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"Choose Your Own Adventure" Tanks

Addison

Auror
I haven't read one of those books in years. I recently found them while I was at the library. So I took five, followed the rules to find an adventure. I looked and flunked. I'm taking this as a bad sign.

All five stories, no matter what I chose and how many times I read, all ended within five to seven choices. The most 'adventurous' thing that happened to me was finding a dead guy, and that was at the beginning (apparently unavoidable). But it would always end with me being safe. If all those choices lead to a flat line I don't think my present life is going to get any more exciting.

Anyone else read these books? Please tell me your adventures. Real or fake.
 

Addison

Auror
That was cool, better even.

....Weird and possibly plausible thought, has anyone tried or considered doing a full story like this? In second person and all?
 

ndmellen

Minstrel
Reaver- I'll check that out shortly; my interest is piqued.

Addison- God, I loved those things as a kid, but always ended up disappointed with the outcomes. As I would imagine most did, I always ended up "cheating."

If you think about it, ( as I just now did), CYOA books are an awesome tool to teach kids that reading is fun. Puts the "power" in their hands, so to speak.
 

Addison

Auror
I'm gonna buy some for my brother and sister. It fits, at their age they hate reading but they like making their own choices.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Decades ago, whilst learning BASIC, I made a text based 'choose your path' adventure game. Only had about ten choices total...but the program was several hundred lines long.
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
I loved CYOA books as a kid.

I think there's still a market for this type of storytelling, but not so much in book form. There's a whole sub-genre of video games that are story-based, many of them predominately text-based, and they're quite popular among certain groups. They're actually much *more* popular in Japan, with some of the most successful getting adapted into anime and manga (and vice versa).

I write for a "life sim" type of game called Academagia, released by Black Chicken Studios, and it works like this. There are various types of adventure you can go on, with branching paths based on the decisions you make. They're fun and supremely challenging to write.
 
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