How do I test my Variables?

When you set up a new Variable label, that label will exist throughout all of your Episodes. It's just like when you created a Character name. You can use that name and/or that variable label throughout your Channel, in any Episode.

However, if you're TESTING multiple episodes, the Tool's Simulator doesn't carry over the Variable's "data" from one episode to the next. Each Episode is it's own isolated "test bed."

E.g.: Say, in your Episode 1, you gave the player the choice of a hammer or a saw, and they picked "saw," so you set your Variable: {tool} = saw. Now, you want to use that {tool} variable in Episode 3. When you TEST your episode 3 using the Simulator, the Simulator won't know what was set in another Episode. In this case, what was set in Episode 1: the saw.

One way to get around this is to set up a temporary Variable node at the start of your Episode 3 to set: {tool} = saw, and then test your Episode 3 story. Just remember to go back and remove that temporary test node after you're done testing.

In your ACTUAL live story, the variable's "data" will carry over just fine, from Episode to Episode.