Writing a Digital Gamebook

Writing a digital gamebook is quite the undertaking. Not only will you be administrating the story itself with its many choices to be made, but you’ll also have to stitch the puzzle together so the flow is good enough to be coherent. This might seem obvious, but the longer your intertwined story, the heavier the puzzle.

Like any other story, the digital gamebook starts with an opening. Usually, this is where the hero of the book, the reader, is established. Some like to give their readers a choice of names, appearance, and gender, while others stick with being vague enough and calling the player ‘you’ for the remainder of the book to establish the reader’s own internal idea of who or what they are. From here, the twists and turns of your gamebook story will come alive, sending the reader on a longer adventure to achieve all you set out for them.

However, regardless of your story, as your digital gamebook progresses, there are tools you should use to enhance the adventure: especially that of giving gravity to the user’s choices. Otherwise, what’s the point of choosing one’s own storyline if there are no repercussions to it?

Make your choices matter

Gamebook story choices are the additional lifeblood of your reader’s adventure, it is what defines the gamebook genre and sets it apart. For digital gamebooks the puzzle becomes easier to solve with programmically setting flags to the specific scenes you create. I.e. the user’s choice is stored and can be utilized by the gamebook writer whenever they want. This could more easily open up new storylines based on earlier choices much further into the story, rather than only having the repercussions show from one choice to the other.

One example of this is from the solo RPG adventure ‘The Fighter’ which heavily utilizes setting flags. In this adventure, new storylines open up based on the choices the reader had made previously, sometimes the flags are used hundreds of choices later in the reader’s story. This results in the user believing their choices has made an impact, as the story now unfolds further based on the flagged choices.

Make your choices distinct

As mentioned earlier, the choices the reader can make in your gamebook is the additional lifeblood to your adventure story. Non-descriptive choice text like “Go West” or “Go North” kills interaction as none of them are distinct enough for the reader to care which they choose. Make the text of your choices stand out. Making the world become more alive in your adventure is only enhanced by writing the choice text more elaborately. Examples like “Go West” and “Go North” could instead be a description like “Turn west to the swamp” and “Go north to the dark mountain”, comparable to your adventure. Almost anything is better than non-descriptions where the reader has no idea what they’re walking towards.

Likewise, keeping the flow of the story without too many distractions is imperative for the reader to stay engaged. Having too many choices for each scene can distract, or even make it confusing. Keeping it simple and distinct makes it easier for the reader to separate their choices and continue the adventure without headaches.

Inserting interaction beyond choices

Some common tropes of gamebooks is the additions of having the reader roll dice to determine outcomes, having items with specialized attributes, or combat situations where the gamebook hero’s life is at stake. Additions like this secures both the enhancement to the gamebook’s world building, but also seeks to break any static monotony by rewarding or punishing the player. In digital gamebooks, this can be taken even further, resembling that of a fully fledged game.

In the solo RPG adventure ‘The Fighter’ several design choices are integrated to instill further interaction and world building to the story. Whether it is visual scenes with images to enhance the storytelling, a Dungeon Master who ‘talks’ directly to the reader, interactive combat scenes against enemies, the roll of 3D dice determining skill checks and how the story reacts to it, loot boxes with items and gold, digital shop item purchases, maps of the world, gambling with gold, and so much more, the effect is the same. Enhancing the RPG story with these kinds of enrichments, while still maintaining the flow of the story, can make your gamebook stand out from the rest.

However, even if you integrate a lot of interactive additions to enrich your gamebook, it will still be for nothing if the core story isn’t good enough. Write your story first, improve it in the end with interactive elements.

Using AI as a helper

The age of AI is here to stay and with it comes an extraordinary amount of sloppy writing. It is very evident if a story was written by an AI or not, so using an AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, or any other should be an easy choice; use it in moderation. Use it as a tutor, use it to crack writing blocks, use it for inspiration or use it to have placeholders for text or images you can rework later, but don’t let it overtake your story fully. If you find yourself more often than not ‘writing’ your stories based on the outcome of prompts, then who’s story are you really telling.

Let the song of your book show through your own words, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use an AI completely. Writing a book can be a lonely experience and you won’t find many who’s going to read it as many times as you do, revision after revision. This is where AI shines, by being the artificial partner you can discuss story events with or give you ideas to if you’re stuck. It can take a look at whether or not your logical transition between scenes are correct or not, or just pick up on spelling mistakes. The help could end up valuable, especially with huge gamebooks that encompass over hundreds of thousands of words.

Finish your story

Above all else, your story could fail if you do not consistently work on it. The world you create could falter and wither without your infusion of words. Whether you write five words a day or three-thousand, both are fine since you keep hammering the anvil. In the end, it will all add up towards completion, a major feat for anyone ever starting their story.

It is said a common trope in book writing is how few writers manage to finish their book, and even less get it published. The odds of finishing are slim, but just as consistency is key, so is perseverance.

The solitary work of writing a longer story can be difficult. It’s a process best supported by a community of fellow creators who understand the journey. If you are writing, or thinking of writing, your own adventure, consider sharing your thoughts or how far you are in the progress.

Good luck on your writings!