Interactive and Game Stories

Interactive and game stories

Interactive features let a story remember reader choices, change available branches, and place controls directly inside chapter text.

Start with Reader and Game Variables to understand the two kinds of saved values and the six available variable types. Then use Chapter Conditions and Game-State Changes to control which choices are available and what happens when a reader enters a chapter.

The related topics explain how to:

• show different text with {if ...};
• display reader and game values, inputs, stats, and meters;
• choose random values, offer dice rolls, reveal text, or add state-changing actions.

Authors should test interactive stories from a fresh game as well as an existing save. Also test going back through earlier chapters, because saved state can affect both chapter text and the choices that follow it.