{"id":9078,"date":"2023-04-18T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/?p=9078"},"modified":"2025-03-01T06:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T06:56:30","slug":"how-to-write-interactive-fiction-and-audio-stories-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/de\/how-to-write-interactive-fiction-and-audio-stories-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write Interactive Fiction and Interactive Audio Stories 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"9078\" class=\"elementor elementor-9078\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9feb713 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9feb713\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b0589cf\" data-id=\"b0589cf\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b70db2a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b70db2a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How to Write Interactive Fiction Stories<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44a7552 elementor-toc--content-ellipsis elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"44a7552\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;No headings were found on this page.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;,&quot;h4&quot;,&quot;h5&quot;,&quot;h6&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;numbers&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__44a7552\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__44a7552\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__44a7552\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-deb0ac0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"deb0ac0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-75203df elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"75203df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What Are Interactive Audio Stories?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28dd2f8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"28dd2f8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"304\"><strong data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"29\">Interactive Audio Stories<\/strong><br data-start=\"29\" data-end=\"32\" \/>Interactive audio stories turn listeners into active participants. You shape the narrative with voice commands. These stories run on mobile apps, websites like TWIST Tales, or devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Every choice leads the story down a new path.<\/p><p data-start=\"306\" data-end=\"676\"><strong data-start=\"306\" data-end=\"326\">Voice Technology<\/strong><br data-start=\"326\" data-end=\"329\" \/>&#8220;Voice&#8221; refers to the technology behind devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. We use these devices to tell stories, run RPG games, and more. You interact with them by speaking. Apps like &#8220;Alexa Skills&#8221; or &#8220;Google Actions&#8221; are available on both platforms. Audio is played through speakers, sometimes with visuals on displays or smart TVs.<\/p><p data-start=\"678\" data-end=\"1024\"><strong data-start=\"678\" data-end=\"694\">How It Works<\/strong><br data-start=\"694\" data-end=\"697\" \/>Interactive audio stories are not linear. They do not simply play out for a passive listener. Instead, the story is divided into text segments. Each segment ends with a &#8220;Player Choice.&#8221; By speaking predefined commands (Player Utterances), you decide what happens next. This creates a fully interactive and immersive experience.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f683706 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f683706\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 1: Text Segment With Player Choice<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-82e92fe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"82e92fe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i>\u201c<i>The magic sword in your hand starts to glow as the dragon lifts its head. Do you wish to <\/i><i><b>attack<\/b><\/i><i> the dragon, <\/i><i><b>negotiate<\/b><\/i><i> with him, or try to <\/i><i><b>flee<\/b><\/i><i>?<\/i>\u201d<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Player]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i>\u201c<i>I <\/i><i><b>attack<\/b><\/i><i> the dragon!\u201d<br \/><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i><i>\u201cWith a battle cry you raise your weapon and charge the dragon\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Player]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i><i>\u201cI want to <\/i><i><b>negotiate<\/b><\/i><i> with the dragon!\u201d<br \/><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i><i>\u201cYou sheathe your weapon and lift your hands in a calming way to show that your intentions are peaceful\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 3<br \/><\/b><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Player]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i><i>\u201cI <\/i><i><b>flee<\/b><\/i><i>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><\/span><i> <\/i><i>\u201cYou turn on your heels and start running. The dragon spews a cloud of flame after you, almost incinerating you\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eff40ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"eff40ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How Do You Create an Interactive Story?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-27dba2e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"27dba2e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Creating interactive storytelling involves crafting a narrative that branches based on\u00a0user choices. It starts with a solid structure, focusing on player decisions, and\u00a0effective question phrasing. Authors can use tools like TWIST to easily build and\u00a0publish their stories without needing technical skills.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-172895e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"172895e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How Do You Write an Interactive Story Book?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c339b44 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c339b44\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Writing an interactive story book requires a focus on engaging, choice-driven<br \/>narratives. It involves planning out various story paths, ensuring each segment ends with a decision point that influences the story &amp; direction. The process includes brainstorming, plotting, writing, and revising to create immersive experiences.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-460f5e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"460f5e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What Makes a Good Interactive Story?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-83fe821 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"83fe821\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A good interactive story captivates its audience with meaningful choices that impact\u00a0the narrative. It combines immersive storytelling with consequential decisions,\u00a0creating a deep emotional connection to the characters and world. Successful\u00a0interactive stories also offer replay value, enticing players to explore different\u00a0outcomes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-de91148 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"de91148\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What is the Best Software for Writing Interactive Stories?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08a67fa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"08a67fa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/de\/app\/\">TWIST<\/a> is a powerful app for writing interactive stories, designed for authors to craft immersive audio experiences without programming knowledge. It provides a user- friendly interface for creating story branches, integrating audio, and publishing across platforms like mobile app, web player, cars. Discord, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a95017 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1a95017\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What are the Best Tips to Write Interactive Stories?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-90138e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"90138e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The best tips for writing interactive stories include focusing on meaningful player choices, avoiding fake choices, and creating immersive experiences. Authors should aim to evoke emotions and make each story segment unique. Tools like TWIST can help streamline the creation process.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-59bc421 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"59bc421\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How to Start Writing Interactive Fiction?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-06ed2b5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"06ed2b5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Starting to write interactive fiction involves understanding the basics of branching\u00a0narratives and player engagement. Authors should familiarize themselves with\u00a0interactive storytelling tools and techniques, and begin by experimenting with small\u00a0projects to hone their skills. Engaging with the community and seeking feedback can\u00a0also provide valuable insights.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7f6f179 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7f6f179\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why Interactive Audio Stories are an Exciting Format<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-246115c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"246115c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">In interactive stories,\u00a0<b>passive consumers are transform into active players<\/b>. They become the heroes of their own stories.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">Regularly engaging players with consequential decisions locks in their focus and establishes an inherent level of suspense and anticipation upon which to build.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">This can become a valuable tool in building strong emotional connections to your world, plot, and characters. Teasing your players with what could have been contributes to the replay value of each story, enticing them to go back and explore alternative outcomes.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">Presented in the form of traditional gamebooks, interactive stories have been\u00a0<b>a niche market for a very long time<\/b>.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">But what only reaches a small readership in printed form thrills millions in other media formats. Video games like\u00a0<i>Mass Effect,<\/i>\u00a0story apps like\u00a0<i>Episodes<\/i>, and shows like<i>\u00a0Black Mirror<\/i><i>: Bandersnatch<\/i>\u00a0tell their stories in an interactive way.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">Players, users, and viewers make decisions about the course of events and experience their own story in the role of the player character. The success of franchises such as these has seen an increased demand for personalized, immersive gaming experiences where you get to choose your very own adventures.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">Through spoken Voice commands, virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa, Samsung and Bixby now offer a new medium which is perfectly suited for interactive storytelling.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42cb8c1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"42cb8c1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Positioning Yourself as an Author and Reaching New Audiences<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e00db3c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e00db3c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Since Voice is still a young market, it gives you the opportunity to position yourself as <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>one of its first interactive authors<\/b><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> early on to make yourself more widely known and to reach a new audience. <\/span><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you have already created and established your own worlds with your novels and tales, you can now expand upon them and strengthen your brand by writing interactive stories in these worlds.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b015ee5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b015ee5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Using Interactive Audiobooks as Marketing Tools<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4311690 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4311690\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">Active engagement with players of interactive stories can be used in different ways. Players will\u00a0<b>form a close bond<\/b>\u00a0with your\u00a0story, world, and characters through their decisions. Writers can integrate surveys into their stories and gain valuable feedback about player behavior by using a\u00a0<b>statistics feature<\/b>.<\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\">You can also use Voice to promote\u00a0<b>books, eBooks, audiobooks, or websites<\/b>\u00a0or sell them directly via\u00a0<b>upselling<\/b>. Players can order books directly and conveniently from within the story using Voice commands.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5da2fab elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5da2fab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Interactive Audiobooks as Standalone Products<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ec5012 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6ec5012\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Interactive audiobooks can be monetized using <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>in-skill purchases (ISPs)<\/b><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. Similar to how the Google Play Store enables monetization for smartphone apps, Voice enables freemium, premium, and subscription-based revenue models. Amazon awards payouts for frequently and heavily-used Alexa Skills.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b0b05c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0b0b05c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8c97156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8c97156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a5bc0b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7a5bc0b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15f170c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"15f170c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Creating and Playing Interactive Audio Stories<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d68c899 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d68c899\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e435be4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e435be4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Interactive Audio Stories are immersive narrative experiences driven by virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.<\/p><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/twist-tales-the-best-interactive-audio-books\/\">TWIST<\/a> is a simple and convenient tool<\/strong> for crafting immersive experiences without investing the time and effort on programming applications yourself. You can easily build <strong>tree diagrams<\/strong>, writing your text straight from your browser. You can then publish your story <strong>at the touch of a button<\/strong> on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Samsung Bixby. It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8ed1ffe e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8ed1ffe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-88b0b90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"88b0b90\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Dialogue Between Audio Story and Player<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-be30564 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"be30564\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-628756c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"628756c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>To play your interactive story, the player starts by addressing the Voice assistant. For our story \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/games\/iron-falcon\/\">Iron Falcon<\/a>\u201d the command on Amazon Alexa would be: <em>\u201cAlexa, open \u2018Iron Falcon\u2019.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p>The audiobook starts with the Voice assistant reading the first text segment or playing the corresponding audio file. After offering the Player Choices, the Voice assistant falls silent. Now the player has <strong>8 seconds<\/strong> to continue the story with a Voice command (Player Utterance).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-758458f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"758458f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3cf4115 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3cf4115\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Successful Dialogue<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-988339c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"988339c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9ce0058 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9ce0058\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If the command the player speaks is one of the stated choice and is connected to a subsequent text box, the next segment of the story and the next Player Choices will be read.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4407279 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4407279\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-17bf1b8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"17bf1b8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Failed Dialogue<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cdef408 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cdef408\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8a3019f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8a3019f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If the player does not answer at all, or if they speak an unknown command, the Voice assistant will tell the player that it did not understand and does not know how to continue.<\/p><p>After that, the player has another opportunity to continue the story with a <strong>valid Voice command<\/strong>. If the dialogue fails again, depending on the platform, the Voice assistant will read the available Player Utterances stated by the author to the player..<\/p><p>Thus, the player does not have to remember all of the Player Choices to know what options are possible, because they will be <strong>explicitly told<\/strong>. If, after that, it still doesn\u2019t work, well, sometimes the fault is simply on the player\u2019s side&#8230;<\/p><p>Do not worry too much about this rather technical chapter. It is enough to imagine your interactive story as a <strong>dialogue between the player and the Voice assistant<\/strong>, with the limitation that the Voice assistant can only tell the player what you have specified previously as story texts, the Player Choices and the Player Utterances. What you have to watch out for with these three elements when telling your story will be explained in the next chapter.