choose Your Own Adventure: Discuss

Lazaras · 02-11-2012, 01:13 AM

Those old books that had you flip to page Whatever to see what happened next (usually Yet Another Embarrassing Death by my memory.) I remember a few tried to be stat based mini-rpgs.

Considered giving the idea a try since Epub makes pageturns a non-issue and the fact there's no physical book/pages means i don't have to rely on the trick of an apparent large number of options that all seem to funnel into three or four paths.

Pretty sure the stat-based ones are straight out but that's OK.

Anyway. Anyone else have any memories (or want to try seeing if they can add a feather to their cap by making a modern one?)

caleb72 · 02-11-2012, 04:26 AM

There's a couple of authors who actually do this already.

Here's one: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=160248
And another: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98062

Just in case you wanted to get in contact with others who have done this before.

Ravensknight · 02-11-2012, 07:51 AM

I know in the amazon store you can get some of the Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston pretty cheap.

A great combo of CYOA and RPG.

CWatkinsNash · 02-11-2012, 12:39 PM

I have two CYOAs I got from Amazon. One is from Konrath - "Banana Hammock - A Harry McGlade Mystery (A "Write Your Own Damn Story" Adventure)". I can't recall the other, but both are geared toward adults.

I remember CYOAs when I was a kid, and I recall being rather irritated by how often different choices would basically take me to the same place with little variation. Some of them would have a blurb on the back with something like "a hundred possible storylines!" which was essentially a lie. As the OP stated, "an apparent large number of options that all seem to funnel into three or four paths."

Wow, am I retaining a bitterness I did not see until now? Could be why I haven't cracked open either of the Kindle CYOAs.

I still like the idea of CYOAs, but it would take a pretty complicated execution to impress me, apparently.

ucfgrad93 · 02-11-2012, 12:53 PM

Loved them as a kid. Would spend hours trying to figure out how to "win."

RandyACook · 06-07-2012, 03:11 AM

There are several CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) books out there now. On Amazon you can just search for CYOA in the Kindle store and you will get a list of about 20. Its not so simple at Barnes and Noble (don't get me wrong, there are some available, you just have to look harder to find them). Searching for CYOA does not seem to pull up much. You have to search under "Role-Playing Games - General & Miscellaneous" and even then you get a lot of non-cyoa stuff. But I guess searching is part of the adventure!

elemenoP · 06-07-2012, 09:03 AM

Ever since I learned Hypercard (who remembers Hypercard???) I have thought about digital versions of Choose Your Own Adventure. What I would really like to see is the flow chart. I can remember skipping to the back of the book, and seeing different endings that I never got to, and wondering HOW you got there. I am convinced that some of those endings were just stuck in the back of the book, with no way to get there!

eP

vsalvaggio · 06-08-2012, 12:36 PM

Check out Project Aon for the Lone Wolf Books. Books are available online with the author's permission.
http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books

You can also buy an "official" Kindle version of the first 2 books (Project Aon provides links).

I loved this series as a kid and STILL have the dead tree versions (and still look for the ones I don't have).

murraypaul · 06-08-2012, 12:50 PM

There are quite a few of these available as iOS apps.

RainingLemur · 06-08-2012, 02:20 PM

I still like going through some of these. I have a couple on my phone that I have read through and got my 5-year-old into playing WITH me (I read them aloud, and he makes the decisions).

I remember when I'd get the actual books when I was younger and I'd keep several bookmarks to go back a step when I made the stupid decision that ended my story.

Fluribus · 06-14-2012, 08:10 AM

I never got into these type of books. I picked up one or two in a freebie bin and skimmed through. They seemed sort of haphazard. If I were going to read one, I would want the different twists to make sense and be carefully plotted out. Rather than "If you want to pick up the stick go to 121. (At 121) The stick was actually a black mamba. The deadly snake bit you and you died."

Of course, digital versions would enable the choices to be more completely randomized.

The newest sensation! Random Readers. Never the same story twice. All letters randomly placed.

