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 villanous hero? I have finally gotten the adventure I always needed, but not exactly the one I wanted.

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!

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!

Thank you. I finally feel like a true CYStian!

Here's the only string you need!

I've recently come across a book where people write condolences and messages for the Queen:
 

Yep, apparently they canceled all the orientation activities in my university and almost everything here seems to be closed today.

I transported all the MHDs in the multiverse to the venue Mizal booked (along with a few gifts and characters). Here's the chaotic result:

Most people don't know that 'Dreamtruder' wasn’t my first storygame — it was only the first one I published. The first 'storygame' I wrote was a planned trilogy with roughly a few thousand words. Despite completing it pretty early on, I didn’t want to publish it until I finished the second installment (and I'm glad I made this choice).

Back then, it was probably worse than a wreck, lol. I didn’t understand choice-based stories, and the protagonist couldn’t make a single action without the reader first choosing it for them. Each page was 1-3 sentences long. But after reading more storygames and ‘finishing’ the second part of the series, I realized the flaws in the first one, and painstakingly went through every page to ensure the minimum word count was 200.

Here’s what I’ll do in your situation:
1) Read through what you’ve written
2) Make notes on the things you like and the things you dislike. This could be the characters, plot twists, the overall theme, etc
3) Check to see if there’s more you like or dislike

If it’s the former, you could probably carry it to a new storygame, add some branches and new choices, refine what you’ve written, proofread everything, and complete it. But if it’s the latter, you’ll probably do what I did with my storygame, ‘Roads to Resistance’: transform it into something entirely new. 

Using the notes you took earlier, decide which elements you want to keep in your story and which you'd prefer to change. For instance, if the protagonist is flat but another side character has an interesting personality, you could consider keeping both characters but switching the point-of-view to the more interesting one. Another tip: save snippets of prose or paragraphs which hold promise in another document, and find ways to incorporate these into your new WIP. 

Sustaining interest is important if you want to complete your storygame. I usually get bored when rewriting scenes, so one way to keep yourself inspired is to add new elements. This could be a new setting you’d like to play around with or another side of the characters you wish to explore. Or you could completely change the story’s plot while keeping what you’ve written as a subplot. The brain thrives on novelty, so a tip would be to see your storygame through a new perspective, while keeping true to the integral parts of the narrative.

And if you're wondering what happened to ‘Roads of Resistance’, you probably have seen its second draft. Most of it got condensed into the prologue of ‘Breaker’, with a few extra snippets transferred and reworked into its first chapter.

Link!

This seems to be my new favorite way to procrastinate (and I really don't know how MHD does it, these take up way too much time).

He who watches the night (link)!

I started this a few days ago, but ended up procrastinating and nearly forgot to finish it.

Btw Thara, thank you for your review! I'm glad you seemed to enjoy the story, and the feedback is useful for me to determine what I ought to continue with future works. Also, I am looking forward to reading your storygame soon!

Thank you, Ugilick! Your comment is really helpful and I'll definitely use your feedback to improve when writing my next storygame.