# Tutorial 1 — A Branching Story

Source: https://docs.skaz.io/tutorials/branching-story

> Tutorial: build a choose-your-own-adventure in Skaz with blocks, choices and two endings, then publish it.

You'll build a tiny "choose your own adventure": the reader stands at a
crossroads, picks a direction, and reaches one of two endings. By the end
you'll understand blocks, choices, branching, and endings — the backbone of
every Skaz story.

**What you'll use:** [Text blocks](/guide/blocks#text),
[choices](/guide/choices), and a [starting block](/guide/editor-basics#node-inspector).

### Create the story

From the Studio home, click **New story**, give it a title like *The
Crossroads*, pick a category (Adventure works), and create it. You'll land in
the editor with one empty block on the canvas.

### Write the opening scene

Click the block to select it. In the **Node** tab on the right, set its
**text** to:

> You come to a fork in an old forest road. The left path is dark and
> overgrown. The right path is bright but you hear voices ahead.

This is your opening. Make sure it's the starting block: with it selected,
click **Set as start** in the Node tab. (The first block usually already is.)

### Add the two destinations

From the left toolbar, add **two more Text blocks**. Give them these texts:

- **Left ending:** *You push through the brush and find a quiet clearing with
  a sleeping dragon. You tiptoe away, richer for the story. The End.*
- **Right ending:** *You follow the voices to a bandit camp. They're friendly,
  as it turns out, and share their fire. The End.*

Drag them somewhere tidy — position is just visual.

### Connect the choices

Select your opening block and open the **Branching** section in the Node tab.

- Click **+ Add choice**. Label it `Take the left path` and connect it to the
  left ending block.
- Click **+ Add choice** again. Label it `Take the right path` and connect it
  to the right ending block.

Each choice becomes a button the reader sees, and each points at a different
block — that's a branch.

> A choice's **label** is exactly the button text the reader reads, so phrase it
> in-world: "Take the left path", not "Option A".

### Leave the endings as endings

Your two ending blocks have **no choices** of their own. In Skaz, a block with
no outgoing choices *is* an ending — the reader will see a "The End" screen
there. So there's nothing more to add.

### Preview it

Click the **eye icon** (Preview story) in the left toolbar. Play from the
start, pick a path, and confirm you reach the right ending. Hit **Restart**
and try the other path too.

### Publish and share

Fill in a description and cover in the **Story** tab, then click the status
badge (top-left) → **Publish story**. Copy the link and send it to a friend.

## What you learned

- A story is **blocks** connected by **choices**.
- Multiple choices on one block create a **branch** — different readers reach
  different blocks.
- A block with **no choices** is an ending.
- Exactly one block is the **starting block**.

## Next

In [Tutorial 2](/tutorials/personalized-adventure) you'll ask the reader for
their name and use it in the story — your first [variable](/guide/variables).