# Act

## Definition

> **An Act is a collection of** [**Agents**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent) **and** [**Rests**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/rest) **with a connecting theme.**

* **Players progress through Acts over the course of the game,** choosing a fixed number of [Agents](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent) from an Act before moving on to the next to continue choosing.
  * The available [Rest](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/rest) periods can also change between Acts.
* A *Lost & Found* game typically has **three Acts**, with players choosing **two** [**Agents**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent) from a possible **four** in each Act.

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### Intention

**Acts are one of the most potent ways to control the shape of stories told with a *****Lost & Found***** game.** By thematically grouping content, you can have players engage with different themes in a fixed order.

They also give some control over how long a game will take to complete.
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### Example

[***Artefact***](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/artefact) **has three Acts**:

* **Newly Forged**, which is broadly optimistic and humble.
* **A Time of Glory**, which is more bombastic and momentous.
* **The Ruination**, which is about decline.

Each Act has **four Keepers** ([*Agents*](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent)) and **six time periods for Rest**. Players choose **two Keepers** from each of the first two Acts, and then continue choosing Keepers from the third Act until they have Rested for a total of 10 minutes or more. They can also end their story in the third Act whenever they feel it's appropriate.
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### Advice

**The themes and ordering of Acts will provide the default shape of stories told with your game**:

* [*Artefact*](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/artefact) tends to produce 'bell shaped' stories—humble beginnings followed by celebrated events, ending with decline. 
* [*Bucket of Bolts*](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/bucket-of-bolts) is more of a downhill slope, starting bright & hopeful and growing grittier and more oppressive as the story progresses. This is intended to emulate the media it's inspired by, like *Star Wars*.

When deciding which [Agents](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent) to place in each Act, **you** **don't need to have all of them fit the theme exactly**. You might offer a counterpick, an outlier that a player might choose to derail the story in an interesting way.

**The selection of time periods to include for** [**Rest**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/rest) **is also important**. Short time periods suggest that the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) is passing fairly rapidly between [Agents](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent), and thus in frequent use. Inversely, longer time periods suggest that the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) is more often being lost or forgotten. Longer time periods can also involve the [Tables](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/tables), which can mean more [Change](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/change) for the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) and the world around it.
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