Keep your first project small: one conversation, one remembered choice, two endings. This sample follows clearly adult collaborators preparing a studio. Their decision changes how the story ends, giving you a manageable way to learn dialogue, branching and state. You need no downloaded artwork or voices, so there are fewer things to untangle if something breaks.
Download the script from the templates page. It follows the official language reference, but has not been tested in the Ren'Py engine. Record the engine version you use, then work through the lint and playthrough checks below before treating the sample as a working build.
Create a clean project
Download Ren'Py from the official site, open its launcher and create a new project in a writable location. Keep the generated interface files. Choose a readable resolution and theme, then launch the untouched project. That first run gives you a working baseline before you change anything.
Back up the generated script.rpy before replacing it with the supplied sample. Keep only one start label in the project. Ren'Py combines script files in the game directory, so leaving the template start label alongside the sample's start label creates a conflict.
Read the structure before changing it
The sample defines a character, initializes a choice flag with default, and begins at label start. A menu offers two responses: propose a shared plan or keep separate plans. Each response sets the flag and jumps to a shared discussion. A final condition uses the flag to select one of two ending labels.
Follow the indentation exactly: it defines the script's blocks. Keep labels and definitions at the expected level, and indent the statements belonging to each menu option. Make one small change at a time and launch after each change, so you can trace a problem to the edit that caused it.
Make the choice legible
Let the wording and situation tell the player what they are choosing. Here, the collaborators decide whether to pursue a shared plan. The ending reflects that response, making the consequence easy to recognise. A choice feels purposeful when the story remembers it and the player can see how it mattered.
This scene needs only a named boolean to remember one specific decision. A numerical relationship value would add bookkeeping without a useful rule to apply. Introduce counters when you know how several decisions should combine, and write that rule before adding more branches.
Add presentation after the route works
Start with text and the default background. Once both endings work, add an original background and a character sprite with a small set of expressions. Use consistent names and record each asset's source and rights. Keeping that record as you go is easier than reconstructing it when you are ready to release.
Check each image in the actual display area. A detailed full-resolution render can still leave a character unreadable when cropped. Keep the text box, menus and focus indicators visible, and give sound and animation controls an accessible place in the interface.
Exercise saves and rollback deliberately
Save before the menu, after the menu and at the ending. Reload each save and confirm that the stored choice and dialogue match what you expect at that point. After finishing one route, start a new game and check that it begins with the intended initial state.
Roll back through the choice using the project's normal controls and record what happens when you revisit it. If you later add irreversible external effects, such as account changes or remote transactions, design how they interact with rollback before attaching them to a narrative choice.
Package and check the result
Run Check Script (Lint) from the launcher and investigate its findings. Lint can catch script problems; judging the writing and route coherence still requires a playthrough. Complete both endings from a fresh start, then ask a second tester to repeat them. Use the route test matrix to record what actually happened.
Build a distribution for your selected target and run the packaged build outside the project directory. Check saves, settings and missing-file behavior there. Archive the script, engine version and test notes. Expand the story with one tested scene before tackling a full interface rewrite.
Key decisions
- Keep one start label and follow the script's indentation.
- Test both endings before adding artwork.
- Check new-game state, saves and rollback separately.
- Run the packaged build after lint and project playthroughs.
Guide files
Ren'Py sample script ↓Route test matrix ↓External model communities and publishing sites may contain explicit material. Source links open in a new tab; this guide does not load their previews.
Sources & further reading +
Last checked 5 October 2026.