BWinmill · 06-14-2012, 02:31 PM

These remind me a bit of the old interactive fantasy games. All reading and typing, plus a fair bit of fun. The old stuff was kinda terse, like the old choose your own adventure books, but the new games have much better writing.

GreenMonkey · 06-14-2012, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsalvaggio

Check out Project Aon for the Lone Wolf Books. Books are available online with the author's permission.
http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books

You can also buy an "official" Kindle version of the first 2 books (Project Aon provides links).

I loved this series as a kid and STILL have the dead tree versions (and still look for the ones I don't have).

Now that's pretty awesome, thanks. Liked these books as a kid. I see they have them available in .mobi. I'll have to see if they convert to epub OK via calibre. I can always try the html version on my tablet, also.

vxf · 06-14-2012, 05:31 PM

I have the fighting fantasy ones on my kindle - they did a great job, with the auto-map feature and limited saves (mirroring the camps in the books). Worldweaver - the company that is making the conversion - is really doing a great job. They only have 4 or 5 out, I am waiting for the new ones. They also have LoneWolf, but it does not work on the KT and I don't have an older kindle.

I also gave some of the choose-your-own-adventure books to my GF's son (7 years old) for his kindle. I hope he will like them as much as I did. They resemble the paper versions, including the naive illustration. Love it!

I have also tried some of the ios apps., but was not impressed. Some try to add sound, some force you to shake your ipad to roll dice, etc... I'll try to find time for a more in-depth review.

Project AON is great. I have played their version on a browser, their interface is very smooth. I also have the PDF versions on my iPad... with iAnnotate, I can just scribble into it. But fights are not smooth - not compared to the Worldweaver versions, which include simulated dice.

carpetmojo · 06-14-2012, 06:00 PM

Started doing these with my then 6 year old - one day he asked me if I liked doing them, 'cos he didn't much, he would prefer just to read a book - or just play.

I was relieved, as I found them just as boring and "manufactured" as he did.....

02-11-2012, 01:13 AM	#1
Lazaras Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 574784 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Tenneessee Device: Nook Simple Touch Glowlight	choose Your Own Adventure: Discuss Those old books that had you flip to page Whatever to see what happened next (usually Yet Another Embarrassing Death by my memory.) I remember a few tried to be stat based mini-rpgs. Considered giving the idea a try since Epub makes pageturns a non-issue and the fact there's no physical book/pages means i don't have to rely on the trick of an apparent large number of options that all seem to funnel into three or four paths. Pretty sure the stat-based ones are straight out but that's OK. Anyway. Anyone else have any memories (or want to try seeing if they can add a feather to their cap by making a modern one?)

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02-11-2012, 04:26 AM	#2
caleb72 Indie Advocate Posts: 2,863 Karma: 18794463 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	There's a couple of authors who actually do this already. Here's one: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=160248 And another: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98062 Just in case you wanted to get in contact with others who have done this before.

02-11-2012, 07:51 AM	#3
Ravensknight Serpent Rider Posts: 1,123 Karma: 10219804 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony 350; Nook STR; Oasis	I know in the amazon store you can get some of the Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston pretty cheap. A great combo of CYOA and RPG.

02-11-2012, 12:39 PM	#4
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	I have two CYOAs I got from Amazon. One is from Konrath - "Banana Hammock - A Harry McGlade Mystery (A "Write Your Own Damn Story" Adventure)". I can't recall the other, but both are geared toward adults. I remember CYOAs when I was a kid, and I recall being rather irritated by how often different choices would basically take me to the same place with little variation. Some of them would have a blurb on the back with something like "a hundred possible storylines!" which was essentially a lie. As the OP stated, "an apparent large number of options that all seem to funnel into three or four paths." Wow, am I retaining a bitterness I did not see until now? Could be why I haven't cracked open either of the Kindle CYOAs. I still like the idea of CYOAs, but it would take a pretty complicated execution to impress me, apparently.

02-11-2012, 12:53 PM	#5
ucfgrad93 Wizard Posts: 2,370 Karma: 9026681 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Colorado Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2nd Gen	Loved them as a kid. Would spend hours trying to figure out how to "win."

