gamebook
Sign in to saveAlso known as branching path book, branching-path book, plot-your-own story, choose-your-own story, choose your own adventure, choose-your-own-adventure, choose your own path, choose-your-own-path
A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not follow paragraphs in a linear or ordered fashion. Gamebooks are sometimes called choose your own adventure books or CYOA (after the influential Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by US company Bantam Books) or pick-a-paths. Gamebooks influenced hypertext fiction.
~24 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Description
- History
- Origins
- Breakthroughs and popularization
- The US (late 1970s–)
- The UK (early 1980s–)
- Outside English-speaking countries (mid 1980s–)
- Eastern Europe (late 1980s–)
- Decline and resurgence (1990s onward)
- Types
- Mainstream fiction
- Education
- Erotica
- Role-playing solitaire adventures
- Adventures
- Online adaptations
- See also
- References
- External links
A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not follow paragraphs in a linear or ordered fashion. Gamebooks are sometimes called choose your own adventure books or CYOA (after the influential Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by US company Bantam Books) or pick-a-paths. Gamebooks influenced hypertext fiction.
Production of new gamebooks in the West decreased dramatically during the 1990s as choice-based stories have moved away from print-based media, although the format may be experiencing a resurgence on mobile and ebook platforms. Such digital gamebooks are considered interactive fiction or visual novels.