Hypertext and #IF were the first games back in the 80’s when computers were just a gleam in the eyes of many. My first gaming experience was in a parser story trying to figure out which way to go typing in terse little commands – go left, open door, pick up whatever – and I found it frustrating trying to figure out syntax and orient myself in this new space.

Cut to 40 years later and I find a scene that has richly evolved using software like #Twine to develop a whole creative narrative stream outside of RPG quests and inventory stacking.

As a writer, as an artist – hell, as a poet, I’m always expanding and exploring and looking for that next high. I’ve always been an addict looking for that personal hit. Cinema did it forever, live-action and animation and my entire professional output and career have been in service to this form. And now writing, third-person novels, first person poems and other flash stories, short-story journeys and even a memoir mashed up with a drug dealing murder mystery/ crime spree that reinvents my history as a farcical fatal fantasy fiction.

Yet – it’s still wanting my work, that is. Or at least still not the ‘droid I was looking for. Cut to #IF – interactive fiction – a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ platform that doesn’t have to be about actually RPG questing. There are poets, storytellers and writing visionaries creating next level mutable fiction that twists and warps and changes as the reader navigates the interactive links – and it’s glorious. I’m attaching links to a couple recent IF favorites that I played/read/engaged with this weekend and a link to a rabbit hole of content that is a constant source of inspiration and imagination.

IF has come so far in 40 years and I have so much to learn and contribute and play and read and enjoy. And I choose this new path happily. No longer confined to just one meaning or view, I can explore and provide deeper dives into my characters, location, meaning, intent, opinion and even change my own mind halfway through or allow the reader to have the agency to do whatever they want with the story. This can be glorious or frustrating or engaging or stupid or funny or sad or (make a choice) which leads me further on. It’s up to me. Or you?

Turn the page for links to the wonderful Springthing 2020 IF contenders and two separate linked games – ‘Gunbaby’ and ‘Sabbat’ that a) blew my mind b) changed my creative life c) encouraged me to learn even more about this creative wellspring.

Pages: 1 2