StoryLines

I just finished revising a book chapter I wrote on new forms of narratives, which includes several applications that are neither games nor digital storytelling software in the traditional sense. So I decided to write about one of those applications in this  post (StoryLines) and a few others (e.g. Dear Esther, StoryWheel, and some browser games) in the next posts.

In StoryLines, the player chooses an expression or a saying and draws it on a mobile device. This work of art is passed on to another player, (by passing the device or through the internet), who is charged to title the drawing. The next user creates another drawing based on the previous person’s title, and so on.

There are two versions of the app:  the regular StoryLines and StoryLines for Schools. The difference, according to the web site, is that “StoryLines for Schools has no channels for outside contributions: no Facebook, no All-Play.  All StoryLines are Pass-n-Play.

There is also a browser version of StoryLines, but not of StoryLines for Schools, but drawing on a computer is obviously a bit trickier. It’s free, so the best thing is to try it out and see.