The Multiverse Chalkboard
A
sci-fi
storygame by
donteatpoop
Player Rating
5.30/8
"#224
overall
, #19 for
2016
"
Based on
202 ratings
since 06/30/2016
Played 5,744 times (finished 338)
Story Difficulty
6/8
"Wandering through the desert"
Play Length
5/8
"Not going to lose any sleep"
Maturity Level
5/8
"Aren't you a little too old to be trick or treating"
Some material may be inappropriate for persons under age 13. If this were a movie, it would probably be PG-13.
Tags
Contest Entry
Horror
Post-Apocalyptic
Science Fiction
Zombie
There is a sequence of runes which can lead you to alternate dimensions. There is a scientist posing as a teacher who has figured out how to manipulate these runes. There is you, who is somehow getting mixed up in all of this.
Player Comments
After reading Ducky Park, I was interested to check out some of DEP’s other stories. Ducky Park was a really out-of-the-box and hilarious story that reminded me of some of Endmaster’s stories, particularly TRASH, with the dark humor and hilariously morbid consequences that the protagonist gets. So naturally, I was expecting something quite interesting with DEP’s other stories, and of the 2, the Multiverse Chalkboard seemed to be the better story, so I decided to start with that one.
The Multiversal Chalkboard is a fascinating sci-fi horror piece that centers around a scientist and a group of kids who travel between parallel universes using a special multiversal chalkboard. Basically, the scientist uses a special chalk made out of calcium carbonate to draw special runes that allow the group to travel between the universes.
Our main character, Charlie, wasn’t originally part of this group. His long time friend, and potential love interest, Christie invites him to join the group. And the group isn’t too pleased to have him here, although they begrudgingly accept him, and so the story begins.
There are 6 main characters in this story: Charlie, Christie, Dr. Verrukt, James, Destiny, Frank, and Mike. The characterization in this story could use some work, because beyond surface-level basic high school stereotypes like “the hot popular girl”, “the bully”, “the gamer nerd”, and “the friend”, these characters don’t show much depth or personality. It’s almost as though they are mere 3D cutouts that resemble a collection of generic, stereotypical personality traits that the author created for the sole purpose of giving the main character some kind of interaction.
I also found some elements of worldbuilding to be quite implausible, and logically questionable. Why would the mad scientist impersonate a teacher to recruit students for a secret club? Why doesn’t he have any grunts or minions to aid him in his quest, he’s presumably a man of means? It’s briefly mentioned that he has an assistant, but with an almost sociopathic level of indifference, he brushes past that point by merely saying, “oh he must have disappeared between the gaps of the universes”, and then he just continues on. How come none of the kids got any red flags from this? Why did they even agree to join this crazy expedition, what’s in it for them? What is the end goal to this exploration? And what’s the actual point of going from universe to universe? Is there something he’s after, some kind of larger, grand-scheme plan? And why does he just simply disappear after the adventure is over? I get that he wants to avoid the press/media coverage that will inevitably occur when one of the kids disappears or when one kid turns into a zombie, but if that’s the case, then WHY USE KIDS AT ALL? I don’t know, I feel like this part wasn’t thought out particularly well, and the tenuous worldbuilding broke some of my immersion into the plot.
The romance scenes with both of the ladies in the crew wanting Charlie were pretty cringe-inducing. I mean, to be fair, Destiny does say that she’s not really interested in Charlie, but then why does she inexplicably start making out with him. It’s like DEP got as far as deciding to make her a flirtatious tease, and then abandoned all character development from there. In fact, all of the characters are ridiculously flat, and that includes our template player-character Chuck, who we know nothing about. Heck, he only joined this whole thing for a girl! Like, why not show some inherent curiosity, or scientific daring that may factor into him joining this group. What even is the group, is it a research group, an exploration group? James chastises Chuck for not bringing a weapon, but literally nobody has a good enough weapon. And they’ve all been to these universes before, but the way they plan their adventures, and recklessly head off into random directions is insane. DEP wanted to show them as experienced adventurers who have been through multiple rodeos, but the way they just split up completely randomly, without much planning or foresight was a little frustrating.
I may have mentioned this before, but the romance scenes and dialogue weren’t the best. They just came out of nowhere and felt incredibly artificial and contrived. There was this cringe inducing dialogue with Chuck attempting to parley an insult from James where he calls him a douchebag, something about how a douche is a sanitary utensil, so James is actually complimenting him. That was a pretty weak comeback, and that exchange alone almost made me quit the story.
Ok, that’s enough complaining. I don’t really like my review to be nothing but complaints, and all these examples were merely designed to illustrate one point, that the story could be fleshed out a bit. For the ambitious premise that the story is going for, the mechanics/design could use a bit more work into making everything gel together.
But the idea is really cool! I love the idea of using runes to explore various parallel universes. I love the danger in these universes, and the fast paced action. The dough monster and the zombies were really cool, and DEP does a great job of using choices to diversify the outcomes in these branches. I love the idea of a memory-stealing doughy monster, and DEP makes it incredibly creepy. DEP excels at horror, and the monsters, along with the creepy empty school in the parallel universe, were the best parts of the story. Seriously, DEP imbibes the parallel universe setting with this uncanny valley vibe that works really well, in terms of the horror style that the story is going for.
