Can Interactive Fiction Evolve Into Serious Literature

So I have been thinking about the possibility of using IF for something different than the standard IF. The main question I have been working on is this: Can I turn this medium into something that would be more literary as an alternative to standard book publishing. The real question for me has been can IF be tweaked in such a way to create the story I want to create.

Now before I go into my thoughts let me just give you a disclaimer. I’m not trying to put down the standard use of IF as it has developed. If anything I say sounds like that please understand that as a game IF is enjoyable and has it’s own raison d’etre. If the reason you play IF is primarily for the game aspects do continue to enjoy it! If you wish to absent yourself from this discussion I won’t mind. That being said I still expect a certain amount of blow back on what I’m about to write. But please, if you are thinking I’m attacking the medium I am not. I am writing this for, perhaps, the few, maybe not, that might be experimentally curious about whether this medium, or games in toto, can be made into something artistic. If an experience different than what is achieved through gaming can be had. That’s it. Having said that the following might be seen as a fairly radical reexamination of what IF is.

My first thought is this IF really isn’t IF. More properly it should be called IFG. That is the literary qualities definitely seem to take a backseat to the gaming aspects. So if I want to write something there are expectations of what should and shouldn’t be part of IF. If I really wanted to make interactive fiction though I would have to by necessity look at some of the tropes that have evolved, pull them out, and ask questions about them. Just to be clear, this has nothing to do with IFG. None of what I’m about to say has anything to do with why most people are here - to play and invent games that give the player a degree of autonomy. But it’s funny, I wandered into this, obviously, from the realm of the writer first and foremost, with the notion that Interactive Fiction could be exactly that. Interactive and Fiction. That is a fictional story which could allow the writer to create a maze of choices that the reader would have to make decisions about. But I was thinking about it as possibly literature of a type, not a game.

But the more I have exposed myself to both the games and the forums the more I realized that for my purposes I would have to seriously tweak things.

So one trope I noticed instantly, which may indeed work for the games, but won’t work for serious writing, is the use of Second person narrative, especially when combined with first person choices. This is obviously a gaming trope. (You do this… then you do that… now what. a) I talk back while being sassy. b) I shoot the villain. c) I eat my shoe.) I don’t know how many times I have been reading along, and some writers do have a better sense of story, and then suddenly stumbled on the language of the choices. And part of it is simply the second person. Second person works well if I am giving directions on a city street. The best second person writing of all is in letters. The reason it is so good is that ‘you’ is extremely well defined. A letter is addressed to a very specific person. And therein lies the problem.

For the game ‘you’ is you the player. And it is assumed that ‘you’ want as many choices as you can get get. Thus ‘you’ remains as undefined as possible. In one forum post I read a game maker say that the MC was essentially a black hole and that it was in the secondary character and world creation that the real enjoyment came. And maybe in the game that is what works best. But in my possible conception of IF that can’t work. A writer doesn’t leave the central protagonist or antagonist to the whims of the reader. That might work on a postmodern level. But it doesn’t work if your idea is to create quality literature. And I believe that part of the reason for any good story is to identify with someone other than yourself. I just read a short story that left me absolutely breathless by its conclusion. Though I had very little in common with the central character.

And that means I have serious issues with the ‘gender choice’. Again for the game? Be that as it may be. But if I wish to use this form for something else? Again it’s the black hole issue. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an IFG where I started to get involved in the tale, and then ten pages in I’m asked whether I should be addressed a Sir, Madam or as an individual? It’s like driving down the road and hitting a massive pothole just as you are getting the vehicle up to speed. And then it rarely matters except for pronouns. (And yeah yeah I know pronouns are a touchy issue.) And more importantly it’s rare, again except for the pronouns, that the story changes radically because someone is a he or she or elsewise. I mean it seems rare that having chosen female I would later get stuck in a long line for the restroom rather than get through it all quicker in the men’s room.

