Family Zoo Tutorial

Family Zoo builds a small zoo adventure in 17 steps. Each step adds one concept — by the end you'll have a complete game with rooms, objects, NPCs, puzzles, timed events, and scoring.

The Game

Seven rooms: Zoo Entrance, Main Path, Petting Zoo, Aviary, Gift Shop, Supply Room, Nocturnal Exhibit

Key objects: zoo brochure, zoo map, animal feed, souvenir penny press, flashlight, disposable camera, backpack, lunchbox

NPCs: a patrolling zookeeper ("Sam"), a squawking parrot, pettable goats and rabbits

The goal: Earn 100 points by visiting exhibits, feeding animals, pressing a souvenir penny, taking photos, and staying after hours.

The Steps

#	Topic	What You'll Learn
1	A Single Room	Story interface, entities, traits, placing things
2	Multiple Rooms	Room connections, exits, compass directions
3	Scenery	SceneryTrait, non-portable objects, aliases
4	Portable Objects	Items, inventory, taking and dropping
5	Containers	ContainerTrait, SupporterTrait, capacity
6	Openable	OpenableTrait, closed containers, hidden contents
7	Locked Doors	LockableTrait, DoorTrait, keys, exit via
8	Light & Dark	Dark rooms, LightSourceTrait, SwitchableTrait
9	Readable	ReadableTrait, read vs examine
10	Switchable	SwitchableTrait standalone, device patterns
11	NPCs	NpcTrait, behaviors, patrol, custom behaviors
12	Event Handlers	Reacting to actions, chain events, item transformation
13	Custom Actions	Four-phase actions, grammar extension, language
14	Capability Dispatch	Per-entity behaviors, custom traits, dispatch
15	Timed Events	Daemons, fuses, SchedulerPlugin
16	Scoring & Endgame	Score ledger, victory conditions, event chains
17	Putting It All Together	Multi-file organization, entity helpers, language layer

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
TypeScript knowledge
Familiarity with Sharpee basics (the Cloak of Darkness tutorial)

Use the numbered tabs on the left to step through the tutorial, or start with Step 1.

Resources

Source code on GitHub
Cloak of Darkness Tutorial — the beginner tutorial