Tenus is a handcrafted, text-based interactive story developed as part of a group project in the Basic Programming Concepts class at Benditas. The game explores the player’s imagination by combining the structure of a gamebook with light decision-making mechanics, allowing players to choose different paths that unfold a branching narrative

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This was my first time working on a text-based game, and a great opportunity to explore how narrative and game design intersect. I was responsible for:

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• Game Design

• Narrative System Design

• Story Gamification

• UI/UX Prototyping

 

My biggest challenge was transforming a pre-written story into an actual game experience, something that felt interactive and reactive to player choices, not just a linear read.

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The original story wasn’t written as a game, so I led the effort to adapt the narrative into playable paths. To do this, we designed a branching system, where the player’s choices would influence the outcome of events.

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To add variation and replayability, we implemented dice rolls at key points. Based on both the player's choice and the result of the roll, the story could split into multiple possible consequences, introducing an element of unpredictability and chance that made each playthrough slightly different. This design required us to:

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• Define conditional logic tied to each choice

• Write multiple outcomes for single decisions

• Create modular narrative chunks that could be reused or combined dynamically

 

Working with limited tools and time, we focused on building a clear structure of decisions and consequences, even with a small number of scenes. It was a hands-on exercise in designing conditions, feedback, and pacing within the constraints of a purely text-based interface.

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I also worked on UI and player flow, ensuring the layout was clean and that choices felt intuitive, even for players unfamiliar with interactive fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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With more time, I would love to:

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• Expand the number of branching paths to deepen the player’s sense of agency

• Add inventory or character variables to make choices more strategic

• Refine the conditional logic, giving the system more depth and consequence

• Integrate subtle audio or visual effects to enhance immersion

 

Tenus was a small but meaningful project that challenged me to think differently, not just about storytelling, but about how to make story systems playable. Turning a static text into an interactive experience required creativity, structure, and a lot of improvisation. It opened up new ways for me to explore narrative design, and gave me valuable insights into designing choice-based systems.