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The annual XYZZY Awards are here! The XYZZY Awards are given for the best works of interactive fiction released the previous year in a variety of categories (Best Writing, Best Puzzles, and so on).

Anyone can vote in the XYZZY awards; in this round, all games released in 2011 are eligible to become finalists. In the next round of voting, starting in February, the winners will be selected from the most popular finalists in each category.

This year, there are a number of fantastic ChoiceScript games on the list! (Here they are in alphabetical order.)

• Dead Already?
• Dilemma
• The Land of Three Classes
• Marine Raider
• Mobile Armored Marine
• The Race
• Zebulon
• Zombie Exodus

There are also a number of other multiple-choice games on the list this year, including The Play (written in Undum), as well as award-winning parser-based text adventures, such as Taco Fiction, which won first place in this year’s IFComp.

Click here to vote in the XYZZY Awards. May the best games win!

Are you writing an interactive novel using ChoiceScript? Don’t make these common mistakes!

1. Not Enough Delayed Branching

   In “By the Numbers: How to Write a Long Interactive Novel That Doesn’t Suck“, we draw a distinction between choices that branch the story immediately and choices that cause the story to branch in a later chapter. It’s impossible to write a story with lots of choices if all choices branch the story immediately; delayed branching solves that problem nicely.

   When authors try to write a linear story without delayed branching, the result is a game where the player makes minor choices that don’t affect the plot.

   Fix: Use “if” sections. Put some lines in each chapter that describe how earlier chapters affect the current events.

2. Bad Mix of Stats

   In “7 Rules for Designing Great Stats” we distinguish between different types of stats: skills, personality traits, morality traits, world stats, resources, and goals.

   A good game should probably have a mix of all of those. A particularly common mistake is to offer only skills, like Strength and Intelligence.

   Fix: Add at least one stat from each category.

3. Easy Choices

   In 5 Rules for Writing Interesting Choices in Multiple-Choice Games we talk about how to design interesting choices. One particularly common mistake is to tell a story where most choices have one “right” answer, and all of the others are wrong. (That can be OK in some cases, but it should be the exception, not the rule.)

   Interesting choices should be “hard” because all of the choices are compelling.

   Fix: Make sure each option is worth choosing. Even “wrong” answers should be fun. (Never include a boring “death” ending. If the main character dies, make it an awesome death scene, to encourage players to try again.)

4. Too Many Words per Choice

   We call this problem the “wall of text,” when the author goes on for pages and pages at a time, without giving the player an opportunity to interact with the story by making a choice.

   Fix: After about 100-200 words of text in the main body, consider adding something for the player to do, even if it’s just a *fake_choice asking how the player feels about what’s happening. Avoid 400 words or more between player choices.

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of The Race, by Andy Why! Play it on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version.

Much like Zombie Exodus, Andy developed “the Race” with extensive input from the Choice of Games Forums.

You are about to go on the journey of a lifetime as you take part in the event known the world over as “The Race”. With a huge cash prize, being a participant on The Race is a great opportunity for success. You have been chosen to take part and race through Peru to an unknown, final destination. Every step of the way, the choices you make will affect your performance, as well as the other teams around you! Select your partner, compete against other teams, uncover corruption and discover hidden secrets! “The Race” is a choice-driven text adventure with multiple endings. Can you find them all? Can you make it to the end?

Bonus: It’s not all about winning. Sometimes other choices are more important. Can you uncover a hidden conspiracy? Can you solve the mysteries in your dreams? Can you even go through cities not even on the race list?! There are three alternative endings to the race. Challenge your friends to find them all!

We hope you enjoy playing “The Race” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “The Race” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “The Race” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue that the game produces with you.

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of Dead Already?, our third title by Kie Brooks! Play it on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version.

Life is not fair, neither is this game. Another short murder mystery for you to solve following the ChoiceScript multiple-choice text-based format. The murderer is randomly selected at the beginning of each game for a greater challenge.

We hope you enjoy playing “Dead Already?” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “Dead Already?” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “Dead Already?” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue that the game produces with you.

