Wriite a Story Game 2015 Contest

Storytellers unite!

We’re looking for writers worldwide to create interactive story games using our publishing tool StoryStylus. An interactive story game is a hybrid between a book and a video game, with a focus on narrative and fun gameplay elements mixed in. Readers get to dive into and actively explore the worlds you’ve created. You can check out our current library of story games to get a sense of how they work and how you play them. Then when you’re ready, you can login to create your own game. It’s easy – we’ve taught 12 year olds how to master it!

Good luck and have fun!

About our contest

• Write an interactive story game in English,
• Any genre,
• At least 20 minutes of gameplay, and
• Open to writers worldwide.

We’ll give you a trial of StoryStylus for you to use for the duration. Got a hankering to write a detective series, Lovecraftian steampunk story or a vampire Western? Anything is possible! Stories must abide by the rules as set out in our publishing agreement (re: decency, no hate speech, no harassment, no bullying).

Entries must be submitted by December 31, 2015 at 5PM EST. Winners will be announced by March 1, 2016.

What is StoryStylus?

StoryStylus is a publishing platform designed for emerging and established writers to create, publish and play interactive storytelling games. Writers select their story location and art theme (from a template or from scratch), input their characters, events and items, and put them together with a simple scripting tool that generates the interactivity. Stories will be published on the OMSG website(s) as well as OMSG’s app for Android tablet (and iOS & Facebook in the coming months).

Current limitations:

1. StoryStylus is currently only available for Windows OS. Anticipate Mac version for end of October 2015.
2. We have art templates for mystery and post-apocalyptic stories with more templates being developed. We hope to have art templates for cyberpunk, sci-fi, romance, horror and steampunk by late-September but we cannot guarantee these themes will be ready. You can also create your own templates and use them.
3. StoryStylus assistance is available via webinar, tutorial videos and within the tool. We cannot offer one-on-one help but we’re happy to assemble your questions and add them to our FAQs or videos.
4. We’re a startup and while we want ALL the writers to come and create content, there may be a strain on the servers – so if that happens, we ask you to bear with us as we add more server resources to meet the load.
   • In anticipation of server load, we will initially limit the number of writers to 250.
   • Depending on how well our servers respond, more writers may be permitted access to StoryStylus. Expanding this limit is the sole discretion of OMSG.
   • Contest prizes vary on the number of qualifying submissions that are received, so writers will want to get as many other ACTIVE writers into the system as possible. (see Prizes below)
5. If server complications do arise, the contest submission date may be extended, but again this will be the sole discretion of OMSG.
6. Our software is in late alpha. Which means it is pretty stable, but you might still encounter bugs and problems. Please be patient with us, and if you email our bugs report address, then we’ll work hard to fix anything you find. If you want to suggest a few improvements, then we’ll see what we can do to implement what we can.

Check out a video of StoryStylus and Skycarver, our latest published story game side by side.

Judging criteria

• Originality
• Interactivity – using different elements such as take/combine/use items, use of item or location hovers, use of inset maps, branching paths based on player choice
• Writing (includes grammar, and spelling)
• Graphics and setting
• Dialogue
• Playability – are there any bugs that prevent a complete playthrough?
• Fun

Prizes

The final prizes given by the contest will be determined by the number of qualifying submissions that we receive:

All Grand, First, Second and Single prize winners will receive a 2 year “Elite Writer Subscription” to StoryStylus plus royalties as set out below. See the StoryStylus Pricing Page for more information on subscription details.

Contest rules

1. Grand prize, first and second prize winners agree to let One More Story Games license the winning stories and provide them as free content to the general public until August 30, 2016 – these entries will accrue royalties for completed playthroughs (i.e. no royalty is earned if a player only plays 10 minutes of your story and quits).

2. *Royalties for contest only:

• For each unique player that plays through to the completion of the contest’s winning stories (reaches the completion screen), a royalty of .20C CAD is earned, to a maximum stated below at each prize level.
• Illegal bots or fake accounts are strictly forbidden and will not count towards total playthrough count. OMSG will make the determination, in its sole discretion, as to whether there has been the use of illegal bots or fake accounts to artificially inflate the total playthrough counts. Story writers who are caught using or soliciting the use of bots or fake accounts to increase playthrough counts shall forfeit all accumulated playthroughs, shall not receive royalties, and shall be prohibited from using StoryStylus.

Note: you do not have to be Canadian to enter the contest. Winners will be paid in Canadian funds, regardless of nationality.

3. Cash prizes are awarded upon announcement of winners; royalties are paid out on two separate dates. For royalties, OMSG will begin counting unique users ending on an earlier date, and then pay out royalties for that period on a later date as specified below:

4. Submitted stories must be at least 30 minutes in length in one given path for a playthrough (approximately 18,000-20,000 words).

5. The Author User Agreement and OMSG Publishing Agreement is the legally binding document that supersedes this contest offering.

6. The submitted work must be an original work written by the initial writer (see 8) and you must have the legal right to use all content (creative commons photos can be used with appropriate attribution).

7. The submitted work can be a previously published video game or interactive fiction story as long as the previous version is no longer available for play online. It can be a previously published short story, novella or novel as long as writer holds the rights to publish it.

8. Collaborative works are accepted but OMSG will release payment to the initial writer only (the person who created the story within StoryStylus; splitting payments are the responsibility of the initial writer and collaborators.

9. Former or current staff members or contractors and their family members are prohibited from winning the contest. They may submit content.

10. You indemnify OMSG if our servers go down and you are a) unable to access StoryStylus to create, publish or test your story or b) players are unable to play (or purchase your story if it is offered as paid content at a future date). In no event shall OMSG be liable to the writer for any damages including, without limitation, direct or indirect, special, incidental, compensatory, exemplary or consequential damages, losses or expenses for loss of data or profit arising out of the use or inability to use StoryStylus as a result of any cause, including but not limited to, mistake, error, omission, interruption, delays in operation or transmission, failure of performance, computer virus, communications failure, theft or destruction of data, unauthorized access to Story Stylus by a third party. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, in no event shall OMSG be liable for any injury, loss, claim, damage or any special, exemplary, punitive, direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damage of any kind, whether based in contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise.

11. The writer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold OMSG harmless from any loss, liability, claim, demand, damage, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) asserted by any third party relating in any way to your access to, or your use of StoryStylus or to your breach of these contest rules.

12. You must be older than 13 years old to participate. Entrants who are under the legal age of consent in their country must have parental consent to be able to participate.

How do I get started?

• Creating a new account
• StoryStylus Install Page (please note that this is best installed using FireFox as your browser – we’re working to correct this so it will install in Chrome and other browsers)
• Help Installing StoryStylus
• StoryStylus Tutorial Videos