Branching scenarios are powerful tools for creating interactive role-plays, decision trees, and immersive simulations. By letting learners make choices that directly impact the outcome, you can build engaging environments to practice soft skills, compliance procedures, and critical thinking.
Try it yourself in the interactive lesson below.
Creating an Experience Tile
All branching scenarios live inside an Experience tile. You can add one to your lesson just like any other content tile.
Open your lesson and add a new tile.
Select the Experience tile from the menu.
To use AI to build your scenario, fill in the Character, Learner, and Instructions fields, then click Generate.
To build from scratch, leave the fields blank and click directly into the tile to open the Flow Editor.
Navigating the Flow Editor
The Flow Editor is a visual canvas where you map out the different paths of your scenario. When you open the editor, you will see a bottom toolbar with several controls to help you navigate:
Selection Mode (Cursor icon): Allows you to click, select, and move individual nodes around the canvas.
Pan Mode (Mouse/Trackpad icons): Lets you click and drag to move your view around the canvas without accidentally moving your content.
Zoom Controls: Use the magnifying glass icon to open a slider, or use the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out.
Cleanup (Brush icon): Automatically reorganizes your nodes into a clean, easy-to-read layout. This is incredibly helpful when your web of choices gets messy.
Adding and Connecting Nodes
Nodes represent the individual steps, scenes, or actions in your scenario.
Adding New Nodes
Click the Node button with the plus icon in the bottom toolbar.
Select the type of node you want to add from the menu.
The new node will appear on your canvas. Click and drag it to your preferred location.
Click on the node to open its settings menu and edit the text, characters, and options.
Connecting Nodes
You connect nodes to determine where the learner goes next after reading text or making a choice.
Locate the circular handle on the right side of a node or a specific choice option.
Click and drag a line from that handle to the left side of your target node.
To delete a connection, click the connection line to select it, then press the Delete or Backspace key on your keyboard.
Setting Endings and Outcomes
Not every path needs to lead to another node. When editing a node's options, you can use the Next menu to route the learner to specific outcomes:
Complete: Ends the scenario. You can grade the learner's path by selecting Correct, Partial, or Incorrect.
Restart: Sends the learner back to the very beginning of the scenario.
Try Again: Prompts the learner to try the current question over again.
External Link: Opens a specified web URL in a new tab.
Understanding Node Types
Mindsmith offers several distinct node types to help you craft the perfect learning experience.
Dialogue Node
The standard conversation node. It displays a character, a background scene, the character's dialogue, and up to three choices for the learner. You can toggle Randomize Options in the settings so choices appear in a different order each time.
Text Node
A simple narrative node. It displays text, an optional character, and a background scene, along with a single "Continue" button to move the story forward.
Choice Node
A highly visual node that features a large, square image on the left and text with choices on the right. The background of the screen dynamically blurs the image. This is excellent for major forks in the storyline or title screens.
Explore Node
An interactive image node. You can upload an image and draw clickable areas on it. These areas can be visible buttons, invisible hotspots, or tooltips. Learners must click the correct areas to proceed.
Modal Node
A popup box that overlays the current screen. Modals are perfect for providing immediate feedback on a choice or displaying a "Did you know?" hint without forcing the learner to load a completely new scene.
Video Node
Embeds a video clip directly into the flow. The scenario will automatically proceed to the next node once the video finishes playing. Note: Generating AI transcripts and captions for videos requires a Business+ plan.
Customizing Characters and Scenes
Visuals bring your scenario to life. You can easily adjust who is speaking and where they are.
Changing the Background Scene
Click on a Dialogue or Text node to open its settings.
Under Background, click the dropdown menu.
Choose from a library of preset scenes (like an office, hospital, or warehouse) or click Upload Image to add your own custom background.
Customizing Characters and Reactions
In the node settings, look for the Character section.
Click the character avatar to choose from the preset cast or upload your own character image.
Use the emotion dropdown to change their expression (happy, angry, thinking, etc.).
Pro Tip: You can set specific character reactions directly on Dialogue options! Click the plus icon next to "Reaction" on a choice card to make the character look surprised or disappointed immediately after the learner clicks that specific choice.
Related Articles:
Conversation Tile — AI-driven voice simulations for practicing real-time communication
Interactive Tiles — flashcards, sorting, tabs, and other engagement tools
AI Prompting Tips — how to get the best scenarios from AI generation