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of Mobile Armored Marine, by Steve Cave! Play it on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version. Make sure to keep track of your saved games, as Steve plans to produce several sequels.

Blast into action as an Imperial Mobile Armored Marine! Decide when to use stealth, diplomacy, or your armor’s incredible power as you explore a silent colony world. Gain glory, and command a squad of troopers as your choices determine how the story unfolds. Can you uncover the dark secret of Far Hope?

We hope you enjoy playing “Mobile Armored Marine” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “Mobile Armored Marine: Mission to Far Hope” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “Mobile Armored Marine” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue that the game produces with you.

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of Zebulon, by Matt Slaybaugh. Play it on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version. Zebulon was originally created and released for the JayisGames Casual Game Design Competition #9, where it earned fourth place.

Journey through Space and uncover the secrets of the asteroid Zebulon! Pilot a spacecraft with two loyal sidekicks and your pet goldfish Henry. Travel to the Moon, meet some interesting characters, and then blast off to the Asteroid Belt. Along the way make the right choices to discover the secrets of Zebulon and your own past. If Douglas Adams had written a multiple-choice gamebook, it might not be entirely unlike this!

We hope you enjoy playing “Zebulon” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “Zebulon” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “Zebulon” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue that the game produces with you.

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo! Play it now on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version.

Build your character and fight your way out of a zombie-filled city to save your sister in this interactive horror fiction story. Gather supplies and weapons while avoiding the military, bandits, and living dead. Your choices alone control the story. Can you survive the zombie apocalypse?

We hope you enjoy playing “Zombie Exodus” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “Zombie Exodus” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “Zombie Exodus” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue that the game produces with you.

Jim worked very closely with others on our Choice of Games forum, polishing this game until it shines. Thanks to everyone who helped make this game what it is today!

Choice of Games is pleased to announce the release of Dilemma, by Matt Pirrodi! Play it now on the web, or download the iPhone version or the Android version.

In “Dilemma”, you make difficult moral decisions in a modern drama. You take the role of Alex, an average guy having a not so average day. Juggle relations with your friends while you puzzle over choices of right and wrong. Explore what it means to be a good person. Determine if the law is always right. Choose between yourself and your friends. Decide between romance or friendship. And ultimately hold the life of another in your hands. One day can be packed with enough drama, tension, and death to change your life forever. But at the end of that day you’re faced with the question: are you a good person?

We hope you enjoy playing “Dilemma” and we encourage you to play it, tell your friends, and to recommend it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our App Store ranking. Basically, the more times you download in the first week, the better “Dilemma” will rank.

Finally, a shameless plug: “Dilemma” is another game available as part of our hosted games plan. If you’d like to write a multiple-choice game of your own, give it a try! If you host our game with us, we’ll share a portion of the revenue your game produces.

For a variety of reasons (mostly legal and technical reasons) our hosted games releases have been on hiatus for quite a while. But now we’re ready to pump these games out almost as fast as you can submit them to us. Expect half a dozen games or more over the next month or two!

Have you ever wanted to write an interactive novel? November is National Novel Writing Month or “NaNoWriMo” for short. This year, thousands of authors will write 50,000 words of fiction between November 1st and November 30th.

Of course, most NaNoWriMo authors will write traditional linear novels this year, but we’d like to invite you use ChoiceScript to write an interactive NaNoWriMo novel. ChoiceScript is a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice games (MCGs) like ours. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience.

When you’re finished, you can even submit your finished ChoiceScript game to us; we’ll host it for you publicly and give you a share of the revenue your game produces.

Choice of Games wishes all participants of NaNoWriMo the best of luck. Happy writing!

Choice of Games writer Heather Albano has branched out into non-interactive fiction! Her first novel, Timepiece, is available for download at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and will shortly be available on a variety of other platforms and formats.

Timepiece is a steampunk time-travel adventure – the story of girl, a pocket watch, Frankenstein’s monster, the Battle of Waterloo, and giant clockwork robots taking over London. (No, really.) If you like Heather’s games, you’ll love her book… come on over and check it out!