Also, I love how you have to be careful to get the best possible outcomes, and DEP pulls no punches in giving you horrific death endings, or killing your teammates. The variety of endings were fun, and I thought the epilogue ending in the zombie path was cool, setting up for a sequel where Mike accidentally starts a whole zombie apocalypse. I also found the story to be quite suspenseful throughout. DEP succeeds in keeping my interest, despite the subpar characterization and worldbuilding, as the actual events are really fun. This is a fun sci-fi horror story that may not be the most well-written, technically speaking, but has enough for readers to have a good time for a few hours. The main issue that hurts my heart is that this is a solid story, but DEP didn’t really think beyond the premise and including a couple of cool scenes. I would have liked to have him dream bigger, and give this story some kind of larger purpose, because the idea lends itself to much more.
I would give this one a 5/8. I don't know if I would recommend this story. The description makes it sound a lot cooler than it is, and ultimately, this is one of the older stories that doesn't age as well. But it's still fun and a decent sci-fi horror experience.
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—
RKrallonor
on 7/15/2025 9:19:48 PM with a score of 0
Okay, this was a decent story. A few things:
- Some of the wording left a bit more to be desired, such as 'You and James share a momentary look of shared terror'. Checking through carefully and reading it out loud can solve that pretty easily though and I only found a couple of grammatical mistakes. I would say to be wary of comma splicing though.
- The plot was a bit half baked and unbelievable. I found myself cringing a bit at the 'science' behind the portal. Calcium carbonate just seems so arbitrary. If you want a proper sci-fi explanation, I'd say something to do with quantum mechanics seeing as it's complicated enough to mould into loads of stuff and not well understood enough to refute. Also, I don't see the point of it all. Why go to another Universe? What the hell was the teacher thinking and why choose kids to go with him? (who disappeared for no explained reason. Was he a junkie pretending to be a teacher or what? Maybe an interdimensional being sent to misguide the youth?)
- The writing was pretty good, but the story was too short. If you want to develop characters, it's got to have a bit more effort than this. You'd at least expect to visit two different Universes with the promise of a Multiverse.
- I wasn't a fan of the whole zombie premise. If you wanted to write a zombie story, why not just write an actual zombie story? Why bother with the Multiverse?
- The ending was a little bit twee (the epilogue one, anyway. It'd be weird if any of the zombie death endings were twee... unless you fall in love with a zombie? You can have that plot idea. On the house.)
All in all, with a bit more effort this could be a really good story. Making another Universe option would get rid of the whole zombie premise argument thing.
5/8
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—
AzBaz
on 6/9/2017 1:59:30 PM with a score of 0
That was ... dissapointing. The first thing that i came to notice was how bland the characters were, starting with myself, dissapointingly enough. I honestly find mildly funny how little this guy reacts to what's happening. There's this portal that brings you to other universes where anything can happen,and honestly he doesnt seem to give much of a sh*t, he seems a bit intrigued at best. The worst is that you are probably the least character of all the characters, and that's saying a lot, considering that the rest are: A jock, who hates you because ... because. A school diva, who you of course have a crush on. The childhood friend, who is your friend. I think there were other ones, that i sadly cannot remember.
And there's also our lovely professor, who for some reason decided it was a good idea to send teenagers on wild adventures in the multiverse, he is also not very good at choosing them. The strong jock and the nerd i guess i understand, but why recruit a person who doesn't respect your authority enough to not consult you before revealing the secret of your project? And what is the diva doing there? What did he see in her? Was he just desperate to find people?
Other than that, the narration is a bit lacking, this is a bit of a more personal note, but i would've prefered if it had been a bit more descriptive of the enviroment, the atmosphere and how the characters felt. My guess is that you ass the author didn't expect much of this story, but i still would encourage you to continue it with a bit more care.
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JossieMime
on 8/10/2016 6:11:16 PM with a score of 0
While I enjoyed the story I couldn't help feel like it was meant to be much bigger. It's about a multi-verse yet only one other universe is ever explored.
Which brings me to my second point... of why? The motives of anyone aren't ever explained. Why is the doctor exploring these worlds? I thought his assistant had something to do with it at first, but he makes it clear he's sure he's dead. So why keep exploring when dangerous things are about?
Why use children to help explore, and why did the children agree? Why did they need more of them? Most of them seem to know just how dangerous it can be, yet they keep going. Did they just enjoy the novelty of entering new worlds? Did they stand to gain something by following the Dr?
Why were you invited? It seems the girl likes you, but what would that have to do with inviting you?
It's a cool setting, but I felt like it was left largely unexplored.
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Killa_Robot
on 7/17/2016 3:24:30 PM with a score of 0
ah Ok, so this is a horror story, not a hero story. I get it. Carefully written with some variations.
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JohnX
on 1/24/2024 12:57:46 PM with a score of 0
It's fine. I wish you had some more control over it. 5/8.
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theCi
on 9/24/2023 12:17:55 AM with a score of 0
I love the part where the creature rips out his throat.
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— ehaaaaaaaaav on 6/16/2019 10:17:08 PM with a score of 0
Tomorrow was the only option, I choose it and I died? Okay, thanx
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— Mellowwind on 4/1/2019 5:38:28 PM with a score of 0
I thoroughly enjoyed this story! :-) However I feel as though in my choices in not being a risk taker I inevitably met my match and death found me. I feel as if the story should let the reader choose if they are going to either A. Focus on their algebra or B. Get distracted by Christie at the door. Overall fun story! :-)
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— Devin Symone on 3/28/2019 1:37:13 AM with a score of 0
Too sweet. I really enjoyed the story and the ending. Thanks for writing this story.
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PaulaAnneMason
on 11/11/2018 9:21:33 AM with a score of 0
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