For End Master's Manifest Destiny Contest.

"Welcome to the experiment. A man is dead, and you have to find his killer. There will be a list of rules in your room once this briefing is over, but all you really need to know is this: There are five of you, but only one can solve the mystery. You will be given five days. Each night, one of you will die - no more, no less.

Ready? Even if you're not, it doesn't matter. You're in my world now."
 

This is also a War on Intfiction contribution.

Note: Aside from a few references to Dreamtruder characters/ events, this storygame is a standalone.

It is my first time writing a mystery storygame on this site, so I would appreciate if you could leave feedback on whether this mystery was too easy/ difficult to solve. If you find yourself stuck, don't hesitate to message me directly. That being said, do not feel discouraged if you are bewildered at first; as you progress further in the game, the clues and secrets would make everything clearer. Eventually, the secrets you find would allow you to make sense of most clues except a few, and these would point to the killer.

Make use of the notebook, which would keep track of the information you gained from the interviews and the secrets you may find out. Also, check the item descriptions of all the objects since some of these would have to be 'used' in order to access some clues.

Once you've solved the mystery, there are 3 possible endings you could get. Only one of these actually results in returning back to the 'real world'. If you're looking for this 'true ending', it requires you to play through the last of the five days rather than just skipping to the end and guessing the answer.

Good luck surviving the Halloween experiment!

Beneath the seas, hidden from the Ones Above, our society goes about our normal, routinely lives. I cannot help but feel bored with all that is going on, until I find the letter. A letter that sends me on a journey to deliver a magical item to the group of people that have been villainized over the years, the letter that challenges everything I thought I knew. But which side is on the side of good? How can I break out of the only world I have ever known? Should I join the heroic villains or the villainous hero? I have finally gotten the adventure I always needed, but not exactly the one I wanted.

(Edit - note from the author: I'll be going through the process of fixing any bugs/ problems in this storygame soon, like the inescapable loops, so apologies for those who encounter these or any other issues caused by the upcoming changes).

Note: This game was created for Camelon's break contest. During the part where a specialist is assigned to the breakers, there are three different paths (Lawbreaker, Breaker of People and Breaker and Enterer). Due to time constraints, for those who would like to know, Breaker of People is the longest path, followed by Lawbreaker and Breaker and Enterer, but aside from the epilogues, it all leads to the same chapter 5. As before, feel free to comment or message me if you encounter any issues or problems that I should fix.

"The delicate balance between the dream world and the real world is disrupted. You intruded and messed up the dream of an innocent. By talking about this with an Unknowing, the possibility of the dreamstage being unveiled is now greater than ever. The Jury has made a decision - we have no choice but to send you to The Jungle..."

Life was hard, balancing work and relaxation. Then the nightmares came, and all I ever wanted was to be free of them. Yet, I never accounted for this - finding out the truth about the dream world, exploring the vast plane of the imagination...only to be whisked away to the longest nightmare ever. 

Think a jungle's bad? Try a fictional jungle, where literally anything can happen, and the most creative minds have conspired to give you a hard time.

Note: This game was created for Mizal's 'Welcome to the Jungle' contest. There are several epilogues, and while the main one is the normal Dreamtruder path, others include Dream director, Dreamcaster, Dreamediator, and Dreamhero. Fancy a challenge? Try completing the Jungle challenge without picking up any dreampowers - it's possible, but requires a bit of thinking and planning ahead. Also, for some items, click the 'use' button as a link would not be provided (if this is the case, it would be specified in the object description)

Since this would be my first published storygame, I am still relatively new to this. Feel free to message me or spam the comments if you encounter any issues, have any suggestions for improvement, or just have something you want to say.

Enjoy!

A quest doomed from the start. A man with an unwavering yet unusual moral compass. A daughter in the darkest depths of the night sky.

It isn't truly over until all hope is lost.

'Good and evil, heroes and villains… they are all fantasies created by the world. There are only two types of people: the people you care about, and the people you don’t.'

Arnold Cyzila's best life may have been long since over, but he would do anything to save his daughter from the clutches of her confinement. Even stealing an airplane, killing the innocent, and entering a dangerous world where death is almost guaranteed. 

[Warning: There are some mentions of murder, deaths and several dark themes, so if those things make you uncomfortable, perhaps it is better not to read this story.]

