Choose Your Own Adventure

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books? I loved those books. I remember going to the library as a kid and checking out every one I could get my hands on. I never really thought about how bizarre some of the covers (and story lines in general) were. Something Awful apparently did though. In "Choose Your Own Adventure Books That Never Quite Made It", they take it upon themselves to photoshop in more appropriate titles for some of the crazier cover art.



Don't let anybody tell you that you can't still enjoy CYOA's just because you're an "adult". Wired magazine says there's complex science there and stuff! Quantum physics, bitches! "Between the lines of each Choose adventure lies some complex science." (Told you) "The choice-and-effect format reflects the treelike structure used in game theory to chart possible outcomes based on initial circumstances..."

Much like what is demonstrated by this "Choose Your Own Adventure Book as Directed Graph" by Sean Michael Ragan.


"... Every book contains different but simultaneous outcomes – something that quantum physics posits is the case in the real world, too. Chaos theory, string theory" – they all have something to do with what's being done in CYOA stories.

Here are a few CYOA's for grown folks to check out online:

CYOA (on Drugs) over at Cracked.

A Triangle Morning: Games: Which Way Adventure is a sweet little bizarre Flash take on CYOA.

There are lots of stories over at the Choose Your Own Misadventure Wiki, created by Discordians to "tell the Greatest Story Ever Told".

If you're interested in more options, see Edit This Info's CYOA wiki. It has the added bonus of letting you actually conbtribute your own content: "If you don't see an option that you would like to pursue, click the edit tab on the top of the page and add a new path to the page. Then you get to write in your own adventure for the hero. "

You can even take The Google Adventure where you start a low-level job at Google and navigate your way through to a " high-paying, fulfilling, challenging and creative" career at the Google. I heard a rumor that if you do so successfully, you'll actually get a job at Google. No, not really. I just made that up.

If you want to put as little effort as possible in your adventure, check out the The Best Examples of Choose Your Own Adventure Interactive Video over at We Are Organized Chaos.


Finally, a little more on game theory, really just because I want to tell you why you should link here.

Webware 100: who's the best of 2009?

You are invited to vote for your favorites among CNET's 2009 Webware 100 finalists. Voting closes April 30th. These "cool Web 2.0 apps for everyone" are selected by CNET Webware readers and by the users of the products they cover.

There are 10 categories of finalists:
Audio and Music
Browsing
Commerce
Communication
Infrastructure and Storage
Location-based services
Photo & Video
Productivity
Search & Reference
Social Networking & Publishing

Finalists range from the hangers-on, the old standbys, the currently trendy yet to prove their staying power, and a few up-and-comings. (These were last year's winners.)

So check it out and vote for who you think should reign supreme, and while you're there, dig around a little bit to see if you can find something new to try out.