Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books from the ’80s? Technology now allows for adventures with books far beyond what many of us ever imagined possible. From interactive books for kids to grownup mystery game apps to new ways of channeling classic authors, developers are looking at print in a whole new light.

Of course, games and apps for kids were some of the first to experiment in the interactive story space. Sesame Street’s line of interactive stories star the famous muppets and feature challenges as kids answer questions and unlock new content. Alice for the Ipad was also an early adopter of interactivity. The app makes Lewis Carroll’s beloved children’s book come alive, letting readers throw tarts at the Queen of Hearts.

Increasingly, stories are starting to feel more like games than novels as developers play around with new ways to help readers delve deeper into stories. CNN.com reported this week that British studio Inkle is taking the Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days and putting readers in the passenger seat next to Phineas Fogg. Don’t think you can use this to cheat on any tests though – the tale has been revamped to allow for user choice and new paths, rewritten in a steampunk style by Meg Jayanth (@betterthemask). The developers describe the project as a “story-narrative adventure” in this intro video.

Original stories are also making their way into the interactive space. Device 6, which came out last year, is an interactive ghost/mystery story that leads players through a haunted house with clues based on numbers, memory, and sound. The iPad-only game incorporates some of the tablet’s coolest features, asking users to turn the device or listen to codes to unlock clues along the way.

The Inkle writer puts the creativity back in users’ hands, allowing writers to build interactive experiences as they go with questions and choices that show up within the app as they write them. It’s a tool teachers will have a field day with assigning as a creative writing exercise.

By Laura Hertzfeld

Comments

comments