Minigames

A minigame is a short challenge an event opens for the player: strike a moving needle in the zone three times to forge a blade, or to disarm a trap. The player plays it, the game server checks every press, and the event runs a Perfect, Success, Failed or Cancelled branch. Skill makes a minigame easier; it never plays it for the player.

You build a minigame once in Database → Minigames and open it from any event with Start Minigame.

Make a minigame#

1. Open Database → Minigames and click + New (or pick a kind on the

   right): Timing Strike, Lockpick, Fishing, or one of the twelve in More kinds — Strike Chain, Rhythm Sequence, Memory Sequence, Steady Hand, Heat Band, Ring Alignment, Conduit Connect, Code Breaker, Weak-Point Strike, Tug-of-War, Tavern Dice and Pickpocket Reach.

2. Name it and set its Difficulty (1–100). Every parameter follows the

   difficulty until you change it.

3. Pick the skill that eases it under Eased by skill, or leave it on None.
4. Decide whether players may auto-attempt, and whether being hit cancels it.
5. Watch How it plays: how often an average player succeeds, plays it

   perfectly, or wins the auto-attempt roll at skill 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100.

6. Press Play under Try it to play it yourself at any skill level

   (Space, Enter, a click or a tap strikes).

7. Click Create (or Save). Check names anything that would stop it

   saving without saving it.

Open it from an event#

1. In a map or common event, + Add command → Flow Control → Start Minigame.

   It adds a block with If Success and If Failed branches.

2. Pick the Minigame.
3. Put what should happen under each branch (an item for a success, damage for a

   failure). Tick Perfect has its own branch or **Cancelled has its own branch** to add those.

4. Optional: store the Score (0–100) or the Outcome code in a variable to

   use later in a Conditional Branch.

Running out of time runs If Failed.

Branch on it later#

Conditional Branch → tab 4 → Last Minigame tests the player's last finished minigame anywhere after it — another event, a later page:

It is false when the player has not finished one since logging in. Practice runs (below) do not count.

Practice in a client-only event#

In an event set to run on the client, Start Minigame is a practice run: the window opens and plays as usual and the branches run, but nothing is scored — no reward, no skill XP, the Score / Outcome variables are not written, and it is not the "last minigame" for Conditional Branch. Use it for a training dummy or a tutorial. With no connection to the game server it takes **If Failed** at once.

Minigame settings#

Timing Strike parameters#

Lockpick parameters#

Move the pick along its arc, then turn the lock. With the pick on the pin's sweet spot the lock turns all the way and the pin sets; off it the lock turns less and binds, and holding it bound strains the pick until it snaps. Set every pin to open it; snap every pick and it fails. A perfect pick snaps nothing and barely strains.

A lock has a Style — four different games with the same picks, strain, skill and traits:

On the Dial, Tumblers and Rings a press at the wrong moment (or the wrong number) knocks the pick — fill its strain and it snaps.

Doors and chests do not need a Lockpick preset: a locked door or chest plays one built from its lock.

Fishing parameters#

Cast, bite, fight — see Fishing for how it plays. Fishing spots build their own from each fish's row; a Fishing preset is for an event (a fishing contest, a quest's one big catch).

More kinds#

Twelve more kinds, each built for a job. Every one plays the same in the game and in Try it, is checked press by press by the game server, is eased by its skill, and ends in Perfect, Success, Failed or out of time like the others. Tavern Dice wagers are the event's business: take the stake with Change Gold before Start Minigame and pay out under If Success. Pickpocket Reach also replaces the pickpocket dice roll — see Pickpocketing.

Strike Chain#

A needle sweeps a bar; strike inside the zone. Each hit moves the zone and speeds the needle up — forging, disarming a trap.

Controls: Space, click or tap to strike inside the zone.

Rhythm Sequence#

Notes fall down lanes; press a note's lane as it reaches the line, on the beat — rituals, drumming, casting.

Controls: Arrows ← ↓ ↑ → or keys 1–4 (or tap a lane) as each note reaches the line.

Memory Sequence#

Runes light up in order; repeat the sequence. Each round adds one — rune doors, safe codes.

