2. Using Choice to Create Agency
Choice makes interactive fiction different from other storytelling mediums. In a traditional book, an author writes a single path for a story to take, but interactive fiction authors give that power to the reader. The reader gets to choose which way the story goes, and that simple act creates agency, which refers to how much a person can influence their world.
Take, for example, Infocom’s interactive fiction game Moonmist. In it, you are a detective, and your friend asks you to investigate strange occurrences at her home, which just happens to be a haunted castle. Every choice you make means something, including the answer you give when asked your favorite color at the beginning of the story. The direction you ...
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