About

Zarf is the home of story games in which you write back and forth, in real time, with someone in trouble. Each game puts one character in front of you, and their fate depends on your replies.

What Zarf is

Picture a messaging screen. Someone is writing to you: out at sea, in the polar night or on the road, alone. One reaches you by radio, another over a satellite link, another by carrier pigeon. You’re the person on shore, at the station or at the inn. You decide what to tell them, and they act on your word.

The character writes in real time. When they’re walking, sleeping or busy with something, they really do go quiet, and they let you know when they’re back. That’s why a game spreads over a day and two nights: when you open your phone, the story is waiting for you.

How your choices count

Every game has three layers:

• Remembered choices: having a door opened, keeping something hidden. The story doesn’t forget these, and it brings them back later.
• Hidden leanings: how much the character trusts you, how hopeful they are. These build up through small replies.
• Turning points: a handful of big decisions in each game. They decide the ending, and the game doesn’t tell you which ones count.

At the end, cards reveal what became of the side stories, so the same ending can close in different ways. If you reach an early ending, you can rewind to the last decision point and try another way.

How the stories are written

Each story is written in Turkish first and then adapted into natural English rather than translated word for word. Before release, every game is played automatically thousands of times so that no path leads to a dead end and every ending can be reached.

Why it’s called Zarf

Zarf is Turkish for envelope. Every story here reaches you as a message, and an envelope is what a message comes in. When the site first opened, it was called Telsiz, Turkish for radio, after its first game, Storm Channel, a radio story. As the stories grew in number and form (satellite links, carrier pigeons, letters), the site was renamed Zarf on 5 November 2026 to bring them all under one roof. The old address, telsiz.bumba.tr, has closed. Progress saved in your browser is tied to the address, so progress from the old site doesn’t carry over.

Who makes it

Zarf is the home of Bumba Games, the games arm of Bumba Group. Bumba Games makes games that open in your browser and play on your phone too.

Contact

For questions, suggestions and bug reports: bilgi@bumbagroup.com

Last updated: 5 November 2026