And then even more bizarre is the name choice that often follows a few pages later. You are addressed and then I give one of the names you’ve written or I invent my own. Again maybe for gaming. But for writing it’s really the wrong part of story creation to be giving away. Let’s say I’m writing on a serious theme. Then someone names themselves Sluffy McNuggets. It’s over. Period. I mean the writing. Again in all but the most postmodern way. Why would I want to spend days thinking about a plot that might have a modicum of mystery and suspense to it just to have someone turn it into their personal joke?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve read worthy writing here. Tin Star is fairly well written. He also does a great job of trying to hide the second person narrative by making most of the choices as answers to questions. So that the ‘I’ is motivated by logic. You still get the potholes of the identity choices, which then are more disturbing because the writing is actually better. But then again the western themed writing might be approaching Louis Lamour, but it’s still nowhere is sight of Mark Twain or Cormac McCarthy. And I don’t think simply in game play it can get to the serious level. Not without raising serious questions about the tropes.

And lastly, for now, the use of stats. I must confess I am rarely a gamer. Thus the stats just seem downright absurd to me. This is probably going to get me lynched. But my take is this: If my point is to write IF rather than IFG what need do I have of statistics? Stats are important if you need to know how many bullets you have left, how many trinkets you’ve collected, maybe how much of a certain characteristic you’ve acquired. But for fiction? Not so much. I’ve been thinking of alternative uses for them. But I’ll sit on those for a while.

So then what I see as possibilities are these for turning IF into real IF: First person seems to be what would work best. Main character creation that allows the reader (not player) to empathize with the actions and choices of a specific individual, not yourself. The avoidances of meaningless loops and traps that create compulsiveness as often happens in RPGs. An emphasis on real choices that have emotional effects. Or excellent laughs, if we are dealing with a comedy. Avoidance of grammatical potholes that disturb the story. And that’s all I have at the moment. I do have a very specific idea for a story.

I expect to take flak on what I’ve written here. Particularly from people who think I’m attacking IFG. I’m not. I’m just wondering if I can use this for my own devious experimental ends. And if I simply get firebombed for writing these things, that might be a good indication, since you would be the first readers, that the answer would be no. So let me know what you think. And especially I’m interested in your ideas too.

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I think there are works of IF that already approach ‘serious literature’. They’re up there as some of the works that have left a serious effect on me and ones I return to time and time again.

There are issues with IF when it comes to potential awkwardness in the medium, yes, but it’s important to not unfairly compare a work of IF to a novel. There are authors who flail about when they write a game and there are game writers who end up with horrible novels. There are some who can bridge the gap but they are rare because what makes a good game narrative doesn’t translate to a good novel and vice versa.

You can get away with a lot of things in an IF work that you’d never get away with in a novel. That should be considered a strength and not a flaw. The ability to have a page where you allow the player to define their gender an identity is a good thing – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be awkward to read when it isn’t done skillfully.

For example, a question that I feel works against most IF works is the early-game ‘are you gay or straight or bi or asexual’ where I feel a lot of texts would be better served by leaving it to actions. Has there been any works where you make the decision to kiss Handsome Joe but then twist it that you’re not gay, or need to state that you’re gay to someone else?

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Hmm hmm hmm, my take on this topic is that, yes it can? :thinking:

I assume what you meant by serious literature is something like a standard novel (or maybe Tolkien’s Middle Earth, to an extent) only that the reader can take a part in the world.

For the second person perspective, yep, 2nd person indeed has a strong correlation with gaming trope. After all, early CYOA books are written in 2nd person and has more gaming nature than narration. But then, I don’t think going 1st person will instantly make your IF less gamey.

As for the “Gender Choice”, it’s just a matter of a writer’s creativity (and effort), I believe. One may choose that gender affects nothing but your pronouns, while the other may go over the limit by putting you in a world full of discrimination. I personally going for the latter :innocent:

And don’t think too hard about stats. Stats are not all about numbers and percent, really.
Did you accidentally insult the Chief of your tribe? Put it on your stat as “*set chief_insulted true” and you can play around this stat to put your player in a worse situation, or just for flavor text.

