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The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

newyorker.com

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Re: The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

#4

Post by paulluuk »

yucky wrote: post #3

I used to love these books as a kid. I suspect they're not as popular now with all of the non-linear video game options that kids have. But in their time, these were a complete game changer in storytelling.

I've actually been "playing"/"reading" a lot of them from https://www.choiceofgames.com/. They also offer a scripting language called "ChoiceScript" that allow anyone to make their own games. I'm sure it's not super popular, but they have their niche audience.

Re: The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

#5

Post by baud147258 »

yucky wrote: post #3

I used to love these books as a kid. I suspect they're not as popular now with all of the non-linear video game options that kids have. But in their time, these were a complete game changer in storytelling.

you can find them nowadays as video games, some with just text, some with higher production values. And I've also taken part in forum-based CYOAs, where one poster writes the adventure and the other posters vote on which option to choose, which can be quite fun and can be more reactive, as sometime the players will think of solutions the author didn't think of.

Re: The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

#8

Post by bombcar »

yucky wrote: post #3

I used to love these books as a kid. I suspect they're not as popular now with all of the non-linear video game options that kids have. But in their time, these were a complete game changer in storytelling.

Sadly the adventure books often have much more detail and different outcomes than many supposed “non-linear” games.

They also has the ability to “quick save” and go back to a decision point and try again. Some would even let you loop.

Re: The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

#9

Post by suoduandao2 »

paulluuk wrote: post #4
yucky wrote: post #3

I used to love these books as a kid. I suspect they're not as popular now with all of the non-linear video game options that kids have. But in their time, these were a complete game changer in storytelling.

I've actually been "playing"/"reading" a lot of them from https://www.choiceofgames.com/ . They also offer a scripting language called "ChoiceScript" that allow anyone to make their own games. I'm sure it's not super popular, but they have their niche audience.

Thanks! I've had the idea of writing a scientific theory in this format, and having a hard time with how I'd do it. maybe choicescript would be helpful in that regard!

Re: The enduring allure of Choose Your Own Adventure books

#10

Post by abecedarius »

yucky wrote: post #3

I used to love these books as a kid. I suspect they're not as popular now with all of the non-linear video game options that kids have. But in their time, these were a complete game changer in storytelling.

I semi-recently read one of the original series (about UFOs) and a much newer one by a different author (still an official choose-your-own-adventure, "#39: Curse of the Pirate Mist"). The first was much better. Suggests another reason for the decline.
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