Story Synth - a platform for playtesting simple storytelling games online

#1

Hey all!

I’ve been working on a platform for easily playtesting storytelling games, with content managed in from Google Sheets. I launched it last week and it’s called Story Synth: https://storysynth.org

It already works for several game formats, including For the Queen and The Quiet Year. You can add your custom content by pasting a link to a spreadsheet; no coding needed. There’s more info, including how-to guides, on the About page.

My goal for Story Synth is to lower the bar to designing and testing games. There are three main ways to use it:

  1. Running a playtest by pasting in a spreadsheet link
  2. Publishing your game through it (requires some code)
  3. Hacking it to add your own mechanics (lots of code)

Also – here’s a video tour

I’m happy to answer any questions and am especially keen to hear feedback and feature requests as I continue building out the platform!

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#2

I like everything about the project. Yet I don’t see how you can playtest all sorts of story games on the platform. It’s intriguing. I need to push my imagination because I don’t play much online.

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#3

It definitely doesn’t cover everything! It’s currently best suited to games that are, at their core, a series of prompts (random, linear, or a mix of both).

Some examples for the different modes:

  • Shuffled: For the Queen, The Quiet Year
  • Timed: Find / Fix / Finish (a Jason Morningstar game that takes place in real time
  • Secret: likely a better fit for larp where different folks get secret info / prompts
  • Monster: custom made for my game Dawn of the Monster Invasion but works if you want to design a mostly linear game with a few player options at different junctures
  • SlotMachine: perfect for drawing from multiple decks or rolling on tables (e.g. a random encounter with a setting, a threat, and an opportunity)
#4

Hey, that same information could be a nice addition to the template page !
I am interested by the slot machine then. Now I see what I can do with it… I’ll tinker with it some before coming back with questions. Thank you !

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