Note: I initially did not plan on joining this contest, yet I'm glad I did since it has motivated me to publish a new storygame. It is related to Dreamtruder in a way… well, you’ll see. While this story may not be as long as my previous two, it was interesting to write a shorter project. 

Just like all my other storygames, commenting and rating this story are both highly welcomed and appreciated. Also, as I have used quite a lot of variables in several fight scenes, let me know if you ever encounter a page where there are no visible links. 

Lastly, there are a few different epilogues but the 'main' one would be an epilogue which mirrors the start of the story (you'll know it when you see it). There are three possible ways to reach that. Even though I may consider it to be the true ending, it is not a typical happy ending.

For EndMaster's Prompt Contest

Prompt: A story involving an old Oriental style setting
 

A simple quest for revenge turns into a deadly competition.

The Shi Empires, governed by the Ten Emperors, appear to be undefeatable. But Liu Longyi's desire to avenge Mother tranports her to four deadly battles, marked by the sudden appearance of a chaos deity.

As she battles competitors for the throne, Liu Longyi learns the truth about the mighty Shi Empires, along with the most closely guarded secret of Yue Palace. 

Author's Notes:

1. This story makes use of delayed consequences, so replaying would grant different outcomes, even if they aren't always visible at first.
2. There are some instances of violent and slightly mature content, so reader's discretion is advised.
3. If you prefer to read the storygame in the same browser, you could click the title page instead of the 'play' button.

Hope you enjoy the storygame!

For EndMaster's Prompt Contest 2

Prompt: A story involving fairies in some way


 

"Save your breath. We both know how this story ends."

As a spellsinger from an illustrious family, Aubrynne Spelwinter has always sought greatness. Yet, in an attempt to shatter a notorious curse, she becomes one of its casters.

In seven days, the curse will take effect. However, Aubrynne's mission leads to an unlikely alliance with the Cursed King, with whom she races against the clock to save her kingdom from conquests and faceless enemies.

Author's notes: 

1. There are 5 epilogues and it'll be obvious which the 'main' one is. 
2. This is a retelling of a classic fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, although aside from a few plot points, it features unique characters, settings, and narratives.
3. If you prefer to read the storygame in the same browser, you could click the title page instead of the 'play' button.

Hope you enjoy the storygame!

Link to video trailer: https://imgur.com/9T3UWTW

For End Master's Prompt Contest 4

Prompt: A story about being a collector of very rare exotic things and/or unique things

Link to a video trailer

Bly’therra of the Illusions

Genie of the Lamp • Collector of Souls • The Sly Shapeshifter 

Ever since she was shackled to her lamp, Bly'therra wants nothing more than to reclaim her freedom. This leads her to strike an ambitious bargain: in three days, she must grant three wishes to the Sultan's future heir and collect his soul.


Zasper Aldaricus

Son of the Sultan • Master of Disguise • The Traitorous Thief

As the fourth son of the Sultan, Zasper desires to prove himself worthy by winning his father's title. To do this, he has to compete against his brothers to form an unbreakable alliance with a neighboring kingdom. 


Author's Notes:

1. This storygame features two points of views. The choices you make in one point of view can—and will—affect the other story. 
2. Although this is a retelling of Aladdin, the plot, characters, and overall narratives deviate from the original tale. 
3. If you prefer to read the storygame in the same browser, you could click the title page instead of the 'play' button.

Hope you enjoy the storygame! 

If you don't like letters, extremely short stories or cliched moral lessons, don't read this. I found it when I was browsing through the old storygames I had created a long time ago. If I'm not mistaken, this was made for Mizal's Tiny 'Topias jam although I never really thought it was good enough to add to the thread. I don't think I'll publish this, but it's completed if anyone happens to browse my profile and wants to read it.

On a dark and chilly night, you visit the Skeleton to ask for hints in order to solve the mystery of 'A Hunted and Haunted Halloween'.

If you find yourself stuck while trying to complete A Hunted and Haunted Halloween, this is the guide for you! Since it is a walkthrough, there are bound to be spoilers, so I recommend reading the storygame before referring to this.

Do let me know if you find any inconsistencies between the storygame and this walkthrough. As this would remain unpublished, I should be able to fix errors rather quickly.

That's all from me. Enjoy!

