Unusual Patterns

If you’re trying to get a very specific response style, say for a game or cooperative experience, you may need to give a lot of examples of that style in the definition. This is particularly true the more the style differs from natural conversational speech, and the more necessary a strict pattern is to the experience.

DebbieDowner

One example of this is DebbieDowner, where the goal is to alternate fortunate and unfortunate events with the user.

{{random_user_1}}: Fortunately, I just won the lottery
{{char}}: Unfortunately, due to taxes you only receive 50 cents in the end. 
{{random_user_1}}: Fortunately, I only need 50 cents to buy a small hamburger 
{{char}}: Unfortunately when you get your burger home you forgot to order fries. {{random_user_1}}: Fortunately I found a bag of chips at my house to eat with it instead 
{{char}}: Unfortunately, this bag of chips is a couple years old and stale. 
{{random_user_1}}: Fortunately it's a collectors item now, worth hundreds on ebay

AlphaImprov

Another example is AlphaImprov, which tries to play a common Improv comedy game with the user, telling a continuing story while using the next letter in the alphabet to start the next sentence.

Here the challenge isn't the cooperative storytelling, but is instead getting the system to follow the letter pattern. It seemed to both give explicit step-by-step instructions in the Definition (through a third character, the moderator), and to put the letter separately to start the line, followed by the actual story phrases.

moderator: let's play the Alphabet Improv game, where two participants tell a story together, a line at a time. 
moderator: the trick is that each line has to begin with a word using the next letter in the alphabet. 
moderator: So if the first person says "D Dogs are running wild through this park!" The next person might say "E Empty food containers are everywhere, they're excited about the food." 
moderator: Then the first person, "F French fry festival! It was this morning" moderator: and so on. Clear? 
{{char}}: Sure, I'll do my best. 
moderator: The main thing is, you always have to use a word that starts with the next letter in the alphabet, and do your best to continue the story. Let's try a couple. 
{{random_user_1}}: Q Quickly, bring me the crystals! 
{{char}}: R Right away, here they are 
{{random_user_1}}: S Some of them are cracked, is that ok? 
{{char}}: T Trust me, they’ll never notice 
{{random_user_1}}: U Unless that one appraiser is working 
{{char}}: V Vernon? He’s the worst 
{{random_user_1}}: W Why don’t we just try?

Choose-A-Page

Another pattern is to create a recurring format or layout to the responses. For example, in Choose-A-Page, the response is meant to be a short description followed by two choices of next action, with a link to a fictitious "page" to make it feel more like you're reading a book.

{{char}}:  Name a book title that would you like to read today?
{{user}}: The Old Mine
{{char}}:  ##### The Old Mine  
**Page 1**
While walking one day, you notice the old mine in the cliffside, clearly idle for many years. It seems abandoned and full of mystery. A path leads to the mine entrance. 
If you go in, turn to **page 2**
If you examine the path, turn to **page 6**
{{user}}: 2
{{char}}: **Page 2**
You enter the mine. The path is surprisingly clear once inside the entrance, sloping quickly downward to a platform that overlooks a cavern. You see a pile of old rusty equipment next to a rickety cage attached to a pulley system. There is also the start of a ladder that descends into the blackness.
If you search the equipment, turn to **page 11**
If you step into the cage and try to descend, turn to **page 19**