Since you’ve read Tin Star, I’d recommend Mecha Ace (which is the “lighter-in-mood” version of Infinity Series). All of them have a strong story that can be taken as a serious literature, IMO.


A better approach, IMO, is to let the player do some actions that encoded inside them a “gender score”. Later, the story/game can bring up the topic, saying “you’re a [gender]. Is this you?”, or something like that.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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So my eyes are acting up so I’m not reading the whole wall of text yet, however, I got as far as your “can games be artistic?”

Games are art, whatever form they take. I may come back and read more completely when my eye’s aren’t acting up and comment further.

On the topic of gender choice, I prefer this to be explicit - YMMV.

“Serious literature” is a label that comes along later and is assigned by critics who can then have arguments about it. Ten years ago I could still have the argument over whether my Tolkien class was a serious class with my chair. I imagine people who teach classes about modern vampire fiction are having the same conversation now. There was a time when the novel wasn’t serious literature, and a time when Elizabethan theater wasn’t serious literature, and then before that, erotic Roman poetry wasn’t serious literature.

To me, the question boils down to whether interactive fiction is Worthy of Study in the Academy (and then the answer is yes, and it already is, even if professors probably have to still fight with their chairs about it.)

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You just know those professors and their conflicts are firmly divided on either side of the parser/CYOA debate.

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The OP is approaching the question from so many wrong angles.

Choicescript games are not the only form of story where the reader makes decisions. Its conventions are self-imposed born of a tradition of… wait for it… Choose Your Own Adventure Games. They are not the only expression of IF just like blues is not the only expression of music.

Interactive Fiction is a wide field. You are looking at it through a tiny window. Apparently also wearing heavily tinted glasses.

If you want to write a branching story in 1st or 3rd person, go ahead. If you want to forego stats, knock yourself out. It’s still interactive fiction. It’s not a CYOA game. Those exist on the border of RPGs and prose. Tin Man Games’ Choices That Matter don’t have stats either as far as I’ve seen. Other more classical CYOAs like Tin Man’s other games or Sorcery! behave more like the old gamebooks including die rolls.

Again, your entire setup is wrong. You’re waxing on about a medium after having looked at only one subgenre.

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@Pleimis - Please let me state my heartfelt opinion on your “real question”: Yes, IF can be tweaked in such a way to create the story you want to create.

The qualifier about publishing is you might have to publish it under the Hosted label instead of the CoG label if you desire to publish with this company. This should not be an issue stopping you from creating the story you desire.

Games are artistic. Like different schools of painting, they are often decried by critics as being non-artistic but they do meet the definition of being art. Some games are more artistic then others. If you are skillful enough and work hard enough, I am sure you can produce an IF title with the exact artistic qualities you desire.

The literary qualities of the CS If title really depends on the author/developer. Most author/developers desire to sell to a mass market of their niche genre. Horror writers/developers writing about vampires or zombies will want to address their product to that niche if they want to make money. If the writer/developer does not care about anything but making an artistic piece, then she is free to write the title as she pleases.

Starting with the narrative, you can chose to write it in the tense you desire. The you/I format of questions maybe a house stylistic rule for publishing under the CoG label but since you are targeting a Hosted publication, you can use your own stylistic formulas. There are currently Hosted titles that write in 1st person narrative, that have been published.

Following up with the gender choice, as a Hosted writer/developer, you have the freedom to address this as you desire. Some, chose to gender-lock the story and I believe there are a couple that avoid gender entirely already (but I’m not positive at this moment). For a more “novelist” If game approach, I suggest reading A Study in Steampunk: Choice by Gaslight This work is more directly inspired and takes more of its cues from classic literature such as Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and such.

The name protestations is exactly the same as above. As a Hosted author/developer, you don’t have to offer naming choice-bodies.

Lastly, the stats. CS, as a language requires stats, so this will be something you are required to do but you can use your writing and developer skills to come up with a mechanical structure that fits your project. Stats in CS code can be be both numerical or descriptive, hidden or viewable. This is where your artistic flair will need to be tested - stats can be basically ignored if you design a mechanical structure to ignore them.