I decided that it would be a much better use of my time to catch up on this thread and I'm glad I made that decision. Cavus crawling towards his bed for the whole battle in part 3 and Anthraxus complaining about the cold while standing in the freezer made me laugh too much.

For vote 1, either caffeine (because productivity leads to greater results) or C (because iirc Sent gets better abilities when he is drunk, and that could help the group out with combat after the close calls in part 4). Maybe I'll give a 0.5 vote to each.

I'll also cast my second vote for D (new clothes before they fall apart) since it sounds like a more urgent situation, but other good options would be E (weapons) or B (a hotel). In fact, a hotel could also double as a place to store new colonists when they first arrive, reducing the need for C.

If you're against me using your private messages, then I will refrain from doing so, despite that being the most accurate indicator of our latest discussion. But let me set the record straight before you start accusing anyone of 'blacklisting' you for no reason.

First, I asked for your writing process, to which you replied that you use google docs drafts. Naturally, I asked to see these with the version history (which would prove your innocence since it shows your progress over time). Then you mentioned having 'deleted the older, unfinished reviews' 40 days ago, which means they're not recoverable.

My last message to you which proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that you're guilty of the allegations against you:

"Fine, I'll humor you. So you've written all those reviews and coincidentally, right before you're questioned, you post the last review of the batch you wrote over a month in advance? Well, here's how I know you're lying. You mentioned reading other reviews to get ideas. You did this in your Laconia review.

Crimson's review (posted on 6/23/2025): 'There’s a moment where you choose whether or not to lie to Elizabeth, and it hit harder than I expected. It’s not just a simple choice between truth and deception. It feels more like a choice between owning your shadow or protecting the image you’ve built. (...) But because the game leans into historical fiction, having a British woman as a soldier in World War II threw me off a bit. It created a bit of cognitive dissonance that pulled me out of the immersion.'

Your review (posted on 7/5/2025): 'The supporting characters, especially Elizabeth, offer a welcome contrast and tension. While her presence as a British soldier might be historically an eyebrow-raiser, her relationship with Karl is well-drawn and emotionally resonant. It adds another level of conflict, one that makes you consider not just what Karl does, but who he is when the mask is off.' 

There are many other similarities between the two reviews on my document. Now, you claim to have deleted your drafts 30 days ago, aka on 8/6/2025. That means you could not have referenced Crimson's review since it was not posted yet. Thus, all logic and occam's razor leads to one conclusion: you're lying. Why? Because you didn't write those reviews, and you've instead fed a Gen-AI model featured comments and storygame descriptions, and have no version history on your google documents to show otherwise. I rest my case."

(Note: I meant 6/8/2025 in that last paragraph but mixed it up because I learned dates the British way and the site records them differently. Still, my argument stands).

And your response? You simply asked me to end this argument. Very well. I will drop this matter and move on, but let it be known that rephrasing a few points and coming up with your own opinions after reading the story is, in fact, not what you were doing.

Well, I have bad news for you. That was one of his reviews I chose to examine and there were lots of similarities to other reviews (I used a highlighted color coded system, so you can match his 'story-specific details' to the other reviews below it).

Link to the document here.

Then why do you have Petros' n-word pass on your profile without having ever read the storygame, unless you stole it from another member's profile? And in that case, it wouldn't be the first time you've claimed someone else's effort as your own.

Do you rate all the stories you read?

A little update of how things are going!
 

I've spoken with Will about it and we've decided that previously-written reviews featured during the duration of this contest would receive half points. This prevents anyone from relying solely on them, while also recognizing previous good effort.

Any reviews written before the announcement of this mini challenge would not be counted. But those of you who have already written featured reviews on End's stories have a slight advantage, in that you know the kind of reviews he enjoys :)

Week 5: Mini Challenge

The Challenge

Write the best review you can of any EndMaster storygame. Respond to this post with the story you’ve reviewed and End would decide on the winner.

Reward

The winning team will get a ‘Strengthen’ card. This would enable you to double the number of reviews you post on a day of your choosing.

Deadline

You have until 11.59pm EST on 6th July 2025 (Sunday). Happy reviewing!

You could increase the value of the score variable with each link that the reader clicks (essentially each page read). As Fabrikant said, the score variable already exists so you'll just need to change its value. FYI the current variable only shows the reader their score when they comment at the end of the game, so when playtesting, it may be best to put the variable on each page to check if it works.