As many of you know, I started a command game recently.

Command games are like a choose your own adventure type story. A lot of people started their own (which you should go check out they're super fun) but I wanted to give some advice to those of you who would like to do one.

First off, I would recommend posting it as soon as you get the idea and have motivation. It's hard to prepare these since you could end up going down this huge rabbit hole of options that no one may pick.

Like, you would start out with two options, then go to option one and write that chapter, ending  it with two options then write chapter two and end it with two options and now you have to write four separate things.

That's a real hassle, so you wanna skip that by having a basic outline of what you'd like to happen and getting started.

Next, you wanna know what perspective you're taking. Is it an unreliable narrator type deal or just a "you pick what happens next!" little game?

If you're doing a fun little game then this is mostly just an audience participation type deal. Nothing fancy but something fun to do with your followers or friends.

The unreliable narrator, however, is a bit of a challenge.

An unreliable narrator is exactly as it sounds. It's kinda just a fun role you play to trick your audience. I will say it can be very difficult; I've done it once before in the past last year and I wasn't good at it (huge learning process since 2023)

Being the unreliable narrator to me is making sure that the audience doesn't "win" or in my case, have a happy ending. (you may also wanna do some sort of incentive for them, like I'm offering a story of their choice). "They're playing checkers and you're playing chess" mind game kinda thing.

In my game I put a lot of different things in coding (found on lingojam) just to try and confuse or scare the readers a bit. Acknowledging them can help with that spooky feeling; saying their name or having a character break the fourth wall as if they know that this is nothing more than a game.

When jumping into these, you're gonna have to try and figure out what you're doing along the way. Going in with a basic idea and a rough draft of things you could do is best, in my opinion. I always update it every four-five days and put out an announcement letting them know it's the last day to cast their votes.

If you're thinking about starting one, always remember:

You are the one in control. They may be picking the options, but you write all the in between. Just because they picked that choice, doesn't mean you have to make it the outcome.