Oracle Stone
Build a fortune-telling toy: ask a yes-or-no question, and the stone answers. The new trick is selection — a random number turned into a choice — and the rest is pure ceremony.
Oracle Stone is not a game — it is a toy. Ask a yes-or-no question, watch the stone think, read the answer. The answer is random, but the ceremony of asking makes it feel deliberate.
You arrive knowing INPUT, RND, and IF/THEN from
Meet BASIC and Lucky Number. The one new idea here
is selection — chaining IF/THEN on a random number to pick one answer from a set. The
toy works in the first unit; everything after is ceremony, turning a coin flip into a
ritual.
What you will build:
- The selection pattern — a random roll, then a chain of
IFs that turns it into a choice - Suspense —
PAUSEand a descending tone, so the Oracle takes its time - A framed answer screen, and a verdict in a colour of its own
- A subroutine (
GO SUB) that centres the title — written once, called twice - Block graphics with
CHR$ 143, for a chamber that looks built, not typed - The design concept: Chance — the program decides, and the ceremony sells it
6 units. About 4–6 hours. This builds on Meet BASIC — start there if you haven't.
Unit roadmap
The toy
Ask, and the stone answers — the selection pattern
The ceremony
Suspense, a reveal, and a word to the player
The chamber
A framed verdict, a voice of its own, and block graphics