Theme : Sweaty
An Interactive Fiction Event,
#cyow5 #cyow2026
Online Presentation Salon Date: July 18 2026, 1PM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
Location: grunt gallery – 350 E 2nd Avenue, Unit 116
Featuring: K. Alix Antilla, Louise Chow, Christopher Alan Slater, Jon Dawes, Lisa Smedman, and Kay Slater
Curator: Kay Slater
Join us for an evening of interactive fiction, experimental games, and narrative art created by members of The Papercut Arcade.
After a three-year hiatus, our collective returns with a new salon showcasing a collection of “Choose Your Own Way” (CYOW) projects developed throughout the spring. Visitors are invited to read, play, explore, and discuss a range of interactive works responding to this year’s theme: Sweaty.
The Papercut Arcade is a community of artists, writers, designers, and storytellers interested in interactive narrative. Our members work across digital and physical formats, creating experiences that invite audiences to make choices, uncover stories, and participate in the act of storytelling itself.
This event is free and open to the public. Whether you’re a longtime fan of interactive fiction, curious about Twine and gamebooks, or simply interested in unusual forms of art and storytelling, we welcome you to spend some time with us.
Masks are welcome (but not enforced). Work may include a range of themes, subjects, and levels of interactivity; content information will be provided where appropriate.
Interested in joining the collective? Members will be present throughout the event and are happy to talk about our activities, future projects, and how to get involved.
This is our fifth interactive narrative event. For a feel for our previous events, check out our CYOW archived events.
Notes:
The Papercut Arcade defines *artist as a person who practices any of the various creative arts, such as a sculptor, photographer, painter, novelist, poet, or filmmaker. The keyword is practice; therefore, if you make art or produce work with the intent of participating in a The Papercut Arcade challenge or exhibition, you ARE an artist. When you submit work to be a part of our salons, our curators will review to ensure it fits the theme and matches our goals for an inclusive community.
CYOA = > CYOW: We had previously called these events CYOA in honour of our childhood love of Choose Your Own Adventure Gamebooks. They shaped who we are now as people. However; one of the original authors has since formed a new company and formalized a trademark with which they are going after indie game designers and publishers. Rather than deal with any of that (but still keeping in the spirit of the choose your own narrative adventure games), we’ve renamed our narrative events starting in 2020 to CYOW or Choose Your Own Way.
Looking for examples from previous events? Check out: