Do Interactive Stories Really Exist?

What is a story?

Classically, stories are defined by a unique combination of

• Setting
• Plot
• Conflict
• Character
• Point of View, and
• Theme

Some authors begin with a theme, some with a setting, but at the end there is a unique combination of the above elements.

What is an interactive story?

I would suggest that an interactive story is one where the audience has lasting control over the events in a story. Lasting control would be non-trivial control, control that doesn't always resolve with the same actions taking place no matter what the audience does. Thats because if every decision leads to the same result, then is it really interactive? or just engaging?

But there seems to be a contradiction here. If a story is a specific combination of the elements listed above, and the audience can create a lasting impact on one or more of those elements, then don't we have an entirely new story? So...

Do Interactive Stories Really Exist?

Maybe not. I think there exists interactive realities - but not interactive stories. Think about video games - you aren't watching a story unfold through someone else's eyes, you are placed in a unique reality and told "Go!" There are specific physical features, physical laws, sets of characters you might meet, etc. Each player may have a different experience in this reality so it seems at least more interactive than a movie, but its also not the same story being told to every player.

I think perhaps the best we can do is provide a reality, constrain that reality as best we can for our purposes, and then allow the audience to discover one of our many stories in this reality. However, I do not think we can write a single story and then make it interactive - I think this may be a contradiction in terms.

What Do You Think?

I'm sure plenty of people disagree with my view - feel free to tell me so.