Memories of the Past - An Interactive Novel

Introduction and Rules

Welcome to QueerWarriors' first game! This is a choose-your-own-adventure game, and in case some of you don't know how they work, here's a simple tutorial:

In these types of games, you are given several choices to pick from. Each choice will lead to a different outcome, and that outcome can be good, bad, or both. The general interface generally looks something like this excerpt below.

You are standing at a crossroads. There's a road leading off into the woods to your right, and another oddly flat path to your left. The road you were walking on previously keeps going, straight ahead. You:

A) Take the right path
B) Take the left path
C) Keep going forwards

As you may expect, each of these choices would take you to a different location. Memories of the Past will follow a similar style of gameplay, but not quite:

Your chest is heaving as your paws pound on the soft forest floor. You can still hear them behind you, hard on your heels. Your strength is fading, and you know you won't be able to hold out for much longer. But maybe, just maybe, if you keep running, you'll find somewhere to hide before running out of energy.

Your eyes dart left and right, searching for something that may offer refuge. Your eyes suddenly find a hole in the ground that might offer just that, but you can't see how deep it is, or if it holds something else.

Your ears swivel frantically, picking up every tiny detail of the forest. There's a river you can hear nearby, probably only a few taillengths away, but you can't swim. Neither can they, but it'll be pointless if you drown.

As you can see, parts of the text are highlighted. Those parts are how we will present choices in this game. If we use the format from before:

Your chest is heaving as your paws pound on the soft forest floor. You can still hear them behind you, hard on your heels. Your strength is fading, and you know you won't be able to hold out for much longer.

Your eyes darting left and right, you find a hole in the ground that may offer you refuge. But it may also trap you and lead you to your demise.

Your ears pick up a river nearby, probably only a few taillengths away. But you can't swim. Neither can they, but it'll be pointless if you drown. You:

A) Keep running and hope you find shelter before tiring.
B) Dive into the hole.
C) Jump into the river.

Both types are similar, it's just the choices that are presented differently. During the actual gameplay, you will comment a short summary of your choice. Whichever option receives the most votes will be carried out. In the case of a tie, the tied options will receive a tiebreaker round.

Anyway, the story will be told with scenes, like in a movie or play. Scenes are basically each event or situation that happens. The chapters will be labeled with a decimal system, the first number representing the scene, and the second representing the choices in chronological order. 1.1 would be Scene 1, Choice 1, then 1.2 would be Scene 1, Choice 2, and so on, since each chapter contains one choice the readers must make.

Now that you know how to play, here are a few rules you should be aware of:

1. Don't argue with other players. If someone picks an option that isn't yours, there's no need for you to yell at them. You can convince others to change their opinion, but not on the game itself. A page for discussion is provided.

2. Since the options won't be listed as 1, 2, 3, etc., be sure to specify with your words what you choose. It makes it easier for us if you comment "Go into the hole" instead of "the second one", especially when there are a lot of options for us to go back and sort through.

3. You aren't required to list reasoning behind your choices, but doing so may influence the decisions of others.

4. Put all comments that don't involve choosing a story option in the Discussion Page.

5. If the story goes a different way than you wanted, be a good sport about it. We want this to be a fun and exciting gameplay experience for everyone.

Now that you know the rules, please read the next part in the book and follow the instructions listed there.