Text Adventures, Choose your own adventures, Non-linear storymaking
Resources
Games and game-adjacencies
Adventures with Anxiety
By Nicky Case. A web-based game-like story about anxiety. Play it here.
Tags: game, web, CYOA-adjacent
Link to notes: Thijs
The Infocom Files
A collection of Infocom's classic text adventures (like ZORK and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Any of these games can easily be found online, and the source code for most can be found here.
Tags: game, text-adventure
Queers in Love at the End of the World
By Anna Anthropy. A web-based CYOA game in which every playthrough lasts 10 seconds. Play it here.
Tags: game, web, CYOA, Twine
Link to notes: Thijs
You Are Jeff Bezos
By Kris Lorischild. A web-based text-based CYOA game which is short and sweet. Play it here.
Far far far from exhaustive list of highlighted games
- Classic text-adventures include Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork, The Hobbit, Bureaucracy. Many were made by infocom. See archival project here and game source code compilation here.
- Heaven's Vault: told through decyphering a writing system, non-linear not just in story but also in presentation (e.g. UI changing based on aqcuired info and decisions made). Made by Inkle Studios, developers of the narrative scripting language ink and the popular CYOA games 80 Days and the Sorcery series.
- Signs of the Sojourner: subtly branching narrative presenting a smooth way to rethink how to present choice by using deck-building mechanics as dialogue system,
Podcasts
Choose Your Own Bookclub
A podcast in which two librarians discuss a CYOA book they've read. Find it here or on your podcast feed of choice.
Tags: CYOA
Printed Publications
In the Dream House Carmen Maria Machado
Tags: choose your own adventure, genre-bending, appropriation of a genre
Link to Notes: Thijs
Here Richard McGuire
Tags: non-linear, comic, time travel
Link to notes: Thijs
Deep Simulator AG and aaajiao
Tags: choose your own adventure, visual
Link to notes: Thijs