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Several people commented on my post in Alex_P's thread saying that I don't actually read storygames. And, well... fair. It's been a while, anyway. And apparently CYS is thriving -- I didn't realize the forum chitchat had just moved to Discord, which was my metric for assuming things had slowed down. Good to know!

So, people are still here, and still making storygames, despite CYS's quirks. And maybe it's time for me to do more than lurk and occasionally do some art... or gripe about someone's choice of language. So I'm going to play some storygames in January. Specifically the top three from the past five contests, and whatever else people recommend as the best of the past few years... with the exception of anything that is REALLY obviously not going to be my cup of tea. (i.e., Tales from the Basement 2)

To-play list to follow. Thanks in advance to anyone who makes recommendations!

TO PLAY

EndMaster's Myth and Religion Contest

Celicni's 'Slavic Pagans'

DBNB's '99 Problems but a Girl Ain't One'

TypewriterCat's 'Prophetess'

EndMaster's Prompt Contest

Mystic - In Moonlit Waters

MHD - Mission Sunshine

Tim - Ranger

Corgi's Lords of the Land Contest

The Murdered Official by Ogre11

One Story Please by Darius_Conwright

God-Clock by WizzyCat

The King's Music Box by Mizal

EndMaster's Culture Clash Contest

Diplomat by Gryphon

The Christmas Crossing by Axxius

Graveyard of Empires by Abgeofriends

EndMaster's Manifest Destiny Contest

ninjapitka - Gunslinger

TrueParanormal - Encaged

Mystic_Warrior - A Hunted and Haunted Halloween

Darius_Conwright - Little mage's potion shop (and the curious adventures surrounding it)

betaband - Shostakovich

Camelon - Uneasy Lies the Head

hetero_malk - WARCHIMP

enterpride - Cannibal Apocalypse

WizzyCat - Propheteering

Miscellaneous:

The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly by EndMaster

Blackbirds by ninjapitka

Your suggestion here!

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT LOCK, THANKS

I've been hearing good things about that new Star Wars story, though I haven't read it yet. Maybe that'd be more up to your speed than Encaged would be!

tales 2

Your Fate Like Clockwork by readwithjeremy

Thanks! The double 8/8 in length AND difficulty might prove more than I'm willing to deal with, but I'll certainly give it a try!

I don't mean to toot my own horn (I do), but I did win a contest with a post apocalyptic / dark fantasy thing I wrote. I respect that it might not be your thing, though. https://chooseyourstory.com/story/winter,-after-the-harvest

Everything that ninjapitka has written is worth your time. 

Edithe Zilonis and Biscuits and Ghosts by MHD are both great, 

I'm not usually one for grimdark or post-apoc, but I've read a couple pages and I'm in. Thanks for the other suggestions, too!

Of course Tales would be too much for a pussy like you.

Silly Thara! I'm an owl, not a pussycat. ^_^

New breed of owl called the pussyowl.

If tales 2 is not going to be your cup of tea I have a feeling my games won't be either.

Especially not WATW.

It’s a Boy! should be fine, right?

Of course! That game's super wholesome. 

Please, don't traumatize people.

In sci fi, read Aphrodite's Orphan. (https://chooseyourstory.com/Story/Aphrodite's_Orphan.aspx)

It's got lesbians, you like those. Anything by Bill Ingersoll is worthwhile too, although they're formatted like the old CYOA books and a little text heavy for some without a choice every five seconds.

In modern adventure, I really like his Blow Your House Down. (https://chooseyourstory.com/story/blow-your-house-down)


2020 unsurprisingly was a pretty productive year with extra free time for many.

I'd advise extreme caution when approaching Encaged, specifically.
Also, you should include A Tale of a White Lie on your reading list.

Yeah, don't read Encaged lol

Really, no one should.

I was just about to recommend taking that off the list

Thank you everyone for the recommendations, anti-recommendations, and for EDIT LOCKING MY FIRST POST, YOU JERKS >_<

ANYWAY. Thanks again, and see you all in 2023!

I READ ALL THE THINGS

To quote Thara's A Tale of a White Lie.

"Yes, this was what it meant by staying the course. What a pleasant feeling it was, wouldn’t you have to agree?

End Game and Leave Comments"

Last thing I read in the last game I played. Appropriate, I'd say.

I did not leave comments. At all. At the beginning I weighed the amount of time that would take and how much I had to read and decided against.

My ratings were all in the 5-7 range. Lots of sixes. I was really hoping for an 8, but no. If I had to pick a favorite, Ninjapitka's Gunslinger. I'm not even particularly a fan of westerns or [spoilers], but damn, that was well-written and well-executed. Second place goes to Malk's Winter, After the Harvest. Loved that the "refuse the call" branch was a fun little scenario in its own right.

So yeah, that's probably all of my storygame reading for... a while. Now I have to write one. ^_^;

That's an actual line of dialogue in my story?

Wow. This is why I don’t read what I actually write. Probably why both of my stories needed a bunch of proofreading afterwards.

Narration, not dialogue -- I added the quotes. And FWIW I feel like it had fewer issues than the previous story of yours I read.

I'm glad you liked it! What was your favourite ending? 

Definitely the "join the adventurers" ending. The walking stick was a nice touch.