Twitter user Terence Eden (@edent) created a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story using Twitter. The popular series of children’s stories during the 1980s and 1990s, which let readers make decisions to advance the plot in different directions, allowed interactivity in a printed book. Presented with a series of options, the reader would be directed to another page with more options based on their decisions, and so on, until reaching one of many possible endings.
In the Twitter version, players are prompted to select one of two options, which then takes them to a new Twitter account with new story options based on your selection. This, like the original book version, continues until reaching an ending.
It’s quite clever, if not a little frustrating. The first time I played, I was killed almost instantly. After playing several times, I only managed to survive to the end once, and even then was left alone, cowering in my own shame—which is arguably a worse outcome than dying earlier in the game.
For those who read the books as kids, playing the Twitter version offers a nice nostalgic trip. Tech-driven interactivity has come a long way since the books debuted in 1979, but Twitter’s simple medium lends to the throw-back feel.
The game was met with praise on Twitter. At the time of publishing, Eden’s original tweet had 5,000 retweets and 2,500 favorites.
Eden also wrote a blog post detailing how he made the game. Apparently, it was inspired by the horror novel “The Wanderer” by Timothy J. Jarvis, which I can only imagine is as dark and unnerving as Eden’s game.