Playing a chapter

A chapter is a short story you move through with your keys. Here’s what to expect, from the first line to the card at the end. The keys are all in keyboard controls.

Dialogue

Most of a chapter is dialogue: a picture of the character above and a dialogue box below, where lines type themselves out.

Narrator lines move on with Space. So do scene changes and instructions.
A character’s lines move on with that character’s key. The line names the speaker: Alice’s take A, Zorro’s Z, and Quasimodo’s Q. Space does nothing on a character’s line, even the last one.
While a line is still typing, the same key finishes it. Press again to move on.
A wrong key does nothing. Press the right one whenever you’re ready.
The first time Alice needs a key press, a small card may name the finger to use. Dismiss it and it stays dismissed.

Learning a new key

Each chapter teaches one finger’s keys. Before a character first speaks, the narrator shows you the finger with a picture of the home row: which finger, where it rests, and whether the key is on the home row, one row down, or one row up. Then the character arrives, and their first lines are your first presses. There’s no drill; the presses that keep the story going are the practice.

The letter, the character, the finger, and the key become one memory. Remembering that Zorro is one row below Alice is the skill, and speed follows on its own (why every key has a friend).

Choices

Some slides stop and ask you something. Choices show as buttons in the text or as large rows across the screen, each led by a character’s colour and letter. Press the letter shown, or click.

Choices change how the story is told, not what you learn. Every path reaches the same chapter end and teaches the same keys, so pick whatever feels right.

Mini-games

Between scenes the story asks you to act: dodge a rock, retell a scene, find a friend in two columns of keys, or decode a passage. The friend’s name on screen always tells you which key to press. None of them is timed, and a wrong key just waits (mini-games).

Cheers and hints

A correct press in a practice beat or a mini-game may flash a short cheer, such as Nice! or Got it! It never turns into points.

Not sure what to press? Open the menu at the top right and choose Help for this slide for a list of what you can press right now. If you pause for about a minute and a half, a small hint appears on its own; any key or click clears it.

The menu button at the top right holds Help for this slide, Enter fullscreen (when your browser supports it), Home, the chapter list, Appearance, Share feedback, and links to the rest of the site. Escape closes it.

Leaving and coming back

Home in the menu, or Escape with nothing open, takes you back to the home page. Your place is saved on every slide, so the home page offers Continue the Story next time.

The address bar spells out where you are, too. Bookmark it to return to the same slide, and the browser’s Back button steps back through the slides you’ve passed (chapters and progress).

At the end of a chapter

Two short screens close each chapter. Neither one blocks you.

A quick feedback form. Every question is optional, so answer what you like and skip the rest. Nothing is sent until you tick the consent box; after that your answers save as you type, and there’s no submit button. Sharing a computer? Someone else? Start a new response gives the next person a blank form. Continue moves on.

The chapter card names what opens next and lists its keys:

Chapter unlocked means the next chapter is ready. Continue to the next chapter opens it straight away.
Coming soon means the next chapter is still being written. Your place is saved, and the chapter appears in the menu when it’s released.
If the card asks you to Create account or sign in, that’s how the next chapters open. Your progress comes with you, and you can always replay the first chapter without an account (your account).

Below the card you can share Keyfolk with a friend (only the site address is shared, never your progress), find Keyfolk on Discord and social media, or leave your email to hear when the next chapter arrives.