The complexity and depth of your choice bodies are reflective of you as an author and developer. You can make them as broad or narrow as you can effectively write them.


This community is made of both writer/developers and consumers. You have to remember this when you present your project (if you present it). The consumers will provide feedback from their perspectives and the writer/developers will discuss issues from their perspectives on topics dealing with the writing and development of a project.

Most writer/developers will not participate in the (required) beta you’ll need to present. Your artistic project may get a lot of negative feedback and for your own purposes, you may wish to totally ignore it. That is up to you.

The only real snag, I see, is that CoG is a business that is here to make money, so to be accepted for publication, it comes down to the simple test of: will they make money if they publish your project. Now, CoG does allow you to go outside their structure and you may want to look into doing so. There are a couple of authors here that might have advise on that, I don’t know.


Now for some pushback on underlying assumptions you seem to hold (aka my thoughts):

@Gower has addressed the academia assumption of literature’s definition and its validity better than I could… so I am going to present my take on If as a game vs writing debate.

IF is a crossover that takes from both bases; some concentrate on the literary side and some on the gaming side. If can balance both or neither aspects and is rarely accepted by either communities as a whole. That is where we writer/developers are changing the reality. If you, as an author/developer is able to bring a more literary interpretation of the CS IF product to a successful execution, it benefits everyone here… consumers and writer/developers.

This would be celebrated and not firebombed.

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I seem to understand from what you’ve written that you’d like to do an IF story with a character who has pre-set form and characteristics, so the reader is on the outside looking in. In that case, to answer the main question, why the heck not?

The main issue I see with it is again your definition of “serious” literature and “real” choices. By providing branches and different outcomes, there will undoubtedly be some branches that have less impact than others. The emotional and intellectual impact of some works of literature - let’s take Dostoyevsky, since I think you brought him up in another thread before - sometimes depends on the way events turned out. White Nights, for example, would be a lot less effective if the narrator got a fairy-tale ending. That tension, the contrast, the build-up, the emotional ride, and then the final simultaneously satisfying and frustrating denouement: they all contribute to the uniqueness of the story and add to its analyse-ability in literature classes. If you were to provide branches, and in one branch the narrator marries the girl, that would ruin the ‘seriousness’ of the story - then it becomes more of a love story rather than one that explores loneliness, missed chances, and the satisfaction that could be derived from martyrdom.

So basically, my concern is that it would be less effective. But then I don’t know if I’m interpreting your idea right, so feel free to correct.

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My answer for the question in the title: Yes. Yes, it can, and it probably has already. I’m not exactly sure what “serious literature” means in this context, but many Choicescript games tackle serious issues, issues that arise in the real world, and many are well-written.

Actually, I disagree that ‘you’ is inherently more “game-y.” If handled well, I think second person can be more immersive than the first or the third person, for the sole reason that the reader is not removed from the protagonist. I don’t think because the second person is rarely used in static literature, it is inherently not literature.

I’m not going to try to tackle the issue of the naming conventions of the medium, but I think literature can work without a large emphasis on gender. There are published works in which the main character’s gender is never addressed. And giving the reader a choice in what gender the character is playing a role in the story doesn’t seem, to me, to detract in any way from the story. The same with the name choice.

For the stats, readers have a choice of whether or not to view stats during their playthrough. Also, stats for the purposes of this engine help track the results of the player’s previous choices. The engine doesn’t require you to set up stats at all, and you can create a story without stats.

I think that the inherent aspect of this medium is that the reader is helping to write their story. They choose their path for themselves, and are co-authors, if you will allow me to use the term. It is up to them what tone the story will take for them and it is up to them to shape the journey of the protagonist.

I’m also not sure what you mean by “serious literature.” I’m assuming that you’re using it in the sense of “literature” in a classroom setting, or in the sense of novels, but I think Choicescript is not meant to imitate any of these, and may not be satisfactory to some if used for that purpose. Choicescript can handle serious stories, if that is what you are saying, but it’s not meant to provide a static work, since the reader’s participation is involved.

