We’re Looking for Writers

If you’re a dreamer, come in.
If you’re a dreamer, a wisher, a liar…
A coder, a gamer, a writer…
Come in!  

For we are looking for brave souls to compose and code works of interactive fiction for us.  In particular, we’re looking for individuals who have published works to your name. If you think this might be you, you should write us a note, and tell us your ideas for a game.

Such a pitch should include:

• A proposed title.
• A one-sentence description of the game.
• An ordered list of 8-12 vignettes, with a brief description of each.
• An exemplary *choice for each of those vignettes.
• A short description of 3-5 supporting characters, where you tell us what makes them interesting.
• A list of the essential traits (variables) of the game.

What is a vignette, you may wonder? Technically, it is a .txt file that is part of the game. In cinematic terms, however, you could think of it as a scene: it should have a beginning, middle and end, and should complete an action of some sort. (N.B.: A vignette is not the set-up and resolution of a single *choice.) The scope of that action is totally dependent on the scale of the game, so it could be anything from a young superhero trying to pick out what he’s going to wear to his first day of high-school, to a whole phase of history for a civilization being guided by a deity. As long as there is some sort of conflict that is introduced and resolved, it will probably qualify as a vignette. Make sure to read this post about how to structure a game while thinking about the ordered list of vignettes.

The “exemplary *choice” should follow the rules of good *choice design. Moreover, it should be one of the central *choices of the vignette, something that illuminates the dramatic tension of the scene. Additionally, you should explain what the consequences of that *choice are, even if those consequences are only expressed as changes to traits.

The essential Traits should not include things like gender or name or pronouns. Rather, they should demonstrate the axes of choice in the game. In Dragon, for example, choosing whether you are a Brutal or a Cunning dragon makes it clear what sort of dragon-y tactics will work in a given situation; in Vampire, Compassion and Callousness represents one of the traditional features of the genre: the moral conflict within a vampire over his bestial nature. If your game is more adventure-oriented, you might tell us about things like Subtlety, Booksmarts and Magic from Choice of Romance. You can read our thoughts on designing good Traits here.

Send this email to support@choiceofgames.com, and we’ll do our best to get back to you promptly.

(and many apologies to Shel Silverstein)