the author's original account of the real adventures of the English professor that travels in time to ensure the safety of literary classics. While you can read this story on its own, it's recommended that you have some familiarity with the classic authors Homer, Marie de France, and Euripides. It's also recommended that you read The Iliad, Lanval, Medea, and Beowulf before reading this story. General knowledge of those works will be accepted for this story but will do nothing for your grades on Gower's quiz to follow.

There are two possible endings. There are also four authors to meet, four literary gems to save, and four historic items to frame in Gower's office; however, there is only one epilogue.

Please enjoy as you travel to the past to meet Gower's favorite authors.

Todd, a master of dark magic in a world that forbids it, has a chance to prove that dark magic can be used for good; unless he becomes the dark lord that everyone fears. Will Todd become a hero, or is he destined to be the villain?

Notes:

More of a story with multiple outcomes than a game.

There are no right or wrong answers, although you have the option of getting yourself killed many times, and choices matter.

## unique epilogues are available. 

On the first page, there is a link to background information on the world and how it is structured. This link is for people that like to have the basic understanding and context that the main character has at the start. It is completely optional.

Applicants wanted for an exciting and challenging position as the captain of a deep space mining mission. No former space exploration experience is necessary. We are looking for candidates with common sense and natural leadership skills. Press the button below to apply!

Job Summary:

Responsible for all decisions made aboard the Endeavor mining shuttle.

Location: Outer Space

Job Type: Contract

Salary: 10% of any profits made. All losses will be deducted from base salary.

Every billionaire wants to get in on the space-race these days, and William C. Harrington is no exception. With an extraordinary budget, an abundance of passion, and an intense desire to never lose, he set his sights on colonizing the farthest star known to mankind--Icarus.

Traveling through space can be a dangerous ordeal; fortunately, the crew bound for Icarus has you to guide them. Will you gamble your life to fulfill the vision of your eccentric financier, change the mission to increase the chances of successful colonization, or explore space in humanity's first mobile colony? We are waiting on your orders, captain!

I wrote this story for my daughter, nieces, nephews, family and friends. This was an idea I had for awhile to make a bedtime story where the kids get to make the choices. The idea is that this story can be read every night, but change from night to night to keep it magical.

The imagination is a wonderful thing, and no matter if you are using magic or super powers, every kid should get to be what they want to be in their dreams. Choose your path and enjoy your adventure before you get to sleep!

The year is 2075. Eyron is the city that serves as the worlds leading technological center. It has expanded to encompass 70% of the U.S. population. Anyone who matters is in Eyron as part of the U-Cloud.

U-Cloud is the worlds first cloud computing network that includes androids and humans. A new microprocessor developed by Volpere, the largest technology company in the world, allows human minds to be linked to computer information networks, but it comes at a price. Like any machine on the U-Cloud, admins can take total control of people on the network.

The government and wealthy elite serve as admins to maintain order on the U-Cloud. They can monitor the thoughts, memories, and actions of any device on the network to ensure all rules are adhered to. All devices have no choice but to play by the rules, with a few exceptions.

Alexander Kertchen is one of those exceptions. His blue collar background means he is one of the chipped members of the working class, but Alex's job is to modify and fix broken microprocessors. When his chip needs a repair, he manages to unplug himself from the U-Cloud. What this young technician does with his new found freedom is up to you.

I don't play many online games anymore. I enjoy boards games though, so the bluffing games I play are mostly in person.
 

There are games like Sherif of Nottingham where you are trying to earn gold and bluffing and earn way more gold, but if caught lying you lose that gold. You can try to bluff again next round and keep playing. 
 

There are also some quick card games like Coup (which is like a themed version of BS). You do get eliminated in Coup, but a game can take like 5 minutes so the stakes aren't as high. There is also more you can do with your lies and everyone has a similar objective/role. 

I've also enjoyed resistance which is like a better version of Mafia, in my opinion. People aren't eliminated but there is a similar voting mechanic and trying to identify traitors among a population of normal people. Everyone plays and shares information the whole time, and the traitors know who their teammates are but have less numbers like in Mafia.

This is correct. Dead people can't talk it would be broken. I believe I said that in my actual post... I wasn't suggesting an actual rule change. My point was I dislike this game because of the death mechanic it's built on and prefer other bluffing or role playing games.

Fair. The game is supposed to be designed in the villagers favor with the trolls only advantage being that they are the only ones who know the identity of their allies. Theoretically the villagers should always win every game, unless the trolls are really good or people misplay. I've never been on such a team of villagers though. Maybe the common problem is me and I'm just terrible at this game.