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56d10ce e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"56d10ce\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38c1bbf elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"38c1bbf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Summary &#8211; Building an interactive story<\/strong><\/p><ul><li>An interactive story begins with a text box in which you present a Player Choice.<\/li><li>By stating Player Utterances you decide which valid options the player has for these choices. The keywords from these utterances should be included in the Player Choices to let the player know which terms they can use to trigger these options. Synonyms help you to handle deviations in the player\u2019s answer.<\/li><li>For each Player Choice you state you have to create a subsequent text box with the next Player Choice at the end. This way, an interactive story emerges step by step.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Technical aspects:<\/strong><\/p><ul><li>If the player does not voice one of the stated utterances or synonyms when answering a Player Choice, or if their words cannot be understood by the speech recognition, the Voice assistant will, after two failed attempts, read out the utterances you set.<\/li><li>TWIST is a simple and convenient tool that allows you to create interactive audio stories for Voice and publish them on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung Bixby.<\/li><\/ul><div><p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Glossary<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Fallback Intent<\/b><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-size ); font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align); font-style: inherit;\"><b>:<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-size ); font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align); font-style: inherit;\"> the Voice assistant reads the stated Player Utterances or plays back the corresponding audio files after the player repeatedly failed to say one of the stated words or synonyms.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><b>Reprompt:<\/b> the Voice assistant prompts the player to make a decision or tells them that it could not understand them if the player does not answer within a certain amount of time or did not answer with one of the stated Player Utterances.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f3d756f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f3d756f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0865192 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0865192\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Craft of Telling Interactive Stories<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8414714 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8414714\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e95ddbb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e95ddbb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The main distinction between interactive content and linear texts are the <strong>different paths the story can follow<\/strong>, with different events happening on those paths. An interactive story consists of either parallelly or sequentially ordered story segments. Based on their decisions, the players therefore construct their very own story.<\/p><p>To an author of interactive stories this presents one <strong>problem<\/strong>: even if every story segment of an interactive story only provides two options that a user can choose from, leading to two different new story paths, you would have to write 128 text segments for just seven choices, and 256 segments for eight choices. With twenty choices you would even have to write more than a million text segments. Obviously, this would be impossible.<\/p><p>The simple trick is not to keep forking your tree diagram to infinity, but to <strong>merge different story paths back into one main thread<\/strong>, or to bring certain story paths to a premature end.<\/p><p>How you achieve this without limiting your story too much and without frustrating or boring your players will be explained in the following subsections.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d35649a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d35649a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9aa4811 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9aa4811\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Glossary<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Story Segment:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> the events between two Player Utterances. Story segments can be subdivided into smaller text segments for technical, narrative, or gameplay reasons.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca50bec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ca50bec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ad192d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7ad192d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Four Types of Player Choices<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e8f67a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8e8f67a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c5543cd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c5543cd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important element of an interactive audiobook are <strong>the choices available to the player<\/strong>. They allow them to <strong>actively influence the plot<\/strong> and to become part of it. The story alone will not create immersion, player identification, and player emotions; this will be achieved, first and foremost, by the choices made available to the player.<\/p><p>However, these choices and their consequences lead to the biggest problem of writing interactive stories: the ever-expanding tree diagram. Your Player Choices should allow players to make real decisions. This heightens the tension and forges a stronger connection with the plot. Players have to feel that their choices <strong>are meaningful<\/strong> and <strong>have consequences, <\/strong>otherwise your story will lose its appeal. At the same time, you cannot open a completely new story path every time the player makes a choice.<\/p><p>When writing interactive stories, it is very helpful to already have a good idea of the larger story paths you wish to offer to the player and what ending you wish to work toward (this will be covered in greater detail in <em>Chapter 9: Plotting<\/em>).<\/p><p>For now, we will just look at the four <strong>types of choices<\/strong> interactive stories can have, and we will show you how you can use them to control the escalating growth of your tree diagram while at the same time increasing the quality of your story.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46ee2e0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"46ee2e0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-79a2a00 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"79a2a00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Glossary<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Identification:<\/b><\/span><\/span> specifically the identification of the <em>player<\/em> with the <em>Player Character<\/em> and their choices to create high <em>immersion<\/em>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8ea4837 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8ea4837\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d1f0303 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d1f0303\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Fake Choices: Avoid them<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-89f5429 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"89f5429\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-79546e3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"79546e3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Fake choices are choices that are in fact <strong>not really choices<\/strong>. No matter which decision the player makes, the story will continue with the same event. This is especially frustrating if the player is being offered options that are explicitly denied to them afterwards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c480c71 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"c480c71\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d658d9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d658d9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 2: Fake Choice - The Door<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d065eff e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d065eff\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f0a1f7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2f0a1f7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>You reach the second floor. Do you wish to take the <strong>left<\/strong> or the <strong>right<\/strong> door?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>Open the <strong>left<\/strong> door<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b> <i>\u201cWith a battle cry you raise your weapon and charge the dragon\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f <b>[Player]<\/b> <i><em>\u201cOpen the <strong>right<\/strong> door<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>You open the ight door and enter the room beyond\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8ea3aae e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8ea3aae\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a24b71 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6a24b71\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The player chose to open the left door. However, they are told this door is locked and that they have to use the right door instead. From the player\u2019s viewpoint this means that they consciously decided against one event (using the right door), but that this event occurred anyway. At the same time, their actual wish (taking the left door) was ignored. This makes for a bad gaming experience and only leads to player <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">disappointment and frustration<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2a24a01 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2a24a01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7772aa0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7772aa0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 3: Fake Choice - The Autograph<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e508677 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e508677\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-94526d2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"94526d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b> \u201c<em>Your favorite star is getting swarmed by a horde of screaming girls. Do wish to get an autograph too?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><strong><em>No<\/em><\/strong>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b> <i>\u201c<em>Seeing all those hysterical teens, you have no desire to join them. But your best friend persuades you to get an autograph anyway. You give in and patiently get in line\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><strong><em>Yes<\/em><\/strong>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator] <\/b>\u201c<em>Finally you are closer to your star than ever before. This opportunity to get an autograph might not come again. Beyond excited, you get in line\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d9b1996 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d9b1996\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b92936c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b92936c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/p><p>In one of our very early stories the player is asked whether they wish to get an autograph from their favorite star. Since the autograph will be important later on in the plot, the player has to be \u201cforced\u201d to get it.<\/p><p>We solved this problem in a clumsy way, using a fake choice and the question whether the player wants to have the autograph. If they say yes, they receive it directly; if they say no, their best friend persuades them to get it regardless. For the player, this means that they decided against doing a certain thing but then does it anyway. Not great!<\/p><p>If you look at interactive stories in all their manifestations, you begin to notice that they are <strong>full of fake choices<\/strong>. Many writers do not wish to start new, sprawling story paths, or they get the feeling that some text segments are too long.<\/p><p>Depending on the platform, there are also limitations on the time laps in interactive stories between two user interactions (more on this in <em>Chapter 5: Technical and Textual Requirements<\/em>).<\/p><p>All of this leads to writers weaving Player Choices into the text where the story does not really offer a choice, thus forcing the author-intended decision upon the player in any case.<\/p><p>Usually, the player will only learn if their decision was a real or fake one if they play the story again. But many questions are already surrounded by the aura of a fake question. Therefore, <strong>avoid the use of such questions<\/strong> from the beginning.<\/p><p>Your goal should be to have as few fake choices as possible. Only this will ensure a <strong>high replayability<\/strong> where the decisions the player makes have <strong>real meaning<\/strong> for the course of the story.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5e23192 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5e23192\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-68a0242 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"68a0242\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>One fake choice might be excusable. But several can frustrate your players and lead them to abandon your story. So avoid offering an action to the player in the first place that you do not want them to take anyway. The next point will show you how you can solve this issue in a much better way.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef5f8c1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ef5f8c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-538c940 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"538c940\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Flavor Choices: The Better Fake Choice<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9d6cd21 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9d6cd21\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-30a4bf4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"30a4bf4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A flavor choice is not a decision on <strong>WHAT<\/strong> action the player wishes to take but on <strong>HOW<\/strong> or <strong>WHY<\/strong> the player wishes to perform that action. The player is not being asked, \u201cWhat should happen?\u201d but, \u201cHow are you going to do it?\u201d<\/p><p>Flavor choices have one big advantage over fake choices. They offer additional emotional value to the player and give them the opportunity to add <strong>distinct attributes and personality traits <\/strong>to their player character.<\/p><p>Use flavor choices instead of fake choices to contain your tree diagram. They do not require much effort from the author while at the same time improving the gaming experience considerably.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0991bb6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0991bb6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5dfa94e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5dfa94e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 4: Flavor Choice - The Door<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e25c6e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0e25c6e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a90e0b1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a90e0b1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b> \u201c<em>You are standing in front of a door. Do you to wish to <strong>storm through<\/strong> or <strong>open it noiselessly<\/strong>?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>I <strong>storm through<\/strong> the door<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b> <i>\u201c<em>You kick open the door and barge into the room. The guards inside are taken completely by surprise and you manage to quickly defeat them\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>I <strong>open<\/strong> the door <strong>noiselessly<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator] <\/b>\u201c<em>Carefully you turn the handle. There are several guards in the room, but they have not noticed you yet. Drawing your sword, you ambush and defeat them\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-483b5ba e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"483b5ba\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ffd3c1c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ffd3c1c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Just as with a fake choice, both actions lead back to the same path without the tree diagram branching any further. However, the flavor choice is much more engaging for the player. Firstly, they have to weigh the option to \u201cstorm through\u201d against the option to \u201copen noiselessly\u201d, deciding which action will have <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">a better chance of success<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">. They also have to choose what kind of character they want to be in the story. Do they want to play the role of a fearless daredevil or rather that of a cunning hero, striking from the shadows? By using flavor choices, you can therefore create <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">meaningful identification opportunities<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> for the player.<\/span><\/p><p>Lets take a look at how the other fake choice (Example 3) can also be reworked into an emotional and meaningful question:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-532e750 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"532e750\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e01b696 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e01b696\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 5: Flavor Choice - The Autograph<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8fc074d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8fc074d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cac2165 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cac2165\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b> \u201c<em>You desperately need to get an autograph from your favorite star. How will you ask for it? <strong>Boldly<\/strong> or <strong>timidly<\/strong>?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>I ask <strong>boldly<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b> <i>\u201c<em>You push your way through the crowd of girls and plant yourself directly in front of your star. Winking cheekily, you hand him the autograph card\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>I ask <strong>timidly<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator] <\/b>\u201c<em>Somewhat uneasy, you shuffle between the other girls. When your star suddenly smiles at you, you are overcome by nerves and you ask in a whisper if you can have his autograph\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0441342 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0441342\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-594271d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"594271d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Despite the rearrangement of the Player Choice, the author ensures that the player will receive the required autograph. In contrast to the fake choice, the question has now <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">emotional and meaningful value<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">.