Steps are the moment-to-moment content inside a Milestone: the thing a player is actually looking at. A Milestone can chain as many as you like, in order, and each one can carry its own reward on top of whatever the Milestone pays out.
There are 28 Step types, and the builder's Step Type menu groups them into six groups by what they ask of the player. That grouping is the useful way to think about pacing, so it's how this page is organised.
What Every Step Has
Whatever type you pick, each Step shares the same frame:
- Label — admin reference only. Players never see it; you'll be grateful for it at Step 14.
- Required? — "Yes — must complete to advance" or "No — optional step". A required step has to be done before the Milestone counts as complete. On Collect and Profile steps an optional one also lets the player press Next without answering; steps that check an answer, Open Text and the Flow choices always wait for a response.
- Background — a background image for the scene.
- Step Rewards — XP, BLOO, EP, an Item Reward and/or an Achievement Reward, granted on completion.
- Mistake Message and Maximum attempts — on the six types that can be answered wrongly: Multiple Choice, Keyphrase, Cryptex, Puzzle, Require Backpack Item and SCORM Package. See Attempt Limits below.
Every Milestone Ends on a Win or a Fail
You never have to author an ending. The last step's Continue button takes the player to a win screen, and Finish there completes the Milestone. A player who runs out of attempts lands on a fail screen, and its button clears their answers for that Milestone so they start it again from the top; rewards they've already earned stay theirs. The two screens use the Milestone's Success Message and Failure Message, or standard wording if those are blank. The Win Screen and Fail Screen step types (under Special) replace them when you want something custom.
Attempt Limits
Maximum attempts sits with the Mistake Message. Leave it at 0 for unlimited tries. Any other number, and running out fails the whole Milestone: the player is sent to its fail screen and starts over. The limit is enforced by the server, so once it's spent even a correct answer is refused.
For now, set it only on Keyphrase and Require Backpack Item. Those two show the player an "attempts left" counter and hand them to the fail screen when they run out.
Deliver — Auto-Complete on View
Content the player receives. Nothing to get right; they read, watch, or listen and continue.
- Dialogue — a character speaks. Set the Character Position (no one, just describing the scene; on the left; or on the right) and Who is speaking: a speaker from the adventure's cast, or Custom with a Character Name and Character Image (best at 9:16). Naming a speaker means the name and portrait follow the cast; see Speakers & the Dialogue Cast. The workhorse of narrative pacing.
- Video — plays a video file you upload. Watch time is tracked per player, and Manage Content grows a Videos tab once the adventure has a video step. See Case Study & Video Reporting.
- Audio — plays an audio file in a player widget. Good for language work, podcast-style briefings, or anything voice-led.
- Find Item — the player is handed the item you choose, which lands in their Backpack when they press Grab the item and continue. A reward beat with no test attached, and the natural setup for a later Require Backpack Item step.
Validate — The Player Must Answer Correctly
The Next button stays locked until they get it right. Each of these can carry a Mistake Message for wrong attempts.
- Multiple Choice — a question, an optional question image, and your options. Tick the box beside each correct answer, and choose whether players may select more than one. The fastest comprehension check there is.
- Keyphrase — the player types a word or phrase. You supply a comma-separated list of accepted answers (any match passes) and decide whether case matters. Excellent for in-person events: put the phrase on a slide, a poster, or a physical prop.
- Cryptex — the same accepted-answers idea rendered as a rotating combination lock, with a wheel count you set (up to 20). Same mechanic as a Keyphrase, completely different feel. Reach for it when the answer should feel like cracking something open.
- Puzzle — a jigsaw built from an image you upload, cut into a grid you choose (2–8 columns by 2–8 rows). The player drags pieces into place and clicks to rotate them. Low information density, high engagement: a change of pace, not a knowledge check.
- Require Backpack Item — a Prompt, the Required Item, and whether to consume it on use. The player sees their own backpack as a scrolling rack and presses Use on whatever sits under the sight. Nothing on the page says which item you want, so it's a real puzzle rather than a confirmation, and a wrong pick is a miss. An empty backpack gets a pointer to the Item Shop, if the adventure has one. This is what turns the Item Shop and Find Item steps into a real progression mechanic rather than decoration.
- SCORM Package — upload a SCORM 1.2 .zip (SCORM 1.2 only) and it runs inside the Step, tracking completion and resuming where the player left off. Use it to fold in content you already built in another authoring tool instead of rebuilding it. The same panel can replace the package or reset every player's progress on it. See SCORM Packages.
- Case Study (HTML) — embeds a self-contained interactive HTML activity by its Launch URL. You set the Total Questions and the Pass Score; the activity reports its own result back and the Step completes when the player clears the bar. Every attempt is kept, pass or fail, with per-question detail you can read on Manage Content's Case Studies tab. This is the escape hatch for bespoke, custom-built exercises.
