Game Builder

Snake: arrow keys steer; eating the food grows the snake and scores a point; hitting a wall or its own body ends the game.

Breakout: a paddle bounces the ball into bricks; each brick hit scores; the ball slipping past the paddle ends the game; clearing the bricks wins.

Pong (against the computer): one paddle each; a miss scores for the other side; first to seven wins.

Dodger: steer to avoid what falls; one hit ends the game; score is how long you last.

Game rules

Retro arcade cabinet. Near-black background, bright neon shapes - electric cyan, magenta, lime - that glow against the dark. Chunky, blocky, a little pixelated. Bold monospace score. Loud, all-caps arcade copy: "GAME OVER", "NEW HIGH SCORE", "PLAY AGAIN". Looks like a coin-op screen, not a slick app.

Visual style

Traid

Build arcade games to play. Fast games one player plays against their own score.

Arcade Games

Rules Keeper

- Tic-tac-toe - the quick one. First to three in a row.
- Hangman - guess the word before the figure is drawn. We use six wrong guesses, not seven.
- Dots-and-boxes - on a 5x5 grid of dots. Whoever closes a box goes again.
- Connect-four - first to four in a row, dropped into columns.
- Word guessing - one person picks a word in a category, the other guesses letters.

House rules: in tic-tac-toe, loser of the last round goes first. In hangman, no proper nouns.

Games we play

Usually two of us, head to head. Sometimes a group of four taking turns in pairs.
Ages range from 8 up, so keep word lists and rules family-friendly.
We like a quick "new game" so we can run a best-of-five without fuss.
Keep explanations short - we mostly know the rules and just want to play.

Players

A real chalkboard. Dark slate-green ground, chalk-white strokes, a faint dusty texture. The grid and marks look hand-drawn, a little uneven, like they were scratched on with chalk. One warm chalk color (pale yellow) for the active player's turn and the winning line. Playful but readable. Looks like a board on a classroom wall, not a slick game app.

The classic pen-and-paper games, built to play: tic-tac-toe, hangman, dots-and-boxes, and more. Two players share one board, take turns, and watch each move land in real time.

Chalkboard Games

Encounter & Loot Generator

Lore Keeper

World: The Slate Reach.
Tone: low-fantasy, grounded. Magic is rare and a little dangerous. Not grimdark, but consequences are real.
Era: late iron age. Crossbows are common. Plate armor exists but is the mark of the very wealthy.
Magic: arcane casters are mistrusted in most cities. Divine magic is tied to specific temples. No flashy area-effect spells; subtle magic is the norm.
Key regions:
- Vauldcross - the city the party is currently in. Trade hub, mostly run by guilds.
- The Iron Order - a militant order based two days east of Vauldcross. Currently expanding influence.
- The Reach - the rural backcountry, sparse villages, old roads, half-forgotten ruins.
System: 5e. House rule: critical hits are max damage plus a roll, not double dice.

Setting

Four players, all currently level 3.

- Mira (halfling rogue 3) - lies for fun, has a soft spot for street kids. Owes a debt to a Vauldcross fence named Pell.
- Brann (human fighter 3, soldier background) - ex-Iron Order, deserted after refusing an order. Wants to stay quiet about it.
- Sister Olwen (half-elf cleric 3 of the Silver Lantern) - quiet, watchful, has been having unsettling dreams since they arrived in Vauldcross.
- Reno (tiefling wizard 3, sage background) - copies every spell he can get his hands on. Curiosity over caution every single time.

Party dynamic: Brann and Mira are old friends. Olwen and Reno joined recently and are still feeling each other out.

Party

- Pell (human, fence) - operates out of a candle shop in Vauldcross. Holds Mira's debt. Friendly but transactional. Last interaction: gave the party a tip on the Iron Order convoy in exchange for a favor TBD.
- Captain Idris Tarn (human, Iron Order officer) - recognized Brann at the city gates two sessions ago. Did not call him out. Reason unclear. Tense.
- Sister Hesta (human, Silver Lantern senior) - Olwen's mentor. Currently in the capital, sending letters. Worried about what Olwen has been dreaming.
- Old Garrick (human, retired guard, runs The Bent Nail inn) - friendly, gossipy, knows everyone in the lower city. Party currently lodging here.

Active NPCs

Low-fantasy, grounded. Parchment cream on dark slate. Serif type with small caps for section headers. Tight, dense layouts (this is a campaign tool, not a dashboard). Thin tarnished-gold borders to delineate sections. Monospace for stat blocks and dice. Looks like a campaign notebook, not a fantasy app.

Run your campaign from your own lore. Generates encounters, loot, NPCs, and prep sheets that fit your world.

D&D Game Master

Scene Builder

Story Keeper

Title: Lanterns at Low Tide.
Genre: slice-of-life romance with a light mystery thread.
Setting: Shiomura, a fading seaside town in the off-season. Present day.
Premise: the protagonist returns to their hometown to help close down the family inn and finds a letter addressed to someone who supposedly never existed.
Tone: quiet, warm, melancholy around the edges. The mystery simmers; it never turns into a thriller.
Length target: a prologue, three chapters per route, and an epilogue per ending.

Story premise

- Protagonist (player-named, default Aoi) - late twenties, dry sense of humor, avoids talking about why they left town. Narrates in first person.
- Hana - childhood friend who stayed and now runs the bakery. Warm, talks fast, deflects serious moments with food. Her route is about what staying cost her.
- Kaito - lighthouse keeper's son, blunt and economical with words. Says one true thing per scene. His route digs into the letter.
- Grandmother Sumi - runs the inn, sharp memory, claims to remember nothing about the letter. Not a love interest; she anchors the mystery thread.

Characters

Common route: prologue and chapter one. Branch point: the festival night choice (help Hana at the stall, or walk the seawall with Kaito).
Hana route: three chapters. Endings: "Open Sign" (good, she keeps the bakery and the protagonist stays), "Last Ferry" (bittersweet, both leave town).
Kaito route: three chapters. Endings: "The Letter Answered" (good, mystery resolved), "Unsent" (bittersweet, the truth stays buried).
Flags: kindness points per route, plus one mystery flag (found_the_second_letter) that gates the good ending on the Kaito route.

Routes and endings

Script format:
- Speaker name on its own line, dialogue below it. Narration unmarked.
- Stage notes in square brackets: [bg: seawall, dusk] [sprite: hana, smiling] [sfx: gulls].
- Choices as a numbered menu with the flag or route effect in parentheses.

Prose:
- Short paragraphs. Two or three sentences of narration between lines of dialogue, not walls of text.
- Dialogue carries the scene. Characters do not explain their feelings; they deflect, joke, or go quiet.
- Scenes end on a small image or a held silence, not a summary.
- Per scene: 600 to 1000 words.

Writing style

Dusk by the sea. Deep twilight-blue scene area, dialogue in a soft parchment box pinned to the bottom, the speaker's name in small caps above the line. Choices appear as centered lantern-amber buttons. Text is the star: generous line height, one gentle beat at a time, no clutter around the words.

Turn your story notes into a playable visual novel. Plays your scenes as a click-through story with branching choices, drafts new scenes in your voice, and keeps routes and characters consistent.