<\/span><\/p><p>With their answer, the player decides on a personality trait for their character. Furthermore the question creates suspense. It could very well be that one of the options offers a greater chance of success or entails other consequences for the plot. At least at the moment of decision, this question offers twofold tension for the player.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-68dca7d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"68dca7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a73faf9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a73faf9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>Use flavor choices instead of fake choices to control the growth of your tree diagram. In this way you prevent the player from becoming frustrated and also offer them greater opportunity to <strong>identify with the player character<\/strong> and shape them to their liking. This creates immersion and a strong connection with the player character.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e08b658 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e08b658\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e3ae5af elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e3ae5af\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Progress Choices: Player Progress<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-88400f3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"88400f3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84b38cf elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"84b38cf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Progress choices refer to the <strong>player\u2019s progress<\/strong> in exploring the world and developing their player character. Similar to flavor choices they do not have a huge impact on the story or the branching of the tree diagram.<\/p><p>Progress choices can make the player character stronger or better equip them to face the upcoming challenges in the story. Through them, the player can gain <strong>background information<\/strong> about the game world, the events of the story, and other characters, or they can experience the satisfaction of having made a <strong>morally correct decision<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Progress choices can also lead to <strong>particularly emotional experiences<\/strong> by confronting the player with unforeseen events, touching them deeply, or making them laugh.<\/p><p>All of these have one thing in common: they make the player\u2019s decisions <strong>meaningful<\/strong> and enhance your story without further fanning out the tree diagram.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15b690d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"15b690d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ac382a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ac382a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 6: Progress Choice - The Door<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ab6db9d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ab6db9d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c959f5f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c959f5f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>You reach the second floor. Do you wish to open the <strong>left<\/strong> door or the <strong>right<\/strong> door?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f <\/b><b>[Player]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>The <strong>left<\/strong> one<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>You enter a small room. On a shelf, you discover an old book about the eternal battle between the gods of light and darkness. [\u2026] After reading it, you continue your way through the right door which leads into a long corridor\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><b><\/b><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>The <strong>right<\/strong> one<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>The door opens without a noise. Ahead, a long corridor stretches into the distance\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5472f7b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5472f7b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-daa7669 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"daa7669\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">As you can see, the fake choice from example 2 can also be turned into a progress choice. The knowledge about the gods is not relevant to the plot, but it contributes to the immersion and the deeper understanding of the world and its characters. This could just as easily have been scenery provoking terror hiding behind the left door; maybe a torture chamber (thriller), a secret lab (sci-fi), or a creepy museum of dolls (horror). Then the progress would lie in encountering this oppressive atmosphere and the immersion tied to it.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b88b27f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b88b27f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6fef26b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6fef26b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 7: Progress Choice - The Dagger<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e3e2d06 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e3e2d06\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e7cea4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e7cea4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>Despite your haste, the footsteps of your pursuers seem to get ever closer. You notice something glinting in the bushes beside the path. Do you wish to <strong>investigate<\/strong> or do you <strong>keep<\/strong> <strong>running<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u201c<i><em>I wish to <strong>investigate<\/strong> what it is<\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>Despite your hunters being hot on your heels, you inspect the bushes. There is an old dagger lying on the ground. You pick it up and hurry on<\/em>.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>I <strong>keep<\/strong> <strong>on<\/strong> <strong>running<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<br \/><\/i><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>Whatever is lying there among the bushes, you have no time to waste. Breathlessly, you hurry on<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b775327 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b775327\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5832e0d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5832e0d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The Player Choice confronts the player with a dilemma. The pursuers are already closing in and any delay could have severe consequences, even lead to the death of the player character. On the other hand, the player naturally wants to know what is glinting in those bushes.<\/span><\/p><p>The dagger they find could give the player an advantage in their next fight or enable their later in the story to cut themselves free. This acquiring of information or items, as in Examples 6 or 7, leads to the practical problem of how the game can remember these things in case you wish to make use of them later in the story.<\/p><p>To track anything relevant to the plot, you can use so-called variables. An in-depth explanation of game variables can be found in <em>Chapter 8: Variables<\/em>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2adf4ae e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2adf4ae\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-639c1a9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"639c1a9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>Progress choices can lead to just a <strong>single story segment<\/strong> or <strong>short story arcs<\/strong> before joining the main path again. They serve to merge story paths without compromising the quality of the story.<\/p><p>They can also be used to convey information to the player that puts past or future events in the story <strong>into a new light<\/strong> or that <strong>permanently influences<\/strong> upcoming decisions the player makes based on the information and items acquired.<\/p><p>Use progress choices to create suspense, immersion, and atmosphere, to reward the player for their curiosity, and to send them on their hero\u2019s journey.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-75816bb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"75816bb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c301fba elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c301fba\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Story Choices: Branching Out the Plot<\/b><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4360c94 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4360c94\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e6f788 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e6f788\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The tree diagram of an interactive story consists of several main story paths. Through story choices, the player can select their way along these bigger paths and <strong>decide how an interactive story progresses<\/strong>. They determine what happens in the game world and which part of the story they are going to experience.<\/p><p>Complex storylines are a great incentive for players to <strong>play the story again<\/strong>, exploring it from a different angle or with a different approach. At the same time, they mean more work for you since the tree diagram will have to consist of several main story paths.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5625a06 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5625a06\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a78fe5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6a78fe5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example\u00a08: Story Choice - To the Sea or to the Mountains?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a60760f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"a60760f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-afd1764 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"afd1764\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Passage<\/b><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>Your previous dates went extremely well. Now it is time for your first trip as a couple. Where do you wish to spend a romantic and exciting weekend with your new darling? <strong>At the sea<\/strong> or <strong>in the mountains<\/strong><\/em>?\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/p><p>The question of the locale for the further plot leads to two different story paths, each with different events, different places, and different characters. The weekend at the sea could involve a sailing trip where the boat gets caught in a storm. In the mountains there could be an avalanche. Or a rich businessman could invite the couple to an island or to a secluded chalet.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a5207ba e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"a5207ba\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a44df1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3a44df1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example\u00a09: Story Choice - Normans or Saxons?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a8077a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a8077a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f608388 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f608388\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Passage<\/b><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>England in the year 1193. You decide to seek your fortune by becoming an adventurer and mercenary. Do you wish to join forces with the <strong>ruling Normans<\/strong> or the <strong>rebelling Saxons<\/strong>?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3dee91a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3dee91a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/p><p>This Player Choice, too, makes it obvious that the story will follow <strong>very different paths<\/strong> depending on the player\u2019s decision. As a Norman knight, they will fight with a full suit of armor on horseback and become part of the English upper class, advancing the conquest of the British Isles and probably hated by the common people. As a Saxon warrior, they could join Robin Hood and his band of robbers, participate in raids, and experience the suppression of the common folk first-hand.<\/p><p>Both paths can certainly have <strong>shared plot elements<\/strong>, like a battle the player can experience from the other side as well if they play again, with different objectives and different events.<\/p><p>To have the player choose between two factions with differing or opposed disposition, goals, and prerequisites is a classic approach to motivate the player to play the story a second time. But it also means more work for you as the author.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fb4a524 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"fb4a524\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7402d3a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7402d3a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>Story choices mean the writing of the story will require more effort the earlier you use them. Consider carefully whether and when to use them. In a longer interactive story, for example, it can be very interesting to position a story choice <strong>right before the final events<\/strong>.<\/p><p>In this way, you can contain the scope of the new main story paths while still creating a great incentive for the player to try out the other options.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7977636 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7977636\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7620c31 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7620c31\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Phrasing the Player Choices<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a94b6be e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"a94b6be\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-83b7792 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"83b7792\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>For interactive audio stories, especially for Voice, the phrasing of the actual Player Choices is very important. Words heard are more fleeting than words read. Questions have to be phrased in such a way so that the player understands:<\/p><ul><li>That the question is <strong>directed at them<\/strong>,<\/li><li>What <strong>their options<\/strong> are,<\/li><li>What the <strong>consequences<\/strong> of their choices are likely to be, and<\/li><li>What <strong>utterances<\/strong> (<strong>Voice commands)<\/strong> they can use to continue the story.<\/li><\/ul><p>These requirements vary depending on the target audience. For children and newcomers, <strong>narrow and simple questions<\/strong> are better. In contrast, adults and experienced players appreciate <strong>wide-ranging and complex questions<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-35b232e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"35b232e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-edca641 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"edca641\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Formal Aspects<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-121ac54 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"121ac54\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f59a263 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f59a263\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Limit the Player Choices<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d26168a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d26168a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Only use two or three options per question. Too many possibilities that are also hard to remember <strong style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-size ); letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align); font-style: inherit;\">overwhelm the player<\/strong><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-size ); font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align); font-style: inherit;\"> of your interactive story. They will not be able to remember all the options or will not have sufficient time to think their decision through.<\/span><\/p><p>When it comes to Player Choices, less is often more. Suspense and curiosity are not achieved by the number of options but by their <strong>content and impact<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7eee47e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7eee47e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Separate Player Choices from Other Types of Questions<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fcf7e85 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fcf7e85\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Make a clear distinction between questions posed by characters to other characters or rhetorical questions, as opposed to the actual Player Choice directed at the player. This is not a problem when reading, but since the player only hears the text they needs to be able to determine whether the question is <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">directed at them<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> or just <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">part of a continuing dialogue.<\/strong><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da31ec8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"da31ec8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-104be35 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"104be35\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 10: Phrasing Player Choices - Obscure Formulation<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d9381e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3d9381e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96c990d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"96c990d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Passage<\/b><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>Your journey takes you into the castle. What do you wish to do now? Do you visit the <strong>king<\/strong>? Or rather the <strong>queen<\/strong>? Both have their advantage. Or do you prefer to <strong>just<\/strong> <strong>leave<\/strong>? What is your decision?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c5c2ba2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"c5c2ba2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0a5bc13 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0a5bc13\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/p><p>In this example, hearing several questions before the actual Player Choice confuses the player. They will struggle to comprehend <strong>what the actual choice is<\/strong> and <strong>what exactly their options are<\/strong>. This issue can easily be resolved by rewriting the text passage as follows:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7eb8e81 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7eb8e81\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-930b32e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"930b32e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 11: Phrasing Player Choices - Separate the Question<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a70044b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"a70044b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-811293b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"811293b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Passage<\/b><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>You can visit the king to ask him for a favor. Or you can meet the queen to win their affection. Do you visit <strong>the king<\/strong> or <strong>the queen<\/strong>?