gamebooks
Branching narrative volumes
Gamebooks are interactive fiction where readers make choices that determine the story's path, typically by turning to numbered sections based on their decisions.
The format flourished in the 1980s with series like Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy.
Some incorporate dice rolls and character stats, blurring the line between book and tabletop game: I spent hours with those old gamebooks as a kid.
Splitting into separate directions
- decisionSettled course of action
- consequenceResult of an action
- pathwayDesignated route for travel
- outcomeFinal result of events
option · crossroads · dilemma · alternative · fork · ending · selection · nonlinear
Seeking journey for something
- heroOne admired for courage
- dungeonSubterranean prison chamber
- treasureValued wealth or keepsake
- dragonLegendary fire-breathing reptile
sword · monster · wizard · warrior · maze · combat · inventory · stamina
Marked cubes for chance
- statsNumerical information, abbreviated
- provisionsStockpiled food and supplies
- codewordDisguised spoken signal
- bookmarkLocation saver for pages
replay · death · restart · pencil · eraser · randomizer · rules · difficulty
Account of events
- protagonistStory's central figure
- plotStoryline or land parcel
- settingContext of events
- narratorOne who tells events
perspective · second-person · passage · chapter · illustration · paperback · series · author
branching
Splitting into separate directions
- decisionSettled course of action
- consequenceResult of an action
- pathwayDesignated route for travel
outcome · option · crossroads · dilemma · alternative · fork · ending · selection · nonlinear · choose-your-own-adventure
quest
Seeking journey for something
dragon · sword · monster · wizard · warrior · maze · combat · inventory · stamina · skill
dice
Marked cubes for chance
- statsNumerical information, abbreviated
- provisionsStockpiled food and supplies
- codewordDisguised spoken signal
bookmark · replay · death · restart · pencil · eraser · randomizer · rules · difficulty
story
Account of events
- protagonistStory's central figure
- plotStoryline or land parcel
- settingContext of events
narrator · perspective · second-person · passage · chapter · illustration · paperback · series · author
- interactive bookschoose your own adventure, text adventures
- game writingdialogue, strategy guides, walkthroughs, lore, backstory
- gamebooksbranching paths, multiple endings, choices, alternate endings, narrative choices
- story gamesinteractive fiction, visual novels, text adventures, choose your own adventure, narrative choices
gamebooksliterary fiction
Prose emphasizing craft and depth
page-turners · traditional literature · classic novels · audiobooks