I built this branching scenario prototype in Twine, a free, open source tool for creating nonlinear stories. This scenario is moderately complex, with a total of 17 pages (or passages in Twine terminology) and 8 different endings. The ideal path has 5 decisions to reach the best conclusion.

Prototyping in Twine

I generally use Twine as a prototype for review and testing purposes. You can use Twine as the finished product though, especially if you do some formatting to make it look better. This is pretty rough (just text on a white background), but that’s OK for a prototype.

If you use Twine as a prototyping tool, you can build the finished version in Captivate, Storyline, or another tool of your choice.

Play the scenario

Try the scenario out yourself by clicking below (the scenario will open in a new tab).

Branching structure in Twine

This is the map of the entire scenario. You can see how many of the choices are reused. One advantage of reusing choices is that it reduces the overall size of the scenario; this gave me fewer slides to build in Storyline later. This also gives learners multiple chances to recover after making mistakes.

Want to learn how I created this?

This is part of a series of posts breaking down the process of creating a branching scenario from start to finish.

• How to Get Started Writing a Branching Scenario
• Planning a Branching Scenario
• What to Write First in a Branching Scenario
• How to Write Alternate Paths
• Branching Scenario Prototype in Twine (current post)
• Creating Branching Scenario Layouts
• Building a Simulated Phone Conversation in Storyline
• Building One Path in a Storyline Branching Scenario
• Branching Scenario in Storyline

More on Twine

I have also written several more posts about Twine.

• Twine Makes Branching Scenarios Easier (includes step-by-step directions on getting started in Twine)
• Color-Coded Branching Scenario Format

Can’t get enough? Check out all of my posts on Storytelling and Scenarios.

Originally published 12/5/2017. Updated and republished 12/1/20.
 
 

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