Haven-Text-Adventure

I’m an old-school text adventure nerd. ZORK 4 LIFE, yo!

So, thanks to a recent client’s prompting — and the power (and ease) of the interactive text tool, Twine — I whipped up a cool little mystery/thriller ‘prologue’ , ‘HAVEN’, on a lark.  Quick and dirty details before you dive into the free teaser:

  • FORMATHaven is TEXT ONLY. Zero frills. Mood, dialogue, and basic branching were my focus.
  • LENGTH: it shouldn’t take more than 30min to burn through to the endings. Multiple endings.
  • GENRE:  As a fan of Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, you already know I’m down with dark tales in darker locales.
  • HOW TO PLAY: Twine converts your text trees into easy peasy HTML files. I posted an updated version of HAVEN here and on the Interactive Fiction Database here.

And here’s a snapshot of the story flow and intro text below. Let me know what you think, and please share it if you dig!

 

Haven Text Adventure Twine

HAVEN

Dry leaves twist and flutter down from dead branches as you follow the path.

Wind howls through the maples and birch, carrying a harsh chill from the waters beyond. It’s an hour’s drive from town on a good day. Double that with storm season in full swing. But these folks wouldn’t dare ask for help — especially from cops — unless it was serious.

Christ…if this ain’t bigger than the cougar sighting of ’96.

The trail banks into a root-covered clearing. On the far side, a brass bell hangs from a polished square of wood. It’s nailed to a gnarled tree at the mouth of a narrow lane. The lane is fringed with bleached rocks and driftwood.

From where you stand, it looks like a road of bones…

[[Ring the bell.]]

[[Examine the area.]]

[[Check in with the station.]]