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.

Any featured review for a story written by someone in this contest. You can look at the teams posts to get a list of everyone who counts and go to their profiles. Some people posted links to their stories as well.

This would be hilarious. The opposite of the weekend where nothing was featured until like the last hour of the contest where the featured reviews were all rolled out on Sunday (or Monday? I don't remember...).

Perhaps... it's a long contest and many things will change a lot over the course of it. At the very least, you can rest assured that you are not hanging over the pit of shame like some people.

The one thing the review bored does not have is a stop card *laughs maniacally* 

I do apologize, it was just glossed over in my story. That is a very easy slip up to make.

Mizal is correct: I'm probably the most boring person to have playing this game... however, I'm also busy during the days and only free at night really. If I were to make a back stabbing move it would probably happen 3 minutes after the deadline 

I appreciate the vote of confidence! Glad people liked the short story... I haven't been writing much recently, so it's nice to get positive feedback.

Also, pointing out the 30 hours remaining is diabolical, haha. Time can be a cruel thing when making decisions.

Surprise! I based your character off the profile picture... so I took a few liberties. I assume you also can use magic to make condiments appear for a BBQ, but very little is known about wizards.

Yeah, game theory assumes a head to head and had you go for the both the safer play and higher upside play. In this game, it's best to say you will split and choose steal. Saying you will steal is madness because it guarantees 0 points. However, picking steal has two outcomes of 0 or 30 with an average of 15; meanwhile, actually picking split has two out comes with 15 and -30 averaging -7.5. It's statistically better to pick steal.

I also picked split though. Knowing your opponent changes the game, and we have been amicable so far. It's also a group game rather than a head to head. I see the worst case being all the points get lost as the review BORED (sorry Rex) runs away with it. Therefore picking split ensures the 30 points get into the game for someone that isn't already winning. Also, 15 points is like two really long reviews which is fought 2 weeks of work for me... I'm okay with the 15. If I get 0, it only took me a few minutes to write that review anyway.

I saw your message and will check it out! Might be a bit because longer stories are hard for me this week/weekend... but I'm going to try to do a few longer ones next week!

Holding his breath, Shadowdrake listened carefully from his perch in the willow tree. All he could hear was the gentle gurgling of the stream to his back and the natural silence of the forest sleeping in front of him, as if this were the only patch of woods in CYStia undiscovered by the bands of delinquents that camped along the riverbank. It even smelled pristine, earthy, as if a rainstorm had just washed away the unpleasant smells that festered in the city proper, but this night was clear.

"Come on," Shadowdrake27 pleaded as he peered into the darkness. "We need this to catch the review board..."

Seeing nothing, he was about to leave when a twig snapped. There was a rustling of leaves, but nothing came into view. Shadowdrake27 blinked and scratched his head, leaning forward to get a better view as if something might materialize in front of him. 

Empty space muttered in the clearing under the willows branches, which hung down like curtains thinly separating the rest of the forest from a 20 foot diameter around the tree. Leaning closer, Shadowdrake27 struggled to hear the words being uttered by nothing--as if the wind itself could whisper--when RK suddenly appeared. 

A gasp and gentle thud broke the silence of the night as Shadowdrake27 fell from the lowest branches of the willow tree. Pain shot through his back as he laid on it in the cool grass with the misty breeze rolling over him from across the river. 

“Are you okay,” RK asked, leaning over Shadowdrake27, worry spreading across his face.

“Yeah…” Shadowdrake27 groaned, struggling to his feet. “I didn’t know you could turn invisible.”

“You did say to make sure no one saw me heading here—not even my own teammates.”

“It would have been okay for me to see you coming though.”

“Sorry about that: when you are the last of the great hot dog wizards, you take warnings of caution seriously! Especially since Yummyfood is missing these days.” RK scanned the forest and added, “So, you said you had a way to take down the review board?”

“Indeed, but we are waiting on—“ Shadowdrake27 started before he was interrupted by soft whistling coming from the complete darkness deeper in the forest.

RK and Shadowdrake27 scrambled behind the Willow tree and peered into the darkness; strolling up to the tree while whistling a merry tune in utter darkness, Will emerged with a warm smile on his face. He stopped on the other side of the tree and finished the tune before looking around.

“I’m here—as promised!” Will announced in a friendly tone.

“Can you keep it down?” Shadowdrake27 hissed, stepping out from behind the tree with RK. “The goal was to meet secretly!”

“Oh, I doubt they can hear us… they are too far ahead. Besides, they are all asleep: everyone is—except us three.”

A shiver ran down Shadowdrake27’s spine as he looked around—noting for the first time that they were alone and isolated. He cleared his throat and responded a bit louder, “Fine, did you bring the stuff?”

“Indeed!” Will’s smile broadened. “30 points, 15 for each of you.”

“Thanks, Will! This will allow us to—“

“But there is a catch!” Will interrupts. “Two, actually. First, these are for your teams, not for you two.”

“That’s fair,” RK said with a smile of his own. “These will make a huge difference!”

“Second,” Will continued with the smile growing to an unnatural smirk. His eyes gleamed with joy as his words formed slowly and clearly. “You can split the points evenly… or one of you can steal all 30; however, if you both try to steal you both get nothing.”

“What?” Shadowdrake27 exclaimed. “This was not the deal! We agreed on 15 points each!”

“And I held up my end of the bargain… you both can take them if you agree.”

“Fine, RK let’s just—“

“No, no, no!” Will interrupted again. “Not so quickly, little dragon. You will give your reply to me privately, and I’ll only count the final answer at the end of the weekend.” The smile on Wills face seemed to split his face in half as his eyes grew so wide they caught the moonlight like a cat stalking its prey in the night.

Shadowdrake27 gritted his teeth, but RK pointed out, “15 points make a huge difference… but 30 points changes everything. I see why this would be tempting, and it’s not a true challenge without a twist.”

“RK, what are you saying?” Shadowdrake27 questioned as the sun began to rise. He clenched his fists as a few early risers began to crowd around and pick up on what was happening. 

“Just that we have a game to play,” RK responded casually, waving his staff as if swatting away a fly. “We both seem to be good at games… this should be fun.”

“Steal the points!” someone shouted from the crowd that had formed—craving blood even in a battle of whits. 

“This is CYStia, after all,” Will chided.

“Hey! What’s going on over here?” Jster02 called from the forest, walking towards the growing mob.

“Welcome newcomer!” Will said in a friendly tone, his usual warm smile reappearing. “Let’s get you on a team; it’s never too late to join the fun!”

The pair walked off towards the river as Shadowdrake27 and RK faced each other in the expanding sunlight. Will never looked back, as if he was unaware of the chaos he created in his wake.