Collect — The Player Submits, With No Right or Wrong
You're gathering something, not grading it. Use these for reflection, feedback, evidence, and opinion.
- Open Text — free writing to the prompt in the step's Content, with an optional minimum word count. Tick Check the player's answer with A.I. before they continue and the answer is checked before the player moves on, giving them instant feedback to revise against. Two settings shape the check:
- A.I. Strictness — Lenient (only reject blank or unrelated answers), Standard (a genuine, on-topic attempt passes) or Strict (every part of the prompt must be engaged with).
- A.I. Reviewer Context — private: players never see it, and the A.I. is told never to quote it back. Say what a good answer to this question must include. It's optional; without it the A.I. judges whether the answer is a genuine attempt at the prompt.
- Survey Choice — a question with options and no correct answer. Choose whether players can pick more than one. With multiple answers on, Most answers a player can pick caps how many they tick (0 means no limit): the player sees "Choose up to 3" and the remaining boxes lock at the limit.
- Rating Scale — a numeric scale with a minimum and maximum you set, plus a label for each end ("Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree"). The tool for pulse checks and confidence self-ratings.
- Poll — a question whose results render as live percentage bars the moment the player votes. Use it when seeing what everyone else said is the point.
- Upload Image — the player submits a photo or screenshot, with a maximum file size you set. Use it for anything you need to see to assess.
- Upload Video — the same, for video. Pitches, demonstrations, language practice, physical technique.
Profile — Weighted Toward a Trait
This group appears in the Step Type menu once the adventure has a published profile (built under Manage Content, Profiles). All three ask which Profile the step belongs to, so one Milestone can carry questions for more than one, mixed in with story steps. Players never see the weights. See Profile Tests.
- Weighted Options — a question whose options each carry a weight per trait, in a table with one column per trait (leave a cell at 0 for a trait an answer says nothing about). You choose whether the player can pick more than one; every picked option adds its own weights.
- Agree / Disagree Scale — a statement the player rates, which scores toward one trait. Set the lowest and highest value (1 and 7 by default) and a label for each end. Write the statement so agreeing means more of the trait: the score is added as given.
- Profile Result — shows the player their sheet for that profile: the dominant trait, the chart, and what every trait means. It never shows their answers back to them. Place it wherever the reading belongs, including a later Milestone; it reads everything the player has answered for that profile anywhere in the adventure.
Flow — Routing & Branching
- Branch Choice — the player picks one of the paths in a branch group, and that choice is permanent and mutually exclusive: taking one closes the others. This is how you build "choose your track" moments. Branch groups themselves are set up on the achievement's Settings tab, then referenced here. See Branching & Prerequisites.
- Jump to Step — buttons you draw, each with a Label, an optional image, and a Jump to destination among this Milestone's other steps. The player sees them as "Choose one option", and picking one takes them straight there. Add the other steps first so there's somewhere to jump to. A button whose destination you later delete simply goes to the next step.
- Encounter Choice — listed as "Encounter Choice (costs money + energy)". A situation in the step's Content, then priced options. Each option has a label and description, what it Costs and Pays in BLOO, its Energy cost, an XP change (which can be negative, and can cost a level), plus Then grant (an achievement, which is how a follow-up Milestone gets unlocked) and Then say (a Consequence message). BLOO can go below zero, which is the setback. Energy can't, so an option the player can't afford the energy for is disabled: always leave one option that costs 0 energy, or a player with an empty tank is stuck. See Random Encounters.
Special
- System Message — narrator text in the system voice, with no character attached. For instructions, transitions, and anything that isn't a person speaking. It never shows a character, even though the editor offers the character settings here too; use Dialogue for a person.
- Win Screen — a custom success ending, showing this step's Content. It replaces the standard win screen wherever it sits in the list.
- Fail Screen — a custom fail ending, shown when a player runs out of attempts. It replaces the standard fail screen; its button clears the player's answers and starts the Milestone over.
- Choose Nickname — prompts the player for a nickname and saves it to their account. Nicknames are letters, numbers, dots, hyphens and underscores, and must not already be taken. Almost always in the first Milestone of an Adventure.
- Choose Avatar — you define the avatars: Add avatar for each one and choose its image. The player picks one of them. Same placement logic as Choose Nickname.
Pacing: The Only Rule That Matters
Alternate the groups. Deliver something, then ask for something. A run of Deliver steps reads like a slide deck; a run of Validate steps reads like an exam. The Milestones players remember alternate every two or three Steps.
Per-Step Rewards
Any Step can hand out its own XP, BLOO, EP, item, or achievement, independent of the Milestone's overall reward. Use small per-Step rewards to keep a long Milestone feeling alive along the way, and save the bigger payout for completion.
Related
- Step Type Quick Reference — all 28 on one screen
- How to Build a Milestone, Step by Step
- Profile Tests
- Random Encounters