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In the end, we can sumarize all you wrote in a single word. Depth. Do excuse-me if im wrong, thats what i understood. :fox_face:

Interative Fiction mean that, to some extent, the reader the power to change the world as he want. The more Interactive it is, tthe less depth we have. Why is that? Simply cause no matter how much we would like to, we cant possibly calculate all the variables a single scene would entail. We cant possibly think the experiences and reactions each character would have given each situacion, more so cause a single character can have lots of different reactions to the same stimulus. Not only that, in ( lets say ) books characters my change their minds and personality in reaction to events or even to something another character told then. It varies from subtle changes like, getting rid of and annoying habit or a sad char who is now smiling more, to extreme ones like the hero’s bestfriend suddenly becaming the main antagonist.
If that wasnt enough, there is also the impact the hero and his/her crew, acquaintances and enimies wil have on the world. Be it a momentary or permanente, controlled or uncontrolled, local or global impact. There will be reactions, after-effects, changes and lots more im too lazy to write. And they of course may affect the characters and the ones close to them, be it directly ou not.
What i want to say to say is that …well, making something like this seens pretty fucking hard to put it mildly.

Now dont get me wrong, im a writer as well ( never wrote a IF though) . Ive been developing my unniverse for the last 10 years( not kidding) and i still dont think its complete.
When developing my characters, im only satisfied when they start to feel like real people, when i feel a could just have a talk or fight with the heros, and when i can fear and comprehend the villains. When their actions have real impact a meaning

I love WIPs IFs etc etc. I saw some really great characters here( my opnion, ur free to disagree ), like Prodigal from Heroes Rise and Daisy Thorne from Evertree Inn, unexpectedly great stories like SLAMMED! as well as some WIPs im really looking forward to see completed ( not gonna tell u my favorites ). Point is, its hard for me to imagine one of my Main Characters or even the secondary ones, being part of a traditional Interative-Fiction game. They are great yeah, but unlike what im aiming to, “IFG” characters are just too constant.

:fox_face:

All that said and bla bla bla.
Try this game here, i played it and dont think it should be labeled “interactive”, since ur choices have little to no impact in the world or story. Its not bad but its not great ( again, my opnion ) and if, into that the world is quite interesting.
Its based on a novel, and its kInda like reading A song of ice and fire.:thinking:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.PaladinsV1

I’M NOT ADVERTISING ANYTHING.

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Some really interesting discussion points here.

  • @Pleimis, you raise ‘Interative Fiction’ and ‘Interactive Fiction Games’ as defined terms, but I think at the moment, (please correct me someone) that the established academic consensus is that the ‘Interactive Fiction’ always refers to games, and more specifically, it excludes our own corner of the medium, defining our writing as ‘Multiple Choice Games.’ I personally feel this classification is already out date, and I hope someone publishes a few new papers/theses on the subject. Choose Your Own Adventure used to be strongly associated with literature, but I think the use of the term was complicated by copyrighting…

  • @Gower’s point is excellent. I’d add that I think the Postcolonial school of thought identifies the initial establishment of English Literature teaching, and the ‘canon of great English literature’ quite strongly with British cultural nationalism - an attempt to direct and unify cultural thought (while denigrating others) for political, moral and social reasons. Our classification system is not always our friend.

  • I think you do, however, have an interesting point on how some IF could be more like great literature, and less like great games. (I object to one or two of your personal bugbears, but others have commented on these). When you move on from ‘what is IF’ and ‘what is great literature’ there is a fascinating possibility that as literature is increasingly consumed in digital formats, literature itself could become, or benefit from, greater interactivity. I really look forward to hearing more opinions on how. I’m interested to hear more about your theories on how you think choices specifically could be ‘more literary’. I’m personally interested in artificial intelligence world building, or its unevolved modern cousin, random generation. And I like hearing debate about boundaries in IF, which can promote writing quality, define and obstruct reader experience, and raise fun questions about identity in fiction.
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Interesting topic.

