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This is Part 2 of a 3-part series of posts about First Year Demons. In the first part, I talked about games in education, and why ChoiceScript games can be a good method for teaching about culture. In this part, I’ll talk about how we decided on the setting and story for First Year Demons. Choosing a Culture and Story The people who would be playing these games to learn the information contained in them would primarily be university students in the US and Canada. Therefore, we took North American culture as our “home” culture. We decided that the contrast

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We’re proud to announce that “The Hero Project: Redemption Season,” the latest in our popular “Choice of Games” line of multiple-choice interactive-fiction games, is now available for Steam, iOS, and Android. It’s 25% off until April 15th! America’s #1 reality show for heroes is back for another season! Harness your superpowers to steal the spotlight, win votes, and save your sister! “The Hero Project: Redemption Season” is the first installment in a new series of interactive novels by Zachary Sergi set in the “Heroes Rise” universe. Your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based–129,000 words, without graphics or sound effects–and

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“The YouPower Project” is a new free short story developed by Zachary Sergi and written by Michael Alan Nelson, set in the world of Heroes Rise, Zachary Sergi’s bestselling series of interactive novels. It’s set in the months following “The Hero Project: Redemption Season,” but contains no spoilers for The Hero Project. “The YouPower Project” has been brought to you in partnership with Serial Box. Serial Box brings everything that’s awesome about TV (easily digestible episodes, team written, new content every week) to what was already cool about books (well-crafted stories, talented authors, enjoyable anywhere). If lots of people read

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There’s a new game in our Hosted Games program ready for you to play! For generations, your family has kept China safe from chaos demons. Now you must uphold that duty while you’re at university–just don’t tell your roommates! “First Year Demons” is an interactive fantasy novel by Rebecca Slitt, author of “Psy High.” Your choices control the story. It’s two games in one: a 30,000-word educational game, and a 43,000-word version of the same story that’s just for fun. Both games are entirely text-based–without graphics or sound effects–and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. As the

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This is the first in a series of blog posts about the Hosted Game First Year Demons, which was released on April 8, 2016. In this first post, I’ll talk about why and how IF can be used as a teaching tool, especially its combination of immersive first-person perspective and concrete dynamic feedback. In the second post, I’ll talk about the process of developing the story, particularly why we chose to set it in China, and how I approached the process of writing a game whose characters inhabit a culture that isn’t my own. In the third post, I’ll talk

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There’s a new game in our Hosted Games program ready for you to play! As commander of a squadron of cavalry, what will you sacrifice to win the war of gunpowder and magic? Return to the battlefield as a gentleman-officer of the Royal Tierran Army in this long-awaited sequel to “Sabres of Infinity.” “Guns of Infinity” is a 440,000 word interactive novel by Paul Wang, author of “Sabres of Infinity,” “Mecha Ace,” and “The Hero of Kendrickstone.” Your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. It’s 40%

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To celebrate the launch of Guns of Infinity, we’re also announcing that Paul’s earlier game in our Hosted Games program, Sabres of Infinity is out now on Steam! Fight for glory as an officer of the Royal Tierran Army in a rich, low-fantasy world where gunpowder and magic rule the battlefield. Choose a horse, pick a sergeant and lead a unit of Royal Dragoons through five years of brutal war. Sabres of Infinity is an epic interactive novel where you control the main character; your choices control the story. Battle your enemies with your mind, your wits or with pistol

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There are two more games in our Hosted Games program ready for you to play! Scarlet Sails: A fantastical pirate romp on the high seas! Hoist the Jolly Roger and set sail to find the legendary Titan’s Treasure! Do you fight with a cutlass, or with magic? Are you biding your time until you can shoot your captain in the back, or are you the reason the rum is gone? Scarlet Sails is an 80,000-word interactive novel by Felicity Banks, author of Attack of the Clockwork Army. Your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based–without graphics or sound effects–and fueled

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We’re excited to announce that we’re selling some of our games in a new way: as bundles on the Apple iTunes App Store. We hope that this will introduce new players to classic games and give everyone the chance to find more games in their favorite genres. You’ll still be able to buy each game individually. But if you’ve been looking for an easy way to stock up on a lot of games at once, or an easy way to find more games like the ones you love, this is your chance! Here are some of the bundles we’ve got

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We’re proud to announce that The Daring Mermaid Expedition, the latest in our popular “Choice of Games” line of multiple-choice interactive-fiction games, is now available for Steam, iOS, and Android. It’s 33% off until February 19th! Take a scientifically inaccurate romp in pirate-infested waters! Will you prove to the Royal German Marinological Society that mermaids really exist? “The Daring Mermaid Expedition” is a 71,000-word interactive novel by Andrea Phillips, author of “The Daring Adventures of Lucy Smokeheart.” Your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based–without graphics or sound effects–and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. You are

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