Sidhe Shed is Live

Sidhe Shed is now live!

I wrote Sidhe Shed over the July 4th weekend in Michigan, when I was visiting my dad and stepmother. They live in a converted summer home on a lake, and have a converted shed that serves as a guest house for when family comes to visit. There are two sets of bunk beds (mainly for grandchildren), a TV, and a/c unit. All the beds use air mattresses, and that's where this game comes in.

My first night in "The Little House," I got in pretty late and due to the time difference between Las Vegas and Michigan, plus the fact the sun doesn't set until about 9:30 PM in late June, it was pretty late before I got myself into bed. 

I am in my 40s and have a bad back, so I was a little trepidatious about sleeping on the air mattress-- air mattresses can be iffy for comfort. But I adventurously lied down., put on my CPAP mask, electrocuted myself a little turning out the antique lamp, and tried to sleep.

Just as I was relaxing into full slumber, I felt something hop onto the bed with me. I miss my cat, and immediately thought "Aww, visiting kitty!"

My parents do not have a cat.

This took a minute for my brain to process and then, of course, I wondered what just jumped into the bed with me?

Cue me freaking out, turning on the lights, checking everywhere and everything.

 Nothing. No critters, not even flying bugs.

I went back to bed.

It happened again. One time it was just subtle, like something dropping onto the bed. Another time it felt exactly like when my cat used to bat at me. These shifts in the bed were accompanied by noise-- I wasn't just having one of those weird physical sensation hallucinations you get when you're falling asleep and start twitching.

After about 2 hours, I gave up, packed my CPAP, and went inside. The couch would be better. My parents also have a spare bed inside the house, so I left them a note that said "I'm sleeping in the guest bed. Shed is haunted. I'll explain in the morning." And went to bed.

What does this have to do with Sidhe Shed?

In the morning, we all had a laugh. I brought my laptop and work with me, so I went out to the little shed for the day to work. As I worked, periodically the mattress would still shift-- I even saw it move at least once. I decided that, even after my sister arrived, I was going to stay in the guest bed indoors.

After my sister came into town, we were joking about the guest house, and I said "maybe I should write a game about a haunted guest house." Joked some more. Called it a she-shed. Realized that was a perfect name for it. As often happens, once I have both an idea and a good title, it's all over and time to make the thing.

So I made the thing. It's really short-- shorter than this post about creating it, in fact. Just a handful of prompts that you go through based on some coin flips.

I also converted it into a browser-playable game using Twine. This is my first actual Twine project, and I'm proud of it!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy Sidhe Shed. Please leave a comment when you're done, or post your story if you like!