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5bc6fad e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5bc6fad\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-04f44f9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"04f44f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The consequences of the available actions are presented to the player beforehand. The valid utterances can be easily deduced from the subsequent Player Choice \u201cDo you visit the king or the queen?\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b0678a3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b0678a3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ce2ad0d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ce2ad0d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Announcing Player Choices with Fixed Phrases<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f04849 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9f04849\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a02b4da elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a02b4da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Your story will not only comprise choices directed at the player, but also rhetorical questions and questions asked between characters. This can be <strong>misleading<\/strong> for the player. To avoid this, you might want to use a <strong>recurring phrase<\/strong> to announce a Player Choice. By always beginning the sentence of a Player Choice with, \u201cDo you wish to\u2026\u201d or, \u201cDo you choose to\u2026\u201d you can create a clear signal for the player that a player directed question has started.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8a8f1f0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8a8f1f0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bfa0467 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bfa0467\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Open versus Closed Player Choices<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a24a72 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a24a72\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61b6e29 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"61b6e29\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>For a particularly successful gaming experience you should use as few yes-no questions as possible. Instead, ask varied closed questions or even open questions.<\/p><p>An open question does <strong>not contain the actual utterances anymore<\/strong>. They will only be hinted at in the text. The player has to determine themselves which options are obvious and permissible.<\/p><p>Open questions create the <strong>impression of great freedom<\/strong>. But they also hold the risk that the player will fail with their reply if the author did not anticipate their answer and state it as a possible Player Utterance.<\/p><p>Most Voice assistants counter this problem by reading the available utterances to the player after two failed attempts. Even though invalid answers do not lead to a termination of the story on Voice, the player will <strong>fall out of the story and the flow of the game<\/strong>. Therefore only experienced authors should employ open questions, and only use them occasionally.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9d214b5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9d214b5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b98edc1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b98edc1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 12: Phrasing Player Choices - Open Question<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ec6150 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4ec6150\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d2d91b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3d2d91b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>Faint light enters the room through the <strong>shutters<\/strong>. Next to the <strong>desk<\/strong> stands a <strong>dusty shelf<\/strong> full of <strong>books<\/strong>. The <strong>painting<\/strong> of a young woman hangs on the opposite <strong>wall<\/strong>. What do you wish to examine<\/em><i>?<\/i>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u201c<i><em>The <strong>painting<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>The picture shows a young woman. She appears to be the daughter of the earl. [\u2026] Do you wish to continue examining the room or do you want to leave<\/em>?\u201d<\/i><\/p><p><strong><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f<\/b> [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cI want to <strong>look<\/strong> <strong>around<\/strong> further!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cNext to the desk stands a dusty shelf full of books. The painting of a young woman hangs on the opposite wall. What do you wish to investigate?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f<\/b> [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cI want to have a look at the <strong>shutters<\/strong>!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cThe shutters can easily be opened. Do you wish to <strong>climb through<\/strong> the window into the garden?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<\/b><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>The <strong>bookshelf<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i><i>\u201c<em>The books are written in a language you cannot read. You are not sure, but it could be Russian [\u2026] Do you wish to continue examining the room or do you want to leave<\/em>?\u201d<\/i><\/p><p><strong><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f<\/b> [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cI want to <strong>leave the room<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cYou return to the corridor and climb the stairs\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b5afca1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b5afca1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db3fce2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"db3fce2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The open question in this example gives the player the opportunity to mentally move through the room instead of just clinging to keywords. However, as the author you will have to set all obvious and interesting objects as possible actions, namely \u201cdesk\u201d, \u201cshelf\u201d, \u201cbooks\u201d, and \u201cpainting\u201d. And to make it even better, also the less obvious ones like \u201cwall\u201d, \u201cshutters\u201d, and \u201cwindow\u201d.<\/span><\/p><p>Use open questions with caution. If the dialogue with the player succeeds, they can offer a <strong>fantastic gaming experience<\/strong>. But they can also dampen it if the player voices commands for which no utterances have been set. In this case, the Voice assistant will tell the player that it did not understand them and will read them the available options. But immersion has been disrupted and the player has fallen out of <strong>the story<\/strong>.<\/p><p>How to safeguard open questions with so-called \u201cdefault ways\u201d in TWIST will be explained in <em>Chapter 4.3: Phrasing the Player Utterances.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-909464f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"909464f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ad7dbb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7ad7dbb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion <\/strong><\/p><p>Consider carefully how you use Open Player Choices and <strong>how to write the corresponding text passage<\/strong>. You can, for instance, create situations that would allow for only a limited number of logical answers. This could be the question \u201cHow are you?\u201d to which the majority of players will answer with \u201cgreat\u201d, \u201cokay\u201d, or \u201cterrible\u201d. To ensure the success of this dialogue you should also use synonyms for the corresponding options, like \u201cgood\u201d, \u201cfine\u201d, \u201cbad\u201d, and so on.<\/p><p>The question \u201cWhat do you wish to examine?\u201d makes the player choose between the objects and items mentioned beforehand. A player will always find themselves <strong>within the specific context of a story<\/strong> from which they can make their choice, and thanks to existing language conventions you can assume that they will not answer the question \u201cHow are you?\u201d with the word \u201ctelephone\u201d.<\/p><p>Therefore, make sure that your player knows the context of their possibilities and that they have a rough idea of what the <strong>obvious and valid actions<\/strong> in the given situation could be.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-022e6ec elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"022e6ec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Read Also:-\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/mission-to-mars-an-interactive-audiobook-adventure-with-schloss-einstein\/\">Mission to Mars &#8211; An Interactive Audiobook Adventure with Schloss Einstein<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-40c8d6a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"40c8d6a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b8f17e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6b8f17e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Language Aspects<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f801aaa e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f801aaa\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ccf6f70 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ccf6f70\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Use the Same Part of Speech<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5e11351 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5e11351\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d819a87 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d819a87\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Player Choices<\/strong> and their elements should differ in their content, not in the way they are phrased. Always use <strong>the same part of speech for your key terms<\/strong>, for example three adjectives, three nouns, three verbs, or three phrases of equal structure. This makes it easier for the player to remember the <strong>possible Player Utterances<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ebd82d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4ebd82d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f9753dc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f9753dc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 13: Phrasing Player Choices - Same Part of Speech<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a158f9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4a158f9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-022bfad elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"022bfad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>The eye witness hesitates with his answer. It\u2019s obvious that he does not like to talk to cops and snoopers. However, his knowledge could be very important to you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"614\"><p><strong>Player Choice &#8211; Alternative 1 (Verbs)<br \/><\/strong><em>\u201cDo you wish to <strong>threaten<\/strong> him, <strong>flatter<\/strong> him, or <strong>lie<\/strong> to him?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p><strong>Player Choice &#8211; Alternative 2 (Adverbs)<br \/><\/strong><em>\u201cHow do you proceed? <strong>Aggressively<\/strong>, <strong>amicably<\/strong>, or <strong>cunningly<\/strong>?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53e6307 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"53e6307\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a58adf9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a58adf9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The three stated options \u201cthreaten\u201d, \u201cflatter\u201d, and \u201clie\u201d are not only easily remembered, they also imply the chances and risks of the three different approaches.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-efa0e66 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"efa0e66\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-522d5bd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"522d5bd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 14: Phrasing Player Choices - Phrases of Equal Structure<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-41b5a81 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"41b5a81\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-710c3f5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"710c3f5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>The woman eyes you suspiciously for a moment, then she returns to reading her book. Do you wish to <strong>ignore<\/strong> her <strong>deliberately<\/strong> to catch her <strong>attention<\/strong>, or do you wish to <strong>approach<\/strong> her <strong>directly<\/strong> to <strong>impress<\/strong> her?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11d8414 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"11d8414\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d02ca33 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d02ca33\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The more specificity with which you formulate the Player Choice, the fewer options you should offer. Also make sure that you add these details (\u201ccatch\u201d, \u201c<\/span><em style=\"font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">deliberately\u201d, \u201cattention\u201d for ignore;\u00a0 \u201capproach\u201d, \u201cdirectly\u201d, \u201cimpress\u201d <\/em><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">for<\/span><em style=\"font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> impress<\/em><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">) as synonyms to the Player Utterances to make it easier for the player to remember and respond correctly.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44b9b8b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44b9b8b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8c5986b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8c5986b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Encourage the Player to Use Natural Language<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d86965 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5d86965\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f9d004b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f9d004b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Interactive stories are told as a <strong>dialogue between player and author<\/strong>. You should not only design your side of this dialogue as best as you can, but also the player\u2019s side. Encourage them to make decisions using natural language.<\/p><p>It contributes greatly to the immersion and emotional effect of your story when the player voices their commands <strong>in whole sentences<\/strong> instead of single words.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cf760c8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cf760c8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fffc688 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"fffc688\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 15: Phrasing Player Choices - Cause Natural Language<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef9107b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ef9107b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8bfe563 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8bfe563\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i>Upon seeing you, the dragon flaps its wings heavily and lifts its head. Do <strong>charge at him <\/strong>with a <strong>battle cry<\/strong>, or do you <strong>dive for cover<\/strong> behind a <strong>rock<\/strong>?<\/i>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u201c<i><em>I <strong>charge at him with a battle cry<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>I <strong>dive for cover behind a rock<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3945c45 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3945c45\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d62251 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4d62251\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The elements of the Player Choice are formulated as epic and vividly as the scene demands. The way the question is phrased almost eliminates the possibility of players answering with single words like \u201ccharge\u201d, \u201cdive\u201d, or \u201ccover\u201d. Instead, it encourages the player to loudly proclaim, \u201cI charge at him screaming,\u201d or, \u201cI draw my sword and attack.\u201d Speech recognition of complete sentences also works if <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">only single words<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> like \u201cscreaming\u201d, \u201csword\u201d, or \u201cattack\u201d have been set as Player Utterances and synonyms.<\/span><\/p><p>This ensures that the player strongly identifies with the story and really becomes part of its world. You can therefore use natural language to also <strong>increase the emotional bond between the player and the game world and the characters<\/strong> on a verbal level.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-515d7cc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"515d7cc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8cee8f8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8cee8f8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Textual Aspects<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2aff2d0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2aff2d0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60873f4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"60873f4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Use Multifaceted Player Choices<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-208e5d9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"208e5d9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8c179ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8c179ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Player Choices should give players the feeling that they are making <strong>their own decisions<\/strong> and that they are being offered <strong>many possibilities<\/strong> to play and experience your story. If you put too many yes-no questions into your story, players get the impression that it leaves no room for them and that it is very linear. Avoid this by changing these questions into <strong>either-or questions<\/strong>.<\/p><p>So don\u2019t ask, \u201cDo you bow before the king?\u201d but rather, \u201cDo you bow before the king, or do you remain upright?