Would you like not just to read your stories, but PLAY them, making the choices for the protagonist at each moment? 

How would that even work?!

If you're curious, the exciting world of TEXT ADVENTURES will likely appeal to you.

This page introduces three main programs which offer different routes into exploring this world and creating your own stories. Each offers huge possibilities for your creativity!

Above, you can see INFORM, TWINE and BITSY, each of which lets you play and create your own stories. 

but

In I & D Week, we will concentrate on INFORM, but will give information on Twine and Bitsy to kickstart your summer projects.

INFORM is a program which lets you create worlds in which players can move and interact using simple commands such as:

> GET LAMP

> GIVE WAND TO WIZARD

The story / game will then respond and tell you what happens as a result. This is great for creating little puzzles where players have to find and use objects in the right way to make progress. 

These games became famous in the 1980s through the brand Infocom who produced famous adventures such as Zork, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and others,

See the Inform page (left hand sidebar) for more guidance on playing and creating these games. 

TWINE is a simpler way to create these effects by offering the player choices - at least at first! This is known as CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure).  A CYOA style adventure moves quickly but that does need some control on the part of the author!

CYOA adventures became famous in the 1980s through the Fighting Fantasy brand of books which mixed dice-rolling with choices. The company has just relaunched a new series!          

See the CYOA page for more guidance on playing and creating these games.

BITSY is a retro graphics maker for small adventures. As well as designing the spaces for your avatar to move around, it lets you add objects and branches to make the story more interactive.

See the Bitsy page for more guidance on playing and creating these games.