Controls: Watch the runes, then press them in order (click, or keys 1–9).

Steady Hand#

A target drifts across the field; keep the cursor inside it until the work fills — surgery, bomb defusal, a careful pour.

Controls: Keep the cursor in the circle (mouse, finger or left stick).

Heat Band#

Hold to raise the heat, let go to cool; gusts push it about. Keep it in the band until the work is done — smelting, brewing, sailing.

Controls: Hold Space, the mouse or A to raise it; let go to let it fall.

Ring Alignment#

Turn the rings until every sigil lines up at the top. Linked rings turn the one inside them too — ancient doors, star maps.

Controls: ↑ ↓ (or click) to pick a ring, ← → to turn it.

Conduit Connect#

Turn the conduit pieces to join the source on the left to the outlet on the right — magic circuits, pipes, hacking.

Controls: Click a piece (or tap it) to turn it a quarter.

Code Breaker#

Guess the hidden code: ● is a right symbol in the right place, ○ a right symbol elsewhere — safes, ciphers.

Controls: Pick symbols (click or 1–8), Backspace to undo, Space or ⏎ to try the code.

Weak-Point Strike#

Weak points flare on the surface; strike a lit one before it fades — mining, chopping, breaching.

Controls: Click (or press 1–9 for) the weak point that lights up.

Tug-of-War#

Hold to pull; ease off when your rival braces (or your grip strains), and pull hard as they stagger — arm-wrestling, taming, rope pulls.

Controls: Hold to pull · let go when they brace · pull hard when they stagger.

Tavern Dice#

Liar's Dice against a tavern regular: bid how many dice show a face, or call their bid a lie. Whoever is wrong loses a die.

Controls: Pick a bid (click or 1–9) · Space or “Liar!” to call their bid.

Pickpocket Reach#

Hold to ease your hand into the pocket; freeze when the mark glances round. Reach the purse before their suspicion fills.

Controls: Hold to reach · let go when they look.

A changed parameter shows a blue outline; ↺ puts it back on the difficulty.

In game#

The window opens in the middle of the screen with a moment to read it, then the clock starts. Timing Strike: Space, Enter, a click or a tap, or a controller's A button strikes. Lockpick: the mouse, a dragged finger, ← / → or the left stick move the pick; hold the mouse button, Space, ↑, the right trigger or Turn to turn the lock, and let go when it binds. On a Dial the same controls turn the dial and a press sets the number; on Tumblers they move the pick along the row (a click picks that tumbler and pushes it); on Rings only the press matters. The trigger is pressure-sensitive: a light pull turns the lock slower but strains the pick less. Clicks come faster and higher as the pick nears the spot, so it can be played by ear, and a controller rumbles while the pick strains. Esc or Close closes it when allowed; Auto rolls instead when offered. Hits, perfects and misses differ in shape and label as well as colour, and reduced motion turns off the shake and flashes. When it ends the result shows for a moment and the event carries on.

Limits and gotchas#

• The result is decided by the game server: the player's client sends every

  press with its time, and the server replays them. A doctored attempt, or one that claims more time than has passed, is a failure.

• Players can turn on Timing assist in Settings → Accessibility: the minigame

  plays as if their skill were 30 higher, and an assisted run can be at best a Success — never Perfect. Press to hold lets them tap instead of holding.

• One minigame at a time per player. A Start Minigame while one is open takes

  its Failed branch.

• A map change cancels it.
• The player has the time limit plus a few seconds to answer; after that it ends

  as out of time.

• Start Minigame decides real results on the game server. In a client-only event

  it is a practice run (see above).

• Everything here is behind the Minigames flag (on by default). Off, Start

  Minigame takes its Failed branch and no window opens.

• The AI Copilot can list, read, edit and delete minigames; an edit goes through

  the same check as Save. It can also simulate one — success and perfect rates by skill for a slow, average or fast player — to tune difficulty before saving.

• In the event editor's preview, Dry Run pauses at Start Minigame and asks

  how it went: pick Perfect, Success, Failed, Ran out of time or Cancelled and a score. The branch runs, and a later Last Minigame branch sees that result.

• A changed minigame reaches a running game server when you publish, like any

  other content.