Halloween 2016 I.F. – Instructions

D͟o̢̟̬ ̵͚͍̠̻y͎̝o̸u̗͙̺̖ ͇̯̬̤̞͍w̘̝͉a̡̞̥͔̱ṋ̠͉͓͈͙͢t̴̬͔͍̤̳ ̮̝̼̤̯̼̮͟t̰̺o͉̘͓̜̙̕ ̨̠p̪̘ḻ̮̞̣̘͎̭a̙͞y͙̬͉̥͈͡ ̮̺̻͇a͉ ̻̱̭͚̱̮͖g̻̞͙a̜̜̤̠̗͍̝͢m̥̝̖͈͔͝ḙ̜̖ ̨͔̯̱w͔̠̤̙͙͍͟ͅi̦̼̞͖͎͔̘t̪̭̘h̙͔̦̪́ͅͅ ̖̹m̥̝̫̻̜̰e̴̪̲̟̣?̜͓̻͕̱̲̟

What better way to celebrate Halloween with than a little bit of fun interactive fiction?

Here’s how it’ll work:

I’ve put up a post that’s the start to a story. In it, it describes a character and a situation that he’s found himself in.

You can reply to the post’s comments with a suggestion about what he can do next. Get your replies in by 6pm PST the next day. Then, between 6pm-9pm PST (approximately), I will put up the next part of the story, which will be based on your suggestions to the character. A new post will go up every day until Halloween.

Examples of what suggestions might look like: “Examine the mirror” or “break the vase” or “Don’t give up!! Think about your family!”

If contradictory actions are suggested by different people (“Break the vase” and “take the vase with you” can’t both be done), decisions on which to go with will be based on a) which gets more suggestions or b) which is more in line with the protagonist’s personality as established so far. ‘Think’ actions will usually never be contradictory and can include anything you want him to think about, with the exception of a) things he won’t know or b) if it’s in the middle of an action sequence since he might not want to stop and think about unrelated things right then. But in general, you can suggest whatever you want, even if it isn’t relevant. For example, “what do you look like, though?” could be a suggestion just as much as anything else—you’re welcome to use your comment to learn more about the character(s) as well as advance the story.

New people can jump in at any time, as long as they only reply to the newest post (since previous ones are ‘closed’). If you’re jumping in late, I suggest reading the previous parts just so you’re caught up on what’s been done so far, though.

Ready? If not, go ahead and ask me questions in the Comments. If so, let’s go to day 1.

[Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 |  Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Conclusion | Author’s Notes]

(The small text: I reserve all rights to this work. If I eventually get this published in any form and need to take this down, I will send copies of this online version to everyone who contributed suggestions (if I am reasonably able to get in contact with them). )