Writing Interactive Fiction with Twine

20. Keeping Players Engaged

80 Days won Time’s Best Game of the Year for 2014. Although that is wonderful for Inkle Studios, it’s also great for writers in general because the game stands as an interesting case study for what makes a good game.

There are all the obvious things that Inkle did to make the game successful: It started with a text that is familiar but hasn’t been overdone (Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne), created eye-catching graphics to supplement the storyline, and structured the whole game as a trip so the player feels as if he or she is always moving forward.

But what Inkle also did that is less obvious is write a single game that reaches three different types of players. For those who play games to win (or...to lose), ...