I've always played this as an in person game until now. I'm sure it exists online... but I learned to play this game where everyone was in one room sitting in a circle. I know you can buy a version of it at game shops that have cards for all of the roles and like a script to follow or something. This set is (I think) called werewolf. 

Again, I'm not saying you did anything wrong or have to change it. There are things I would change and that I didn't like, but that's not a reflection on you. Nor am I trying to sign you up for more work. Although multiple linked games might be a fun concept if people were into that. Thanks for running the game. I'm sorry if you don't like my opinions about it.

I did. Don't worry Mizal, I'm okay. I'm also not blaming people. All I'm saying is that I like bluffing games where you aren't eliminated or that move quicker than this one. In this game, someone is always going to get eliminated every round. Normally it's 2+. There are bluffing games with different mechanics both on and offline.

Okay, I've lost track of what we are talking about. My point was that if you had to pick a 50/50 between Milton and MHD on the second vote, MHD was the more likely as the troll. I agree that a lot went wrong, but the game was winnable if people voted out MHD there. After Milton was voted out the game was practically over. Yes, that allowed you to have more fun as the trolls because you practically could not lose. Yes, that led to funny banter. Yes, that shit was hilarious BECAUSE it was stupid.

However, keep in mind that it was a really fun game for you because you got to do whatever and win the game while knowing everything and using strategy. I wasn't even supposed to participate in the chat/game after the second night. So it was not a fun chance to banter and role play for me... similarly Milton had the most powerful role in the game and didn't get to use it. That's all part of the game, but it's also a lot of statements made with bias in your favor. 
 

Another reason I dislike this game opposed to other bluffing games, if that fact of being out and not allowed to participate in any way. It's also a game where only the trolls can play the game well and have fun. If a villager does the same thing, they become the number one target for the trolls and instantly die. Again, I'm not mad about it because somebody did something wrong. It's just something I dislike about the game in general. If the dead people could speak before bed every night (this would be broken) at least there would be an opportunity to role play and/or participate. Sadly, the dead just watch it all happen until the end. The least you can allow me is to have an opinion about it, or is that something only reserved for you as well?

Perhaps I am blinded by my bias... but I think you are as well. Milton from an objective standpoint seemed way more likely (to me) to be the investigator. Milton only got to use his ability once... if that. He was killed, then put into the pit of shame (prevents abilities) and then voted out. MHD claimed she only investigated you, and that she did so twice in a row. She claimed that the first time you were a troll and the second you were not... proving that the trolls switched your IP adress. You may think that's super clever, and if someone only follows your logic it is, but you are forgetting I had just argued to revive Milton... who was killed by trolls... 

Trolls targeting one of their own woulf be so risky. There is no guarantee they could use the revive and numbers are already their only weakness. I explained all of this on day one (two if you count the intro). Anyway, I trusted Milton was not a troll with absolute faith. That was before I was told my guess of Mod was correct. It's also why I guessed Mod and not crazy troll...

However, we are always going to disagree on certain things here. Maybe we can at least agree that using our one and only revive on anyone and then using our next vote to kill them is a dumb move no matter what... right? I mean props to you for pulling that off... but if we think the person is a troll don't revive him. If we think he is a Mod don't bit him off. Doing both is nuts... unless you are a troll.

Also, I don't mean to say that you didn't play it well. Honestly, you fooled me at the start. When you somehow convinced everyone that MHD was the investigator mod, that's when I knew you were the troll. You did well and convinced everyone of your lies while killing off the important members first. That is the point of the game and you did it really well.
 

that being said, even without meta gaming my knowledge of Milton's role I would have suspected you both. Flipping on Milton after just using the only revive on him is an insane move... along with claiming to be the investigator and then defending it. If MHD had said something like "I'm not a troll I'm just ____ CYStian!" I probably would have believed you both as well.

I'm sure you are glad you won... but the rules heavily favored you. Think of it this way, if a troll died first the COG player could have been another troll. If you add it up... there were 5 possible trolls and 8 villagers (worst case). In addition, the spammer troll can cancel one vote and allow the trolls a free night to kill without being stopped (yeah, you guys won a perfect game without using a single troll ability). So if you spam the chat and remove one townsperson without any ability to vote on turn 1, that's 7 villagers and 5 trolls as a possible scenario. If you look at the ratios of mafia to villiager in a standard game... I'm pretty sure that ratio is absolutely insane.

Note: when I looked online it recommended 3 mafia per 10 villagers in a game with rolls. It also reccomended that you could play 3 mafia and 7 villagers without roles or abilities. I don't agree with the second one, but I'm including everything for transparency.