What Do You Think of Interactive Novel?

[Monaka]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

 

[SailusGebel]

It's okay. No. Yes. Cause no one wants\needs interactive novels?

 

[Anon2024]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

There are several "game stories" out. The Walking Dead series had a few games where it's pretty much a story with simple tasks, there is Life is Strange and also point and click adventures that I feel are kind of like interactive novels. Was there something you were thinking of that was more specific?

'Choose your own adventure' is a kind of interactive novel written in the 70's 80's and early 90's.

 

[BlackKnightX]

It’s self-explanatory, really. It’s both a game and a book. I mean it can be both.

Ever played a game call Choices: Stories You Play? I would considered that game to be an interactive-story. You have many different stories to play, and in each story, you’ve got choices you can make to influence the course of the story.

On the other hand, there’s this so-called “Choose Your Own Adventure Series,”, where, just like its name implies, you can choose which path you want to take to arrive at the different conclusion. This one is also an interactive story, a combination of books and games, books you can play.

Reading books make you feel like you’re living another life, which is why it’s so fun to read. But it’s not as fun as when you really have a total control of where you want things to go. Sometime the protagonist do something you don’t like, but in the interactive-story, you can choose what the protagonist would do. It’s freedom. It’s fun.

 

[Ai-chan]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

Why is it so rare? Have you tried making it? It's extremely hard! You can write 500,000 words but because it's interactive, your readers will only read like 80k words. You've just wasted a lot of effort thinking you're giving readers additional value, but all they do is choose the most efficient route anyway.

It need not be stressed enough that the best gamebook is the Lone Wolf series. It's free now. https://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home

 

[Agentt]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

Oh, they are great. They are so rare because it is hard to write one

 

[LABmaiL]

There's a lot of stuff like it on spacebattles and sufficient velocity, so I wouldn't call it rare. It's just hard to find if you're looking at more author-driven websites like this one.

 

[Jemini]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

These kinds of interactive stories were a mostly failed experiment at story writing with multiple potential outcomes and routes. Along with the high degree of challenge this kind of writing adds to the story telling, it also REALLY did not work in book format.

These days, the format has died but the idea is still around. It mostly shows up in highly story-driven games, such as Japanese visual novels, and American tripple-A games (Jeeze! I mean, that's a freaking HUGE world of difference between the kinds of works that contain this kind of story telling by the culture making them.) This usually consists of multiple routes that you can take the story down in these games.

(The most famous of these interactive games would probably be Undertale on the indie scene, but there are also some pretty famous tripple-A titles out there as well in the last 10 years or so. I'm not really into the modern gaming scene, so I am having trouble naming one, but I do remember this one 3 part game that's famous for how badly it ended in terms of how all the varied choices you made ultimately came down to whether the giant space laser was shooting a red, green, or blue beam during the final scene. I've never played it, but people were raving about it a lot during the first 2 parts, and then raging because of how part 3 ended, and that's what I remember.)

 

[Nirokuro]

Is it a game? Is it a book? Why is it so rare?

it is rare because most of web writers write novels as a hobby or to have fun unlike normal writers who might do it to the extent it is not fun, so that make us write what we only want to write, something from the author imagination, so we less accept the concept of writing what others want, as for I don't dislike it, but I know you will always find that silly guy that take stupid actions, and because today people including me love to jock, so the story might take a bad turn of events, (like the appearance of the rock as the main villain in a prehistoric fantasy novel in a scene where he mandibulate people by his glowing head under the sun)

 

[Viator]

Usually CYOA stories tend to be sub-par in the writing department. Each plot point is geared towards a branching choice rather than focusing on being a cohesive journey where one is really impacted by the thoughts and actions of the characters. Really, the main character becomes the reader; nothing more than the vehicle for the choices made. They don't take on a reality of their own and have less impact as a consequence, because you're the driver. They fall into the "and then this happened" story trap, where everything becomes fairly superficial and without depth; focused entirely on events that mean little to the reader at the end of the tale.

They can be a fun novelty. But lack a fundamental impact to give lasting impressions.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Because writing one takes a lot more time and effort than a regular novel.

 

[MajorKerina]

Twine is interesting but grueling to add all the possibilities I want.

 

[Zero300]

Cuz they difficult. I've written two CYOA escape stories so far and it's really hard keeping track of which page links to which choice. If you're interested, here's a link.