\u201d By reformulating the question in this way, you are not changing the course of the story or the amount of content you have to write, but <strong>it noticeably improves the gaming experience<\/strong>. Now the player can choose between two true alternatives. Before, the player had only one option which they could merely accept or refuse.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a44e55 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7a44e55\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-40f7a4f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"40f7a4f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Offer Important Player Choices<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9ca6418 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9ca6418\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d8e8f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1d8e8f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Player Choices are especially good if they <strong>confront the player with a dilemma<\/strong>. They have to be able to recognize, understand, and weigh up the chances vs. the risks for their character. This creates suspense and draws the player into the story. It also places responsibility on them and really makes them actively engage with the story.<\/p><p>For example, the question, \u201cDo you wish to save the helpless neighbor\u2019s child from drowning?\u201d does not actually require <strong>a real decision<\/strong> from the player. No one would just let a child drown. One could even argue that this is a fake choice. Although the story offers the possibility to just stand by and let the child die, the player (or player character) would, for emotional and moral reasons, be highly unlikely to pick that option.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f9a586e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f9a586e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96b9f41 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96b9f41\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 16: Phrasing Player Choices - The Drowning Child<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-601501b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"601501b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a951e6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4a951e6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>The neighbor\u2019s child is in danger of drowning. Do you <strong>throw yourself into <\/strong>the perilous <strong>waters<\/strong> to save her or do you try to rescue her from the <strong>riverbank<\/strong><\/em>?<\/i>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u201c<i><em>I <strong>jump into the water<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cThe cold torrents swirl around your head as you jump into the water. When you reach the child, she desperately clings to your body and thus drags you down as well. Do you try to<strong> free yourself from her clutches <\/strong>or do you <strong>continue your attempt to save her<\/strong>?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>I <strong>rescue her from the bank<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cThe situation is extremely dangerous. No one will gain from both of you drowning. Hastily you run along the river bank to search for a tree branch to extend toward the child. After you have found a suitable branch, you look up. The girl is nowhere to be seen\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7c9b179 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7c9b179\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-94d9927 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"94d9927\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">This juxtaposition of danger and safety makes the player realize that his decision will have\u00a0<\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">serious consequences<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">, either for their player character or for the drowning child. Even if both choices lead to the child and to the player character surviving, this is not known to the player at the moment of their decision, making their choice meaningful.<\/span><\/p><p>Another way to make the original Player Choice more meaningful and morally clearer would be to offer several options for saving the child, each with different risks and chances of success, for example \u201cjump into the water\u201d, \u201ccall for help\u201d, or \u201csearch the bank for a long branch\u201d. This alternative will also make the player weigh up the consequences of his actions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ccd2bb3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ccd2bb3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ebf968d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ebf968d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 17: Phrasing Player Choices - The Witness Interview<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9ea6cf4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9ea6cf4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b18a1e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1b18a1e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<i><em>You visit the ex-lover of the main suspect to question her. How will you introduce yourself? As a <strong>police officer<\/strong>, or as a <strong>distant relative<\/strong> of the suspect<\/em>?<\/i>\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 1<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i>\u201c<i><em>I introduce myself as a <strong>police officer<\/strong><\/em>!\u201d<\/i><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cThe woman eyes you skeptically and raises an eyebrow.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Woman]<\/strong><em> \u201cA cop? If you don\u2019t got a search warrant, I don\u2019t have to talk to you. Just get lost!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><em><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong> \u201cThe last you see of her is her giving you the finger, then the door is slammed shut.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>Continuation 2<br \/><\/b><b>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/b><i>\u00a0<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><i><em>I claim to be a <strong>relative<\/strong>!<\/em>\u201d<\/i><\/p><p><strong>[Woman]<\/strong><em> \u201cI didn\u2019t know that Frank had a cousin from Wisconsin. Would you like some coffee?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cWith an inviting gesture she beckons you inside. As the door closes, she scrutinizes you from head to toe.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\"><em><strong>[Woman]<\/strong> \u201cNo wonder Frank never mentioned you. You look way too sweet. Well, how can I help you?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ac6fa5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6ac6fa5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4cf3918 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4cf3918\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">Explanation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">The Player Choice at the beginning of the dialogue makes the player <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">face a dilemma<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">. Should they be truthful and thus risk to get fewer or no answers from the witness? Or should they lie and risk being found out which could also lead to an abrupt end of the conversation?<\/span><\/p><p>Furthermore, the player does not really know the true extent of the relationship between witness and suspect. Would they try to protect him from the police and refuse to answer any questions? Or do they have a score to settle with him and thus would rather help the police than a relative of his?<\/p><p>This Player Choice gives you the opportunity to <strong>build suspense<\/strong> and present the player with <strong>two completely different conversations<\/strong> depending on their decision. These conversations can also have overlapping elements, thus reducing your workload and limiting the growth of the tree diagram.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dfa8db3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"dfa8db3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9b9f1da elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9b9f1da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Use Foreshadowing Player Choices<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0fa2710 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0fa2710\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a4f49e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a4f49e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A Player Choice like, \u201cYou stand at a crossing. Do you want to go left or right?\u201d does not create suspense. The player is missing <strong>hints of upcoming events<\/strong> that would allow them to get an idea or make an assessment of the possible consequences their decision might have.<\/p><p>Thus the player <strong>cannot really choose<\/strong> but rather has to <strong>make a random guess<\/strong>. It is much better to use specific and distinct questions like, \u201cYou stand at a crossing. Do you wish to follow the path through the forest or the path along the river?\u201d or, \u201cDo you take the steeper path or the easier one?\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9916da5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9916da5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a6499a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1a6499a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Phrasing the Player Utterances<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c6c44b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3c6c44b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1468a40 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1468a40\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Player Utterances are the Voice commands with which the player can continue the story. These can be <strong>single keywords<\/strong> like \u201cleft\u201d or \u201cright\u201d, or <strong>phrases and sentences<\/strong> like, \u201cI sneak down the stairs.\u201d<\/p><p>You as the author have to set these Voice commands. On the one hand, they will have to be part of the <strong>Player Choice<\/strong> to let the player know how they can answer. On the other, you have to state them as <strong>Player Utterances<\/strong> so that the Voice assistant can determine, based on the player\u2019s answer, which part of the story to read next.<\/p><p>If the player answers in complete sentences, it is sufficient if these sentences <strong>contain the utterances<\/strong>. If, for example, you have set \u201cwalk\u201d as an utterance, the Voice assistant will be able to discern the intention of the player even if they reply with, \u201cI walk,\u201d or, \u201cI walk into the forest.\u201d Be aware though that the player might also use variations of the stated word, for example, \u201cI\u2019m walking into the forest.\u201d To provide for this possibility you should also include \u201cwalking\u201d as a synonym of that option, just to be on the safe side.<\/p><p>It becomes a major problem when different utterances have been stated using <strong>similar words or phrases<\/strong>. Voice assistants can have trouble deciding which option the player has replied \u201crun\u201d to if they have to pick between the utterances \u201crun ahead\u201d and \u201crun away\u201d.<\/p><p>Only state two or three different utterances per question that humans and machines can easily distinguish between. Use <strong>precise terms<\/strong> like \u201cthreaten\u201d or \u201cnegotiate\u201d instead of just \u201ctalk\u201d. This helps the player to better determine the consequences of their decision.<\/p><p>You have to phrase the <strong>Player Utterances<\/strong> in such a way that<\/p><ul><li>The player knows exactly what the possible <strong>Voice commands<\/strong> are,<\/li><li>They understand which <strong>choices<\/strong> their commands trigger,<\/li><li>They can easily <strong>pronounce<\/strong> the utterances<\/li><li>The Voice assistant can <strong>understand and match<\/strong> them correctly.<\/li><\/ul><div>\u00a0<\/div><p>Avoid Player Utterances that sound too similar, like, \u201cWhom do you wish to fight? The gorilla or the guerrilla?\u201d Also avoid Player utterances that are too complex or too hard to pronounce, like \u201cYggdrasil\u201d or \u201csupercalifragilisticexpialidocious\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2cb3a12 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2cb3a12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e0b06cd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e0b06cd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Taboo Words for Player Utterances<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4bfa23c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4bfa23c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Although some words are allowed to appear in the story texts read to the player, they <strong>cannot be used as Player Utterances<\/strong> since they are <strong>Voice commands for the Voice assistants<\/strong> themselves:<\/p><ul><li>\u201cHelp\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cAlexa\u201d, \u201cGoogle\u201d, \u201cBixby\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cStart\u201d or \u201cStop\u201d<\/li><\/ul><div>\u00a0<\/div><p>Take care to state <strong>numbers<\/strong> that are Player utterances as both word and numerical, for example \u201cone\u201d and \u201c1\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6dd5f15 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6dd5f15\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d1864cc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d1864cc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>TWIST Feature: Synonyms<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d359a2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4d359a2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18f15fe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"18f15fe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In TWIST you can easily add synonyms to your Player Utterances. This increases the chance of the dialogue between player and Voice assistant succeeding <strong>even if the player\u2019s<\/strong> <strong>answer to the Player Choices deviates from the Player Utterances<\/strong> that have been stated.<\/p><p>Simply write the synonyms underneath the corresponding Player Utterance. For \u201cattack\u201d this could be \u201ccharge\u201d, \u201cfight\u201d, and \u201cstorm\u201d. For \u201cflee\u201d this could be \u201cescape\u201d, \u201cscarper\u201d, \u201cbolt\u201d, and \u201crun away\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-88a2ea6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"88a2ea6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e5283f1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e5283f1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>TWIST Feature: Hidden Player Utterances<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-204a72c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"204a72c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-69196ba elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"69196ba\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In TWIST, you have the opportunity to set hidden Player Utterances by using the box <strong>\u201cHidden Continuations\u201d<\/strong>. The player can use these as Voice commands, but they will not be read to them by the Voice assistant if the dialogue between the two fails and the Voice assistant has to read the stated utterances to them.<\/p><p>Hidden Player Utterances are Voice commands that are not mentioned in the Player Choices. This allows you to insert <strong>riddles<\/strong> or <strong>Easter eggs<\/strong> into your story since these options will never be read to the player by the Voice assistant. For a riddle, it would be counterproductive if the player only had to give two wrong answers before they would be told the solution by the Voice assistant anyway. Thus, hidden Player Utterances give you the opportunity to <strong>reward particularly attentive and keen-to-explore players<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6563218 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6563218\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3786df elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c3786df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Example 18: Hidden Player Utterances - The Password<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7d333b8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7d333b8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a0f333 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3a0f333\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\"><b>[Narrator]<\/b><i> <\/i>\u201c<em>You stand at the entrance to the thieves\u2019 guild. You knock and a peephole is opened. \u2018What\u2019s the password, stranger?\u2019 a gruff voice asks from the darkness. Do you wish to <strong>randomly guess<\/strong> the <strong>password<\/strong>, or do you wish to just <strong>leave<\/strong><\/em>?\u201d<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"614\"><p><strong>Continuation 1<br \/><\/strong><strong>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cI <strong>guess<\/strong> the <strong>password<\/strong>!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cYou go through a whole host of words, but the only answer you receive is the sound of the peephole closing. You decide to continue your way through the city.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p><strong>Continuation 2<br \/><\/strong><strong>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cI <strong>leave<\/strong>!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cAs you step away from the door, the peephole closes. You continue your way through the city.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"614\"><p><strong>Continuation (Hidden)<br \/><\/strong><strong>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f [Player]<\/strong><em> \u201cLong live the king!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong>[Narrator]<\/strong><em> \u201cYou hear the sound of a bolt being drawn, followed by the door opening. You enter.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca0497d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ca0497d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-635999c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"635999c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Explanation<\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">At an earlier point in the story, the player could learn the password for the thieves\u2019 guild, \u201cLong live the king,\u201d and receive the hint to just say it should they be asked for it. So if they found out the password and was able to remember it, they can now use it to <\/span><strong style=\"font-style: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\">trigger the hidden Player Utterance<\/strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: var( --e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-font-family ), Sans-serif; letter-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-letter-spacing ); word-spacing: var( --e-global-typography-dbe1e34-word-spacing ); text-align: var(--text-align);\"> that gives them access to the thieves\u2019 guild. Otherwise they have to pick one of the other options without even knowing that this hidden option existed.