hytechcamps / twine

Interactive Storytelling with Twine

A workshop introducing Twine in ~2.5hrs. Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories.

Virtual Camp

For an outline of the virtual version of the camp, check out the Virtual README.

Videos

Videos for the camp are available here:

• Virtual Lecture
  • NOTE: The lecture video contains an example game. Students should have a chance to play the game themselves.
• Follow-Along

Student Content

Student-facing content is available at hytechcamps.github.io.

Suggested Schedule

Activity	Time
Icebreaker	15m
Lecture	20m
Kahoot	10m
Break	10m
Follow-Along	45m
Individual	50m

Topics

• Using Twine to write interactive fiction stories
• Using CSS to add style to the Twine story
• Using Variables to keep track of story information

Icebreaker

Start things off with a quick icebreaker activity so the students can get to know each other.

• This or That - the instructor poses questions to the students, and the students group up based on their answers.

Lecture

The lecture uses a PowerPoint presentation to introduce students to interactive storytelling. It covers the background of interactive fiction, Twine, CSS, and variables.

Kahoot Quiz

There is a quick Kahoot quiz to gauge how well the students were paying attention during the lecture. There is a link to the quiz from the PowerPoint.

Follow-Along Activity

For the follow-along activity, get into Twine and start building a story with the students.

Student-driven Stories

It will be beneficial to allow the students to drive the story-writing process. Take suggestions from them for the content of the story, the branches, the characters, etc. Make sure their suggestions are conduvice to a story with at least one variable, and multiple branches reaching the same node.

An easy way to accomplish this is to make a "Day in the Life" story. Begin with the main character waking up. Have every branch eventually lead to the character going to bed at night. Throughout the day, choose to track some information that may change (e.g., the main character's GPA). This should allow room for creativity while covering all of the essential topics.

Sections Marked OPTIONAL: In-Person

Most of the optional sections should be skipped, other than the "Custom Colors" section. The "CSS in Browser" section and "More on Variables" section are covered by the Lecture, and the "Next Steps" section is replaced by the Individual Exercise.

Individual Exercise

Allow the students to complete the individual exercise. There is an open-ended option and a more structured option. The goal is for the students to enjoy themselves working in Twine or writing a story. Encourage them to be creative and have fun with their stories. If a student says they are "done" writing, try to guide them to another chapter or another pathway their story could take.