Canadian developer StoryFix Media has released their gripping sci-fi text adventure game The Pulse. A modern CYOA-style narrative, The Pulse adds new layers of interactivity to the medium made popular by the books and games of the 80s by allowing players to further shape the storyline by gaining or losing a protagonist’s trust, rewarding exploration, and using their ability to make morally challenging decisions at a moment’s notice. As you uncover uncomfortable truths, your allegiances will be tested and friends may become foes.

In a dark town, not on any map, a woman awakes in a strange motel. With no memory of who she is, or why she’s there, she will rely on your judgment and quick-thinking to navigate untold dangers, learn the secret of her identity, and the truth behind a mysterious pulse that may just to be the cause of it all.

Or is it that simple? Along the way, trust will be tested and your ability to tell truths from lies could turn the whole story on its head.

Written by Christopher Webster (author of the novels The Blue Moon and New Horizons) and developed by Gareth Higgins and Arthur Lee, The Pulse is about more than just binary choices, with the specific way you interact with characters through the story influencing the evolution of their feelings and actions towards you in some profound ways.

The Pulse also features an original score by Auto/Reflex, along with a Synthwave playlist that includes iconic electronic artists Makeup and Vanity Set, Ogre, Starforce, Crockett, Killstarr, and NewRetroWave recording artists Airglow, Starlight and others.

The Pulse is designed to reward players for their relationship building as much as their problem solving. As you play, the game tracks the following variables in order to provide a rich and diverse experience for every player:

Health – Don’t get hurt too many times or you may not make it to the end.

– Don’t get hurt too many times or you may not make it to the end. Trust – Making dangerous, careless or rash decisions could mean a strike against your trust score.

– Making dangerous, careless or rash decisions could mean a strike against your trust score. Timed Responses – Some decisions will need to be made quickly. Failure to respond in time results in a strike against your overall Trust score.

– Some decisions will need to be made quickly. Failure to respond in time results in a strike against your overall Trust score. Items – How much you explore is up to you, but you may find objects that will help you on your journey. Some of these objects may become instrumental.

– How much you explore is up to you, but you may find objects that will help you on your journey. Some of these objects may become instrumental. Connectivity – How your relationships develop will have consequences. Truths and lies may reveal themselves differently depending on what kind of relationship you have with characters in the story. Who you trust and what side you end up on is up to you.

The Pulse is available for Android from the Google Play Store. Visit the StoryFix Media website for further details.