<\/span><\/p><p>If the Voice assistant is forced to read the available options to the player, it will only cite the openly declared Player Utterance \u201cguess the password\u201d and \u201cleave\u201d, but not the hidden one, \u201cLong live the king.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1bcfce1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1bcfce1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fb85bd8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"fb85bd8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>TWIST Feature: Default Way<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-85c6e91 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"85c6e91\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fde86f1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fde86f1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We already explained that it can lead to a so-called reprompt if the player replies to the Player Choice with a Voice command that the Voice assistant does not understand or cannot assign to any of the declared Player Utterances.<\/p><p>Using the \u201cDefault Way\u201d feature in TWIST, you can absorb these kind of player replies. Any answer the Voice assistant <strong>cannot assign to any of the utterances<\/strong> will be assigned to this default way. This default way can lead to a completely new text box or to a text box to which one of the other options already points.<\/p><p>The use of a default way is recommended for <strong>open questions<\/strong> like, \u201cHow are you?\u201d or, \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d, or for <strong>terms that are hard to understand or pronounce<\/strong> like \u201cYggdrasil\u201d or \u201csupercalifragilisticexpialidocious\u201d. In the former case, it will be impossible for you as the author to guess every possible emotional state or name of your players to declare them as Player Utterances. In the latter, the player may not pronounce the option in the way the Voice assistant would expect.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e9b3550 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e9b3550\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5be65dc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5be65dc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>TWIST Feature: Yes-No Question<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ce58f3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2ce58f3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c8986ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c8986ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>TWIST offers the convenient option to declare a Player Choice as a yes-no question by selecting that entry from the drop-down menu \u201cType\u201d. The advantage of this is that you do not need to set any Player Choices because they will be determined automatically, namely \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d. Furthermore, this feature already comes with all conceivable synonyms, for \u201cyes\u201d among other words \u201csure\u201d and \u201cof course\u201d, for \u201cno\u201d words like \u201cnever\u201d and \u201crather not\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-01e9f4d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"01e9f4d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Narrative Dynamics<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-66115c7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"66115c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Beginning<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e04c6b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0e04c6b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr \/><hr \/><hr \/><p>Your story should not follow a classic Aristotelian structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement), but should rather go\u00a0<em>in medias res<\/em>. Get straight to the point and establish the three C\u2019s: conflicts, choices, and consequences!<\/p><p>The beginning of your story is important, and that in every sense. Because your players want to play your story to be able to make decisions. Therefore, offer them this possibility\u00a0<strong>as quickly and often as possible<\/strong>, otherwise you will fail to meet their expectations and they might leave the story before you had the chance to captivate them.<\/p><p>Refrain from using longer text passages to slowly unfold your story in order to build atmosphere or convey background knowledge. Instead, allow your players to\u00a0<strong>quickly and actively take part in the story<\/strong>. Three or four subsequent story segments with Player Choices, each with a short follow-up text, will successfully suck them into the story and make sure that they keep playing.<\/p><p>Your first scene should grip your players immediately. Keep your text segments short and surprise your players, unsettle them, or have their first decision be a moral conflict. More detailed explanations about the initial situation, the character of the hero, and the world\u00a0<strong>can be given later<\/strong>. Instead, create suspense, making your players wonder whether their first decisions are \u201ccorrect\u201d.<\/p><p>Ever since we have been designing the beginnings of our interactive audiobooks following this mantra,\u00a0<strong>the bounce rate of players has dropped considerably<\/strong>. Previously, 33.4 % of players left our stories during the first event, and only 46.3 % continued to event five or beyond. After switching to shorter text passages and more frequent choices, the bounce rate at the first event dropped to 12.7 %, and the number of players staying until event five or beyond increased to 79.6 %.<\/p><p>Originally, our interactive teenage love story \u201cHerzklau\u201d (\u201cHeart Thief\u201d) started with the main character\u2019s best friend picking them up to go to the mall. After the first Player Choice came a 170 seconds long text passage, detailing the back story of the two best friends. To improve upon this verbose beginning, we rewrote that passage into\u00a0<strong>a dialogue\u00a0<\/strong>which we splitted into<strong>\u00a0three story segments, each of them presenting a Player Choice<\/strong>\u00a0and consisting of only\u00a0<strong>about 30 to 40 seconds<\/strong>\u00a0of text.<\/p><p>Not only does the dialogue now reveal the back story, players can also choose between ironic, friendly, encouraging, mocking, or neutral answers to respond to their friend. This immediately turns players into\u00a0<strong>active participants<\/strong>\u00a0and allows them to\u00a0<strong>identify with the main character<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>develop an emotional connection with them<\/strong>. In other words, within a short amount of time, players become part of the story and make it their own.<\/p><p>So try to\u00a0<strong>make the beginning as interactive as possible<\/strong>\u00a0and start your story with providing the first three to four Player Choices as fast as possible. These choices do not have to be, and seldomly are, relevant for the overall plot. But they can have a huge impact on the situation at hand, on the relationship to another character, or on the personality displayed by the player character.<\/p><p>The following scenarios offer a\u00a0<strong>dynamic beginning<\/strong>\u00a0and can happen before the actual plot starts. The examples all have one thing in common: they immediately place the player within the action, but they also give them a rough idea of the world they have entered and what kind of character they are playing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13fbb9a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13fbb9a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Dialogue\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9818cb5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9818cb5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Dialogues are\u00a0<strong>interactions<\/strong>. If we are in a conversation, we do not just passively listen for several minutes, rather we interrupt our counterpart, take stances, present objections, and answer questions. This generates a high dynamic which you can use for a simple, but effective entrance into your story.<\/p><p>Examples of a quick dialogue entrance:<\/p><p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWithout telling you why, you have been brought before the king. He eyes you appraisingly. \u2018They say thou art the best fighter of my guard. Be that true?\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe door swings open and an attractive blonde storms into your office, seething with rage. \u2018Was it you who had Frank Shellington arrested?! That man is my client!\u2019 Do you wish to justify your actions, or do you ask the woman to introduce herself properly first?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBefore you can even put a foot down on Mars, one of the customs officers of the empire confronts you. \u2018Your signature identifies you as a cargo vessel of the merchant class. Do you have any goods to declare?\u2019 Do you wish to tell him of the secret load of frost emitters, lie to him, or try to bribe him?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dfc5f8e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"dfc5f8e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Dream\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5346b21 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5346b21\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If you dream, you often cannot remember how it started. A dream usually starts in the middle of things. Where you are, how you got there, and who the other people in your dream are, often remain vague, not to mention specific details. Still, our dreams work. While we are dreaming, we accept the lack of any such prior knowledge. Despite that, we still more or less know what we need to do. You can use this for your interactive story and have players start with a dream of their player character. The great advantage is that you can end the events of a dream at any point you wish. Once the player character is awake, you can use longer text passages to roll out your actual story.<\/p><p>Examples of a quick dream entrance:<\/p><p><em>\u201cYou are dreaming. A great plain spreads in front of you. There are mountains looming ahead, a sea is glistening to your left, and to the right you can make out the edge of a forest. In which direction will you go?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cYou are dreaming. A giant tree towers above you. Do you wish to climb it, or do you wish to have a closer look at its trunk?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cYou are dreaming that you are standing in the corridor of a shabby hotel. In the flickering light of the neon lamps you can see two doors at the end of this corridor. Which one will you open? The left door or the right door?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bf2d795 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bf2d795\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Action Scene\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7e0d73b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7e0d73b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.9rem; color: #373737; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">A dangerous fight, a thrilling chase, or the secret infiltration of a building. There are many ways to start your story with a scene that demands\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">quick and important decisions<\/span>\u00a0from your players. Strike a high narrative pace and enthrall the players with the events of your story!<\/p><p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.9rem; color: #373737; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Examples of a quick action entrance:<\/p><p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.9rem; color: #373737; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><em>\u201cIt seems that a private eye like you is not really welcome in Joe Molese\u2019s Night Club. As the doorman recognizes you, he charges at you with his fists flying. Do you try to sidestep, or do you try to land a punch?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.9rem; color: #373737; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><em>\u201cThe loud yells of the city watch erupt behind you. All of this just because of an apple? Will you try to disappear in the throng on the market square, or do you run into the nearest alley?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.9rem; color: #373737; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><em>\u201cYou crouch behind the bushes without moving while the eyes of the goblin warrior scan the edge of the forest. As he turns away from you, you see your chance. Will you sneak away behind his back, or will you try to overpower him without a noise?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cec4ca5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cec4ca5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77ac760 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"77ac760\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Exploring The Past of the Player Character\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ec4ab6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4ec4ab6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7d5641 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d7d5641\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>By putting three short Player Choices about the past of the player character at the beginning of your story, you not only provide the player with a quick entrance, they also get an idea of\u00a0<strong>who the player character actually is<\/strong>\u00a0and what their motivation might be. This definition of the character\u2019s past can, but does not have to be, important throughout the later course of the story. But it will certainly remain in the player\u2019s mind and\u00a0<strong>influence their future decisions<\/strong>\u00a0in the game.<\/p><p>Examples of a quick past history entrance:<\/p><p><em>\u201cYou were lucky to enjoy a carefree childhood. How did you spend it? In the library, at the training ground, or in the streets of the city?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cAs a child you were witness to soldiers burning down the farm of a peasant who had not paid his taxes. What was it that you swore back then? To never be poor, or to always fight against injustice?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cYour first love left you for someone else long ago and that hurt a lot. Who did you blame for it? Him, yourself, or no one?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db98840 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"db98840\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Defining The Personality of the Player Character\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a61030f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a61030f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Moral Player Choices at the beginning of your story have three advantages. They can offer an\u00a0<strong>insight into the game world<\/strong>\u00a0(genre, setting), they<strong>\u00a0have no influence on the later plot<\/strong>\u00a0(being a flavor choice), and they allow the player to\u00a0<strong>determine the personality of the player character<\/strong>\u00a0and find out who they want to be in the story.<\/p><p><strong>Examples of a quick personality entrance:<\/strong><\/p><p><em>\u201cYour commander gave you the task of looking after his horse during the battle. But you wish to aid your comrades in combat. What is more important to you? Follow his order, or proving your courage?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cA friend of yours erroneously believes that it was he who shot down the enemy spaceship. Do you allow him to keep believing so, or do you explain to him that the credit belongs to you?\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cYour best friend is arguing with another friend, but she is in the wrong. Do you stand by her or do you criticize her behavior openly?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b4f8138 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b4f8138\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p><p>As you can see, there are many ways to quickly jump into the story, grip the player, and from there roll out the greater plot. But do not cling too much to the examples given here, instead find an entrance that is\u00a0<strong>special and unique<\/strong>\u00a0to your particular story.<\/p><p><strong>Here is a little mind exercise to achieve this:<\/strong><br \/>If your story were to immediately begin with a Player Choice, without any further context, what would it be and what story would it tell your players?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5988313 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5988313\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Segment Length<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a4edf7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4a4edf7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>For the beginning of your story we presented you with a clear recommendation concerning the length of the texts. For the following parts of your story, this choice is more ambivalent.<\/p><p>To begin with, there are some\u00a0<strong>technical limitations<\/strong>\u00a0depending on the platform you want to publish on. On Amazon Alexa, for example, no more than 240 seconds may pass between two user interactions (more specific information for each platform can be found in\u00a0<em>Chapter 5.1: Technical Requirements<\/em>).<\/p><p>TWIST offers a simple feature to gauge the\u00a0<strong>estimated reading time of a text<\/strong>. In the text box as well as in the simulator, you will be shown the expected duration of the corresponding text or story segment. Based on our experience, the voice actors are usually faster than the calculated time. Still, you should never completely exhaust these 240 seconds rather stay below them.<\/p><p>But what is good segment length\u00a0<strong>from the player\u2019s point of view<\/strong>? Interactive audiobooks for Voice are an exciting format which enables players to lie back on their couch and actively play a story with a high narrative pace, many Player Choices, and a high degree of attention required. These players might enjoy crime stories in which they themselves are doing the investigation, searching for clues and drawing conclusions. This player target audience wants to be\u00a0<strong>active and occupied, making decisions as often as possible<\/strong>.<\/p><p>But there is also another audience, the audiobook listener. They might prefer to just listen to a story, zone out, or\u00a0<strong>have some diversion<\/strong>\u00a0while tidying up the house, driving around, or while they are otherwise occupied. They favor longer intervals between Player Interactions as well as stories that do not require too much attention. For them, the story has to work even if they are not absorbing every detail of the plot. They prefer to be entertained and only want to\u00a0<strong>make decisions at certain points in the story<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Thus, the length of your texts will depend on your target audience and on the story itself. For a story addressed to \u201cgamers\u201d we recommend not to exceed\u00a0<strong>90 seconds of text between two Player Choices<\/strong>. For a story addressed to \u201clisteners\u201d those segments should be probably\u00a0<strong>150 to 200 seconds\u00a0<\/strong>long. Of course you can also mix and match, especially if your story boasts an appropriate dramatic composition where action-oriented passages alternate with quieter ones, or where longer explanations for better understanding of the story are occasionally necessary. Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that it is better to\u00a0<strong>gear your story to one of these two audiences<\/strong>\u00a0instead of trying to please both.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2b2f000 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2b2f000\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Story Length<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef04053 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ef04053\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>As a general preference, we recommend you write shorter stories. For interactive audiobooks addressed to\u00a0<strong>children<\/strong>\u00a0we have had positive experiences with audio material totaling 30-40 minutes and an average playing time of about\u00a0<strong>12-20 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Stories for\u00a0<strong>adults<\/strong>\u00a0can be somewhat longer. Our prizewinning fantasy story \u201cIron Falcon\u201d boasts a total of 115 minutes of audio material and an average playing time of about\u00a0<strong>50-60 minutes<\/strong>. Despite having received the distinction of best Amazon Alexa Games Skill, today we would split the story into 3 episodes instead of packing that much plot into one big episode. The reason for this is simple:<\/p><p><strong>Words heard are more fleeting than words read.<\/strong>\u00a0This is not only true for the time during which the player is experiencing your story, but also for the time between playing sessions. When a reader puts a book aside and returns to it three days later, it is usually not a big problem. If in doubt, they just flip back a few pages, shortly skims over what happened last, and is quickly up to date again.<\/p><p>When playing an interactive story for Voice, this is not so easy. The listener cannot just jump back a few paragraphs or skim over part of the text again. If the time interval between two playing sessions is too long, your story runs the risk of not being finished because\u00a0<strong>players cannot find their way back into it<\/strong>. Shorter stories mitigate this risk.<\/p><p>This does not mean that you have to forgo telling longer stories. Our storytelling tool TWIST enables you to simply\u00a0<strong>create several episodes<\/strong>. It also lets you define whether players have access to all episodes from the beginning, whether the episodes have to be played in a fixed order, or whether players will have to reach a certain ending in one episode to gain access to a different episode.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e097c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2e097c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Rule of Thumb\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca7b5aa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ca7b5aa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The ratio of one playthrough to the total amount of story material should be\u00a0<strong>between 2:3 (sufficiently interactive)<\/strong>\u00a0and<strong>\u00a01:2 (very interactive)<\/strong>. The smaller this ratio, the greater the replay value since the player will only experience a small part of the whole story in one playthrough. On the other hand, you will have to create a lot of additional content that might never be seen or only be seen by a small number of players.<\/p><p>For your first interactive stories you should certainly\u00a0<strong>focus on the plot, the characters, the world, the language used, and the choices offered<\/strong>\u00a0and try to make these as appealing as possible. When you first start out, less is often more!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d376f61 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d376f61\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Length of Sentences and Words<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f04436 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5f04436\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>There is\u00a0<strong>no clear recommendation<\/strong>\u00a0for the length of the sentences and words you should use. We analyzed the first 10 minutes of a lot of German interactive audiobooks and stories, and we had a look at their user numbers and ratings.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><table><tbody><tr><td width=\"276\"><p><strong>Story<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p><strong>Number of Sentences<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p><strong>Words per Sentence<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p><strong>Number of Player Choices<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Tag X (Day X)<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>186<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>6<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>22<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Tape Stories<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>200<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>5<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>22<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Der Zauberwald (The Magic Forest)<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>130<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>8<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>15<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Der Eiserne Falke (Iron Falcon)<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>135<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>12<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>8<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Herzklau<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>144<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>11<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>23<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"276\"><p>Cobra 11<\/p><\/td><td width=\"117\"><p>154<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>15<\/p><\/td><td width=\"125\"><p>8<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>All of these stories had very good ratings and strong user numbers. \u201cTape Stories\u201d and \u201cTag X\u201d offer a high narrative pace. Both are action-heavy, suspenseful thriller stories, quickly gripping the player. This is good. But we also saw that stories with a slower pace worked just as well.<\/p><p>Since we cannot prove it yet &#8211; we are working on further breakdowns which will take time &#8211; we can only assume that\u00a0<strong>players will have different preferences<\/strong>\u00a0here and will pick those stories that they like while aborting those that do not appeal to them.<\/p><p>Nevertheless, you should make a conscious choice about the\u00a0<strong>narrative pace and dynamic<\/strong>\u00a0with which you tell your story since, unlike with regular books or eBooks, the player does not have any influence on the reading speed of an interactive audiobook.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c728ed elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6c728ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Ending<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ede332 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5ede332\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Just like the beginning, the ending of an interactive audiobook is of great importance. The reason for this stems from the unique appeal of this kind of storytelling: players play your story because they can influence it and thus can experience their very own version of that story. And how they rate a story\u00a0<strong>very often depends on its ending<\/strong>.<\/p><p>There are many books, movies, TV shows, and video games that have been lambasted for their unsatisfactory endings and have left many disappointed consumers in their wake. For an interactive story, the danger of this is even greater because players will experience it as their own story to which they will have a unique and intimate connection.<\/p><p>Your last scene should therefore offer a\u00a0<strong>grand finale<\/strong>. Your player has probably spent some time in the story and carefully made their decisions. Reward them for this investment and give them the feeling of having accomplished something out of the ordinary.<\/p><p>If you are writing a series consisting of several episodes, take care that the ending of each episode\u00a0<strong>rounds out that episode in a conclusive way<\/strong>\u00a0but also\u00a0<strong>provides a cliffhanger for the next episode<\/strong>, giving the player ample satisfaction and, at the same time, motivating them to keep playing. Cliffhangers can be hints at future conflicts in the story, or rhetorical questions about characters or events that might not have been the focus of this episode but will play a more important role in the next one.<\/p><p>Your stories should also &#8211; depending on the player\u2019s success or failure &#8211; offer\u00a0<strong>different endings<\/strong>. Some story paths might lead to the death of the hero, others can see them defeated or fleeing, but at least one ending should culminate in a spectacular triumph.<\/p><p>So make sure not to write just one satisfying ending, rather make\u00a0<strong>every ending as satisfying as possible<\/strong>! To achieve this, you should first and foremost\u00a0<strong>avoid the following few key mistakes.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7030527 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7030527\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Premature Ending\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42f39d1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"42f39d1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In the traditional fantasy gamebooks from the 80s and 90s, deaths of the player character come quickly and frequently. This creates permanent tension which can be very appealing, something that is not much of problem when reading a book since the reader can choose how fast they read, and they can simply turn back to the last entry and make a different decision.<\/p><p>In interactive stories for Voice,\u00a0<strong>players cannot simply turn back to a previous page<\/strong>. Therefore you should avoid Player Choices that can lead to an early end of the story. Having the player character die, is usually a convenient way for authors to insert Player Choices without having to spend extra time and effort on writing a completely new story path. But is it a constructive approach? In most cases not. You want your story to be played and you want your players to have fun doing so. So\u00a0<strong>do not let your player characters die early on<\/strong>, and in particular do not have them die\u00a0<strong>in an unnecessary way<\/strong>, or\u00a0<strong>without pointing out beforehand the dangerous consequences<\/strong>\u00a0their decision might have.<\/p><p>Also, use choices that can lead to the death of the protagonist very sparingly. In the interactive story \u201cDie Meisterin\u201d (\u201cThe Mistress\u201d), in five cases out of twelve, the first three Player Choices lead to an abrupt end of the story, without warning or the chance to avoid this. Later in the story, deaths are frequent and sudden as well. You only reach one of the two truly positive endings of the story if you are very lucky. Consequently, in their reviews in the Amazon Alexa Skill Store, players criticized it for being\u00a0<strong>a rather frustrating and disappointing gaming experience<\/strong>.<\/p><p>We recommend you avoid letting the player character die\u00a0<strong>before you are at least two thirds into the story<\/strong>, or before players have reached the next episode. And even then, not without pointing out to the player the probably dangerous turn their decision can take. Do not let them pick an option that seems completely reasonable but which in fact just leads to a random death.<\/p><p>A premature end of a crime story, for example, could be that the player fails to identify or capture the true killer because, though they manage to rescue one of the victims, they missed an important clue or made a bad decision along the way. In this case, players would miss the last part of the story, but they would still end the story with a\u00a0<strong>conciliatory partial success<\/strong>\u00a0after a\u00a0<strong>sufficiently long playing time<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Of course, we have made such mistakes ourselves. In our very first story, \u201cDer Zauberwald\u201d (\u201cThe Magic Forest\u201d), the second Player Choice was whether the player wanted to go on an adventure. If they said no, the skill would just end, which players\u00a0<strong>perceived as very negative<\/strong>, and rightly so. This resulted from our own complacency and lack of forethought. We had not worried about how we would want to draw players into the story, how the beginning should be structured, and what a premature ending would mean to the player. Furthermore,\u00a0<strong>players had absolutely no idea<\/strong>\u00a0that the answer, \u201cI do not want to go on an adventure,\u201d would lead to the immediate end of the story. We hope that this guide will help you to avoid mistakes like this.<\/p><p>Does this mean that early failure in interactive stories is not permitted at all? No, of course not. You, the author, decide the rules of your own stories. It is very easy, for instance, to turn a supposed weakness into a deliberate strength by\u00a0<strong>elevating failure to the core concept of the game<\/strong>. The video game series \u201cDark Souls\u201d, that sold a gazillion copies, advertises itself with the fact that every wrong move or decision will result in death. Here, the high level of difficulty is a consciously designed part of the gaming experience and thus works extremely well.<\/p><p>If you want to write a challenging story where death looms behind every corner and is the rule rather than the exception, you should\u00a0<strong>communicate that clearly<\/strong>\u00a0in the story\u2019s description or in an intro text at the beginning. Go with a dynamic narrative pace and carefully devise your story. For an interactive audiobook, an approach like this would certainly be exciting and innovative.<\/p><p>You should also\u00a0<strong>use save points<\/strong>. In TWIST, you can easily set such save points to give your players the opportunity to jump back a short way in the story and continue from there with a different decision without having to play the whole story again. Do not hesitate to make use of this feature. In Voice, unlike in a book, it can be tedious trying to find and reach a certain point in the story again; this can be frustrating for players and might lead them to abandon your story.<\/p><p>If you want to make it especially interesting, you could write alternative texts for your save points. Choices that led to the death of the player character\u00a0<strong>will not be offered anymore<\/strong>\u00a0once they reach that point in the story a second time. This certainly means more work for you, but it will provide an incredibly fascinating gaming experience to the player because the story will react dynamically to their decisions. (For a detailed explanation of the practical implementation of save points, we offer coaching to our authors; see\u00a0<em>Chapter 21: Coaching for Writers<\/em>.)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b4bc1c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0b4bc1c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Illogical Ending\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-125645d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"125645d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Take care to avoid logic errors. If a player\u2019s decision leads to the death of the king or to the marriage between princess Miralda and prince Kasimir, your story should not end with the king knighting the player or Miralda proposing to him. We can see that even experienced authors can\u00a0<strong>easily slip such errors into their stories<\/strong>\u00a0since it can sometimes be difficult to keep all possible variations of the events of an interactive story constantly in the back of your mind while writing.<\/p><p>Most players will rarely excuse such logical errors, and your story will leave a sour taste in their mouth. To prevent this,\u00a0<strong>have your story playtested<\/strong>\u00a0to discover and quickly mitigate such problems.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8fca782 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8fca782\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Incomplete Ending\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f814898 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f814898\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If you introduce exciting storylines and establish interesting character relationships in your story, you should\u00a0<strong>revisit them or bring them to a conclusion<\/strong>\u00a0at the end of the story. Again, \u201cDie Meisterin\u201d (\u201cThe Mistress\u201d) can serve as a negative example here.<\/p><p>The events in the main part of the story are indeed very thrilling. The player character receives mysterious calls on his cellphone and comes into a conflict with werewolves. Both, player and player character, are unexpectedly drawn into this situation while the reasons for the things happening are only hinted at. All done very well. However, most endings of the story have the player character simply leave the building and take a seat in a caf\u00e9 to have some cake. The events do not seem to bother the player character &#8211; in contrast to the player &#8211; very much. Things that just moments before were fantastical, extraordinary, life-threatening, and incomprehensible are not worthy of further consideration when coffee and cake arrive.\u00a0<strong>A short inner player character<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>monologue\u00a0<\/strong>would have immensely improved these endings for a comparatively small amount of extra work.<\/p><p>A much better example gives us the computer RPG \u201cFallout\u201d. In each part of the series, the player has to make decisions about the life and future of secondary characters or whole factions. At the end of the game,\u00a0<strong>every decision relevant to the plot gets some closing credits<\/strong>, telling the player what happened to this or that person and what their life looks like years later on. This is nice, because the story does not end so abruptly. And it is even ingenious, because it allows the player to relive the whole game with all their decisions one final time.<\/p><p>So make sure that\u00a0<strong>each of your endings feels complete<\/strong>, capping off all the central story events and providing emotional closure for the player. Even fairy tales do this with one simple sentence: \u201cAnd they lived happily ever after.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-558a872 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"558a872\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Good Ending\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a256b1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3a256b1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A good ending for the player does not necessarily have to be the best possible ending of the story. It is legitimate to make only the most triumphant ending hard to reach. This can be an incentive for players to play the story, or part of it, again to reach the perfect ending. However, the ending should always feel\u00a0<strong>good and justified<\/strong>, no matter what. This can even be a premature death of the player character if it is told in a fascinating way, for example an epic battle in which the hero dies amidst his enemies, bleeding from multiple wounds, but having fought bravely to the bitter end.