06-07-2012, 03:11 AM	#6
RandyACook Avid Reader and Author Posts: 18 Karma: 20001 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Lost in the middle of the US Device: nook tablet (and a nook 1st edition), Kindle Fire, Kobo Vox, iPad	There are several CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) books out there now. On Amazon you can just search for CYOA in the Kindle store and you will get a list of about 20. Its not so simple at Barnes and Noble (don't get me wrong, there are some available, you just have to look harder to find them). Searching for CYOA does not seem to pull up much. You have to search under "Role-Playing Games - General & Miscellaneous" and even then you get a lot of non-cyoa stuff. But I guess searching is part of the adventure!

06-07-2012, 09:03 AM	#7
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Ever since I learned Hypercard (who remembers Hypercard???) I have thought about digital versions of Choose Your Own Adventure. What I would really like to see is the flow chart. I can remember skipping to the back of the book, and seeing different endings that I never got to, and wondering HOW you got there. I am convinced that some of those endings were just stuck in the back of the book, with no way to get there! eP

06-08-2012, 12:36 PM	#8
vsalvaggio Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 3187996 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Texas Device: iPhone, Kindle	Check out Project Aon for the Lone Wolf Books. Books are available online with the author's permission. http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books You can also buy an "official" Kindle version of the first 2 books (Project Aon provides links). I loved this series as a kid and STILL have the dead tree versions (and still look for the ones I don't have).

06-08-2012, 12:50 PM	#9
murraypaul Interested Bystander Posts: 3,726 Karma: 19728152 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Note 4, Kobo One	There are quite a few of these available as iOS apps.

06-08-2012, 02:20 PM	#10
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	I still like going through some of these. I have a couple on my phone that I have read through and got my 5-year-old into playing WITH me (I read them aloud, and he makes the decisions). I remember when I'd get the actual books when I was younger and I'd keep several bookmarks to go back a step when I made the stupid decision that ended my story.

06-14-2012, 08:10 AM	#11
Fluribus Guru Posts: 891 Karma: 8893661 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle	I never got into these type of books. I picked up one or two in a freebie bin and skimmed through. They seemed sort of haphazard. If I were going to read one, I would want the different twists to make sense and be carefully plotted out. Rather than "If you want to pick up the stick go to 121. (At 121) The stick was actually a black mamba. The deadly snake bit you and you died." Of course, digital versions would enable the choices to be more completely randomized. The newest sensation! Random Readers. Never the same story twice. All letters randomly placed.

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06-14-2012, 02:31 PM	#12
BWinmill Nameless Being	These remind me a bit of the old interactive fantasy games. All reading and typing, plus a fair bit of fun. The old stuff was kinda terse, like the old choose your own adventure books, but the new games have much better writing.

06-14-2012, 05:31 PM	#14
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	I have the fighting fantasy ones on my kindle - they did a great job, with the auto-map feature and limited saves (mirroring the camps in the books). Worldweaver - the company that is making the conversion - is really doing a great job. They only have 4 or 5 out, I am waiting for the new ones. They also have LoneWolf, but it does not work on the KT and I don't have an older kindle. I also gave some of the choose-your-own-adventure books to my GF's son (7 years old) for his kindle. I hope he will like them as much as I did. They resemble the paper versions, including the naive illustration. Love it! I have also tried some of the ios apps., but was not impressed. Some try to add sound, some force you to shake your ipad to roll dice, etc... I'll try to find time for a more in-depth review. Project AON is great. I have played their version on a browser, their interface is very smooth. I also have the PDF versions on my iPad... with iAnnotate, I can just scribble into it. But fights are not smooth - not compared to the Worldweaver versions, which include simulated dice.

06-14-2012, 06:00 PM	#15
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Started doing these with my then 6 year old - one day he asked me if I liked doing them, 'cos he didn't much, he would prefer just to read a book - or just play. I was relieved, as I found them just as boring and "manufactured" as he did.....