r/interactivefiction

Unbelievably, this is my first time visiting the reddit gamebooks thread. To be honest, I haven't visited reddit much at all - ever!

Anyway, my name is Jonathan Green and I have written gamebooks for Fighting Fantasy, Games Workshop, Arkham Horror, Warcradle Studios, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

My latest gamebook project - 100 Aker Wood - has just gone live on Kickstarter, if you would like to check it out. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jonathangreen/100-aker-wood-an-ace-gamebook-by-jonathan-green

I have an idea I’m trying to test with interactive fiction players.

Would you be interested in a multiplayer interactive fiction game?

The basic idea is: you read scenes, choose what your character does, and the story responds. It is not a normal video game with 3D movement or real-time combat. It is closer to interactive fiction or an online choose-your-own-adventure story.

For example, your character arrives at a small town called Twinkle Town and goes to talk to a strange little goblin named Mududu. If nobody else is there, your scene might read:“You approach Mududu near the market stall. He grins, opens his coat, and offers to sell you something suspicious.” But if another player is already talking to Mududu, your scene might change:“You approach Mududu, but another traveler is already speaking with him. Mududu glances between you both, suddenly nervous, as if your arrival has changed the conversation.”So your story is still something you read and play through at your own pace, but the world is not completely private. Other players can affect NPCs, locations, rumors, events, and sometimes even the scene you walk into.

Would you personally try something like this? And if not, what would make it more interesting to you: stronger writing, more meaningful choices, puzzles, character progression, world simulation, or less multiplayer interference?

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https://preview.redd.it/cjmqbyechi0h1.png?width=1086&format=png&auto=webp&s=9750dd99c337ad88a47f1b2a54be10d24cf80012

Hey guys,

I wanted to share a project my brother and I have been working on called Retro Adventure Forge. We both grew up on old school games and really missed that specific vibe of pixel art and branching paths where choices actually mattered.

The goal was to create a tool where you can make these stories without needing to know how to code. I felt like the barrier to entry for making games was getting too high, so I wanted something that felt more like a creative workshop for writers.

It is in public beta right now and is completely free. In the future I might add features that let authors sell their stories, but for now I just want to see how the engine handles different ideas.

I could really use some help with a few things:

First, I need playtesters. There are two demo stories on the front page that you can play without even making an account. I would love to know what you think of the mechanics and the overall feel.

Second, I am looking for feedback on the site itself. I tried to make the privacy policy as strong and clear as possible, so if anyone has thoughts on that or the general layout, I am all ears.

This has been a big passion project for us and I am excited to finally get it out there.

Check it out here:https://retroadventureforge.com/

So I've been working on a project and I keep running into this question. The structure I'm thinking about doesn't quite fit the usual IF categories and I'm wondering if this community has a term for it or knows of examples.

The idea: one main narrative thread, linear, top to bottom. But from any node you can branch sideways. The branches don't change where the main story goes, they're more like optional depth. Another character's version of that exact moment. A hidden memory. Extra context for readers who want to look. The main story always keeps moving forward, the branches are explorations off the spine.

The closest analogy I have is a crossword. The main word reads down. Intersecting words read across. Every cell has exactly one place. Its not a tree, theres no forking path where you end up somewhere different. Its one story, with optional layers.

This feels different to me from classic CYOA or Twine-style branching where choices affect outcome. Here the reader doesn't change the story, they just choose how deep to go into each moment. Feels closer to something like annotations? But written as actual scenes, not notes.

I keep thinking about a mystery novel where the main thread follows the detective, and sideways at every scene you have the killer's private thoughts. Same moment, both heads. You can read straight through and get the full story, or you can stop and go sideways whenever you want.

The other things I'm thinking about for this format: co-authorship where different writers own different branches inside the same work. Paywalled branches, so the core story is accessible but deeper layers are optional paid content. And post-publication expansions, new branches added after the main work is already out, like DLC basically.

I'm a software developer building something around this idea and honestly not sure if its a new format or just a weird implementation of something that already has a name. Does this exist somewhere in the IF world and I just missed it?

What would you call this structure? And have you seen it done anywhere?

Quick design question for narrative players:

Do you connect faster to a character through one small early behavioral choice,

or through a major turning-point choice later?

I’m asking because we’re shaping an opening beat and want to avoid cosmetic choices.

What worked for you in games you remember?

been working on a horror IF project for a few months now and keep running into the same, wall: it's really easy to lean on atmosphere and shock moments instead of building actual tension through player choice. like, a scary room description isn't scary if the player has no real agency in what happens next. the games that actually got under my skin were the ones where I made a, choice I wasn't sure about, not ones that just dumped dread on me through narration. and honestly with stuff like The Killing Spell dropping recently and the Gothic horror subgenre having such a moment right now, I feel like, the bar for doing dark themes with actual craft has never been more visible, which makes the gap between good and lazy execution really obvious. also noticed that when mechanics break (weird navigation, actions the parser ignores, choices that feel arbitrary) immersion collapses instantly and it's almost impossible to get back. consequences need to be built slowly through the choices you give players, not front-loaded through shock set pieces that don't connect to anything. the other thing I keep seeing in WIPs and finished games is dark themes that don't really go anywhere. like, the content is heavy but the story doesn't seem to have thought through what it's actually saying with that content. not that dark stuff needs a moral lesson or anything, but there's a difference between darkness that serves the narrative and darkness that's just. there. if you're submitting to something like the Interactive Fiction Showcase this year it's probably worth asking yourself that question hard before you lock anything in. curious if anyone here has found good ways to stress-test whether your horror mechanics are actually, creating fear vs just creating frustration, or whether your themes are landing the way you intended.