‘Pick-a-path’ gaming

• Published date: 25 April 2024
• Publication title: Clutha Leader

The ‘‘Pick-a-Path’’ Game Narrative Writing Workshop taught young people the tools to build the multi-choice plots behind the roleplaying games fads of the 1980s and the high-intensity computer games of today

The workshop was organised by Lawrence Creative Arts and presented by professional games designer Edwin McRae, a recent arrival in the town.

‘‘Most stories work in the first or third person — I or he,’’ Mr McRae said.

‘‘Games work in the second person: You — the player — character. Good games are all about presenting the player with interesting choices and consequences.’’

A dozen adults and children supplied with books and examples worked through a pirate adventure, beginning in a port with adventure options on an island or a cave.

Each choice generated a situation offering more choices, resulting in a pyramid diagram where every option was given a number.

The number allocated a page in an ordinary notebook where the scene description and new options could be written and flipped to elsewhere in the book.

From fantasy and science-fiction to romance and horror, the budding games designers enthusiastically listed their own favourite...