<\/p><p>Just bear in mind that\u00a0<strong>the ending will have a huge influence on how players will rate your story<\/strong>, and thus on whether they will play it again or even play some of your other stories. So take your time to carefully check and revise your endings. They should give the player a feeling of \u201cWow! What an ending!\u201d regardless of whether the player reached all their story goals or not.<\/p><p>A\u00a0<strong>good voice actor<\/strong>\u00a0can contribute immensely to that feeling. In the interactive story \u201cDas Finstertal\u201d (\u201cThe Dark Vale\u201d) by J\u00f6rg Benne, the player character can be killed by a demon. The corresponding text passage is very short and simple:<\/p><p><em>\u201cYou cannot bear it any longer and jump out of your hiding place. The monster hisses and stalks toward you. You try to edge your chair between you and the monster, but it sweeps the furniture aside like a small toy. Before you can even scream, its claws close around your throat and bring your life to an end.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p>The voice actor, Bodo Primus, recorded this passage, and especially the last sentence, with a hissing voice and so much pathos that you\u00a0<strong>can actually feel<\/strong>\u00a0the claws being wrapped around your neck, making the listener wonder if it might not be the voice actor themself who has turned into the demon. A great idea, enhancing the ending and\u00a0<strong>reconciling the player with their failure<\/strong>.<\/p><p>You will certainly be able to come up with many more ways to write or design a great ending. Do not hesitate to\u00a0<strong>try out new things<\/strong>\u00a0and use different means like content, language, voice actors, music, or sound effects to surprise your players and reward them! They will appreciate it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-deea0e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"deea0e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Narrative Pace<\/b><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ffa1fe6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ffa1fe6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In interactive stories, the narrative pace plays an important role in\u00a0<strong>the balance between creating suspense and ensuring listening comprehension<\/strong>. By varying the narrative pace and keeping the flow of the narration dynamic, you can create great tension.<\/p><p>At its core, narrative pace means the ratio between the actual duration of events (narrated time) and their presentation in the story (narration time). The more detailed the events, the setting, and the characters are being presented, the\u00a0<strong>slower<\/strong>\u00a0the narrative pace will be. However, if the actions taking place predominate the narration, the narrative pace will be\u00a0<strong>higher<\/strong>. There are basically three possibilities.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-030c169 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"030c169\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Time-Congruent Narration<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-58553e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"58553e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The ratio between things happening and their presentation is balanced. If you are using time-congruent narration, the events taking place are told\u00a0<strong>in real time<\/strong>. This is mainly the case for\u00a0<strong>dialogue<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c6862a9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c6862a9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Time-Stretching Narration\u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1dbcd1a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1dbcd1a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This is the extended presentation of things (<strong>slow narrative pace,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cslow motion\u201d).<\/p><p>If you are using time-stretching narration, then pauses or decelerations slow down the narrative pace, bringing events to a halt while you are giving a\u00a0<strong>detailed description<\/strong>\u00a0of a room, an action, or a character.<\/p><p>In interactive stories, time-stretching narration should only be used if it serves the plot or the comprehension. This can be for the implementation of\u00a0<strong>back story, the framework plot, or flashbacks<\/strong>. Very often you will also have to describe a place or character in more detail in which case the narrative pace will also slow down.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3b6890a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3b6890a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Time-Tightening Narration \u200b<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70b14ef elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70b14ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This is the sped-up presentation of things (<strong>high narrative pace;\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cfast forward\u201d).<\/p><p>If you are using time-tightening narration, things are accelerated by summarizing events and leaving out anything irrelevant. The omission of unimportant time stretches is usually accompanied by phrases like \u201csoon after that\u201d or \u201cseveral days later\u201d.<\/p><p>Time-tightening narration is best used if you want to\u00a0<strong>quickly progress the plot<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-06fa9d3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"06fa9d3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Chapter Summary<\/b><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e2c26f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0e2c26f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The types of Player Choices<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-df7136e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"df7136e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Fake choices in which the chosen option is subsequently denied to the player should be avoided by all means.<\/li><li>Flavor choices ask the player how they wish to perform the action you want them to perform. Many fake choices can easily be transformed into flavor choices.<\/li><li>Progress choices add value to the story by allowing the player character to upgrade, by sharing background information about the world, or finding items. Information and items gained in such a way can be picked up on later in the story by using variables.<\/li><li>Story choices branch the plot and can lead to vastly different story paths. Story choices require additional work from the author. By using such choices at the end of your story, you can reduce and limit this additional work.<\/li><li>Lead the different paths from Player Choices back onto the main story thread to contain the size of your story and better control it.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e847cb2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e847cb2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Phrasing efficient Player Choices<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d8b9e5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8d8b9e5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Player Choices should be formulated in a clear and comprehensible way. Players should understand which Voice commands they can use to progress the story. For children and people new to Voice, Player Choices should be kept very simple.<\/li><li>Do not offer more than two or three options per Player Choice.<\/li><li>In closed Player Choices you tell the player exactly what their available options are. In open Player Choices like, \u201cWhat would you like to do?\u201d the player will have to deduce the available options from the situation presented. Such open questions have to be designed very carefully in order to work properly, but they offer great immersion.<\/li><li>The Player Utterances should all be embedded into the Player Choices with the use of the same part of speech (adjective, verb or noun) or equally structured phrases. This makes it easier for the player to remember them.<\/li><li>Encourage your players to answer using natural language instead of using single words.<\/li><li>Present the player with specific and distinct Player Utterances instead of only using yes-no questions.<\/li><li>Player Choices should be meaningful and offer Player Utterances of equal value, confronting the player with a dilemma or a moral challenge. The player should be able to understand or at least guess what the consequences of the different Player Utterances are. Only in this way will the player be able to make conscious decisions instead of choosing blindly.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0c2b9f6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0c2b9f6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Limitations and assistance<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d8f4bb1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d8f4bb1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n<li>Speech recognition is able to recognize single words in the player\u2019s reply if they have been stated as a Player Utterance or a synonym.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid similar words for different Player Utterances as well as words that are hard to pronounce. This will enable speech recognition to correctly assign the player\u2019s reply to the correct option.<\/li>\n<li>Built-in Voice commands in the Voice assistant system (like \u201cHelp\u201d, \u201cAlexa\u201d, \u201cGoogle\u201d, \u201cStart\u201d, \u201cStop\u201d) cannot be set as Player Utterances. Numbers as answers should be stated both in word and numerical form.<\/li>\n<li>Make use of the possibilities of tools like <b><a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/\">TWIST<\/a><\/b>:\n<ul>\n<li>Adding synonyms to Player Utterances allow speech recognition to handle variations in the player\u2019s reply.<\/li>\n<li>Hidden Player Choices \/ Player Utterances enable you to incorporate riddles and secrets without the Voice assistant reading the hidden option to the player.<\/li>\n<li>Default ways catch all player replies that cannot be assigned to any of the stated Player Utterances.<\/li>\n<li>A feature for yes-no questions makes your work easier since you do not have to determine Player Utterances and synonyms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d17dcf0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d17dcf0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Narrative aspects<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b0d994a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b0d994a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Your story should begin with short text passages and three to five quick (but meaningful) Player Choices to immediately draw the player in. Great scenarios for a fast and gripping beginning with many possibilities for varying choices are dialogues, dreams, action scenes, a quiz about the character\u2019s life, or moral dilemmas.<\/li><li>For \u201cgamers\u201d, who frequently want to make decisions, the intervals between two Player Choices should not be longer than 90 seconds. For \u201clisteners\u201d, who prefer to listen to your story on the side, the intervals between two Player Choices should be 150-220 seconds long.<\/li><li>Interactive stories for children should have a playing time of 12-20 minutes. Interactive stories for grown-ups can have a playing time of 50-60 minutes, but should be divided into shorter episodes of 15-20 minutes each.<\/li><li>Your story should have different endings, at least a bad one and a very good one. All of your endings should be satisfying since they will have a great influence on the players\u2019 rating of the skill. Avoid premature endings, illogical endings, and incomplete endings.<\/li><li>If you have a story with several episodes, each episode should feel complete but also end in a cliffhanger.<\/li><li>Use time-congruent narration for dialogue and action, time-stretching narration for the description of scenes and the conveying of background information, and time-tightening narration to make time jumps and move the plot forward.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c8f5d10 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c8f5d10\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><strong>Glossary<\/strong><\/p><p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Closed Player Choice<\/b><\/span><b>:<\/b>\u00a0the available<em>\u00a0options<\/em>\u00a0are explicitly stated to the<em>\u00a0player.<\/em><\/p><p class=\"western\" lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><b>Open Player Choice:\u00a0<\/b><em>the player has to deduce the available options from the scenery or situation presented to them.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77ff2b7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"77ff2b7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74458be elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"74458be\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eda9ae8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"eda9ae8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9d2bf19 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"9d2bf19\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f4bc4e1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"f4bc4e1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2472489 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"2472489\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e3929e6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-template\" data-id=\"e3929e6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"template.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-template\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"container\" data-elementor-id=\"21544\" class=\"elementor elementor-21544\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18f14da2 e-con-full elementor-hidden-desktop elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18f14da2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d8140bc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4d8140bc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">We Want to Make You Shine &amp; Thrive<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ece8d77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4ece8d77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get Published &amp; Build Your Portfolio with Interactive Audio Stories<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1476c32 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1476c32\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-21543\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-01-1.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ede59da elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7ede59da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Want to publish your own interactive stories and grow your portfolio? <a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/submissions-writers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JOIN OUR WRITER\u2019S POOL<\/a>\u00a0to create and release your work using <a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/unleashing-creativity-with-twist-your-best-free-interactive-story-creator-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TWIST<\/a>, our no-coding game engine. Plus, get the chance to work on paid client projects and level up your storytelling skills.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7b846e3a elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"7b846e3a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/submissions-writers\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Yesss, I want to join the FIST of TWIST!<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-467fd0c0 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"467fd0c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2b9cc36b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2b9cc36b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Register for our Writing Workshop now<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67c238c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"67c238c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-21540\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-03-1.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37841053 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"37841053\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If you are interested in creating your own interactive audio story, you can apply for our<a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/game-writer-webinar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> WRITER&#8217;S WEBINAR!<\/a>\u00a0It will introduce you to our interactive story game engine, TWIST, and teach you how to use it to create interactive audio stories.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71046d5c elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"71046d5c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/game-writer-webinar\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Yesss, Teach me how to TWIST!<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6540eea6 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"6540eea6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-552be9b8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"552be9b8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How to Contribute to 5 Tips on Writing<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-49ceabeb elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"49ceabeb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-21539\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-Post-Join-us-Writer-Submission-05-1.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-35ba3be5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"35ba3be5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you would also like to publish a blog post on our website and share your own story with interested readers, simply fill out the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/submission-5-tips-on-writing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">submission form<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-513381d8 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"513381d8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/twist-tales.com\/submission-5-tips-on-writing\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Yesss, I Want to Share my Knowledge with the World!<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to Write Interactive Fiction Stories Table of Contents What Are Interactive Audio Stories? Interactive Audio StoriesInteractive audio stories turn listeners into active participants. You shape the narrative with voice commands. These stories run on mobile apps, websites like TWIST Tales, or devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Every choice leads the story [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-narrative-design"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - 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