I think that because of the CoG Guidelines, most HG authors adopt many of what I will call ‘conventions’ such as use of second person POV in prose, use of first person POV in choice options, customized main character, and use of stats, with stat boosts and stat checks. But none of this is required to get a Hosted Game published.

The posted requirements on CoG’s site:

Hosted Games Editorial Requirements

  • Games must be at least 30,000 words long; the word count includes code.
  • Games must not contain deeply offensive material, such as scenes that glorify sexual violence or racist attitudes.
  • Games must undergo beta testing on our forum at forum.choiceofgames.com
  • Games cannot infringe on other people’s intellectual property; we can’t host a Harry Potter or Star Wars game.
  • The title of the game cannot contain the word “choice.” We reserve the word “choice” in game titles for games distributed under the Choice of Games label.

And some folks do write against the conventions. Some use first person, some have more set/gender-locked MCs. However, I do think most stick to most of the conventions. Deviating from the norm is risky.

All this being said, I have 20,000 words of a novel manuscript that I might consider submitting as a Hosted Game later this year or next because I think it has several interesting “what if?” scenes where things could legitimately go either way. As envisioned now, it would be told in third-person, be entirely stat-free, and branch only a few times during the narrative, but the branches would represent huge shifts in the plot.

Some CS resources that could/would be used:

  • A directory (and possible a shortcut) to each major branch
  • A menu with summaries of characters (and maybe some thumbnails)
  • Art
  • Achievements for each ending (I’d envision about 8-10).

Still, it would be 90% reading and 10% struggling with what I would hope are very difficult choices; much, much different than standard Hosted Game.

But it would be risky to put a lot of time into this, because it’s so different, the audience might ignore it or outright reject it.

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Thanks for all of your feedback. I figured I’d get a bunch. I’m still digesting it before I formulate a response. I don’t want to merely react. But do continue to share thoughts as I do.

Creatures Such As We doesn’t have stats. Have you played it?

It’s sort of funny to me that you question whether IF can be serious literature (whatever that means) because I think by any standard Choice of Games’ games are the most novelistic works being published in the field.

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I’m not sure if this is relevant or if it’s common knowledge already, but a lot of recent non-choicescript interactive fiction is very “literary”, especially stuff written in Twine. I’d say Solarium is exemplary in this respect (it’s also nothing like any choicescript game). See also: Howling Dogs, Horse Master, SPY INTRIGUE (I’d certainly love to see spy intrigue taught in a class)…

There’s also a lot you can do with choicescript in terms of different interactive structures. For example The Spy and the Labyrinth has some unconventional use of choicescript and is basically a hypertext novel rather than any kind of game. Also, I feel like a lot of recent CoGs like Choice of Rebels and Heart of the House are plenty “literary” (in terms of writing quality, worldbuilding, characterization, etc.) but maybe some would disagree?

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I once had a five star review of Choice of Robots that just read, “Tears. Manly tears.”

I’d take that over Serious Recognition any day.

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Disagree with some of your interpretations here. Foremost is the idea that anything you listed is required in a game–there are publishing standards, and there are conventions, but a lot of the conventions can be circumvented. You don’t have to have second-person POV or include visible stats or anything. And you’re more than welcome to experiment with the form. It is, after all, a structure filled with "What if"s. Have fun with your creations.

Tto disagree: the written form is just as important as the gaming form. If I’m not immersed in the story as written, I’m not going to enjoy the game as presented.

I’m not sure why second person is inherently… wrong?.. for “serious writing.” POV is a tool in the writer’s arsenal. First person is for putting the reader directly into the thoughts of the protagonist. Second person is to put the reader into the mindset of the protagonist. It doesn’t work in non-interactive media as often, because the moment we think or behave differently from the protagonist, the illusion is broken. But it’s not inherently lesser, just usually not the best choice for less interactive media.

Now, this is a mindset I’ve never understood (and it’s not just you). Why do authors care that someone is going to do this? It doesn’t change the backbone of the story. It doesn’t change the experience “serious” readers have. So why does it matter how someone is enjoying your work?People make jokes out of “serious literature” all the time, without it affecting the piece in any way, shape or form.

You don’t need them (and not liking them is personal taste so I’ll keep my torch and pitchfork in the shed for now). But also, I read stats as a way to make up for the lack of sensory input we have in the game when we make readers synonymous with the “protagonists.” If I’m playing Tin Star, the Marshal would absolutely know what gun she’s carrying, how many bullets she has, how much money she has, and whether she’s any good at riding a horse, because that’s her reality. That’s her every day, and she needs to be aware of those things to survive. And if she forgets any of those things, a simple check of the memory banks or a look at her gun will remind her.

I however, as a player, don’t have access to that. I can’t check my revolver, or do rounds just to make sure the town’s in order, or see if I have a bullet in my shooting arm. And if I put the game down for a bit, it’s likely I’ll have forgotten most of what the Marshal can do in favor of remembering my grocery list. In that case, it’s not “realistic” for the Marshal to suddenly forget her gun, her lover’s name, and the fact that she is a fantastic sharpshooter. So the stats allow me, the “player” to get caught up, without interrupting a narrative.

But I’m already doing this with IF. When I pick up Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, I’m absolutely not a teenage kid with a nephew and a dog and an older sister with cancer who grew up in the city and practiced martial arts, grieving because she lost most of her family. Forced to grow up very quickly, tamp down grief and terror and try to save herself, her nephew, and the friends who have even less of an idea how to survive than she does. My plan for a zombie apocalypse involves hiding behind my friend with guns and trying not to be a liability.

I’m no sharpshooting, charismatic doctor framed for a crime I didn’t commit, who took to Marshaling with a steadfast sense of justice and a firm belief that the holes in the roof aren’t too bad.

I play these games for the same reason I read books: to see people I like and admire grow into the roles they’ve been placed into and be amazing (or get torn down by the system depending on genre). Not because I’m inherently incapable of empathy.

Disagree: Choice of Robots has one ending that brings me to tears every time. It’s a small bit about mortality and the branching paths of life leading to the same place. Part of that is because I’ve built the character, made the decisions in life that got me to where I was, and now I was living with the results, beautiful and bittersweet as they were, and saying goodbye to the life I’d built.

To a lesser extent (In that I don’t actually cry) I feel a heck of a lot for my “Watson” in Choice by Gaslight (even though I read Sherlock Holmes and therefore knew the arc they were covering) in the middle arcs. There have been some bad decisions made in desperation and grief during that arc.

But I’m genuinely curious as to how you plan on managing the “emotional choices”–your definition of IF involves a predefined character who then, logically, wouldn’t have a wide variety of choices to make in the first place. Unless you’re doing a bunch of “no right option scenes” (do you save Person A or Person B?) and moral dilemmas (Do you save Town A or Best Friend?).

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And @Gower is in the unique insider position to know, being one of those academics.
In my own and dreadfully low-cultured personal opinion, Choice of Robots and XoR already are literature, particularly if and when the whole series is eventually finished in XoR’s case.
A couple of others, including Tally Ho!, are just shy of the threshold (which means i would probably approve them for essays at the high school level, but not the university/college one, were I an educator). But in short, yes, there is much literary potential in interactive stories, even the occasional visual novel as far as I’m concerned.
All change will be (relatively) slow, I remember that until 1993 digital information was not considered admissible except as the digital equivalent of a character witness, we’ve certainly come a long way since, for better or worse “Facebook murders” and all.
Particularly given the fact that literature may be the one field with an even more conservatively slanted bias then even law.

Glad to see you’re fighting the good fight then. :+1:

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Of course it can. Of course it already is. That’s what I want to write. That’s what I hope I’ve written.

None of the things the OP listed stand in the way of that.

It reminds me of that arbitrary line between ‘literary fiction’ and ‘speculative fiction’, or the way that for a while first person narrative was looked down upon because it was ‘mostly used by chicklit writers’.

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