"Turn to page 47 if you open the door." For millions of readers, that line was their first taste of interactive fiction. Choose your own adventure stories put you in the main role and let your choices decide what happens. This guide covers how the format works, where it came from, how today's interactive romance apps continue it, and how to write a branching story of your own.
What "choose your own adventure" means
Choose Your Own Adventure is the name of a famous book series, and it has become shorthand (often "CYOA") for any story where the reader makes choices that change the plot. According to Wikipedia:
- The stories are written in the second person, so you are the protagonist.
- Every few pages you face two or three choices, each sending you to a different page.
- The paths lead to many different endings, some good and some very bad.
The broader category is called the gamebook, and its digital relatives are known as interactive fiction.
A short history of choose your own adventure
- 1979–1998: the Bantam series. Edward Packard conceived the series and R. A. Montgomery co-created it. Bantam Books published the main series, starting with Packard's The Cave of Time. It sold more than 250 million copies, according to Wikipedia. The books were aimed at readers aged 7 to 14.
- 2003: revival. After the trademark lapsed, Chooseco relaunched the series, and in 2025 it began reissuing Packard's titles.
- Text adventures. In parallel, computers got their own version. Colossal Cave Adventure (mid-1970s) and Zork (begun in 1977) let players type commands like "go north." Later tools like Twine made choice-based stories easy to publish online.
Choose your own adventure grows up: interactive romance
Today the format lives on in mobile story apps, where romance is one of the most popular genres. Two of the best-known examples:
Choices: Stories You Play
Developed by Pixelberry Studios and launched in 2016, Choices is a free-to-play visual novel app where most stories are romance-focused and you choose your character's actions. Some choices cost premium currency, which critics have described as pay-to-progress design. Wikipedia cites a 2024 PocketGamer report that the game had earned $544 million and passed 100 million downloads.
Episode
Developed by Pocket Gems and released in 2014, Episode lets you customize your character and make dialogue and action choices. Its community can publish its own stories; by 2021 it reported more than 150,000 of them, according to Wikipedia.
Free-text story apps
A newer kind of interactive romance drops the menu of choices entirely. Instead of picking A or B, you write what your character says or does, and AI writes the scene that follows. Be My Story works this way: you choose one of ten romance and drama story experiences and shape it in your own words. Our guide to AI roleplay explains how that kind of storytelling works.
| What to compare | Choice-based (CYOA, Choices, Episode) | Free-text (AI story apps) |
|---|---|---|
| How you act | Pick from 2–3 options | Write anything |
| Endings | Written in advance | Generated as you go |
| Strength | Polished, carefully planned stories | Freedom and surprise |
| Tradeoff | Limited to the author's branches | Less predictable |
How to write your own choose your own adventure romance
1. Make every choice reveal character
The best choices aren't "left door or right door." They're "tell the truth or protect someone." Each option should say something about who the reader is choosing to be.
2. Keep the branches under control
Branches multiply fast: three choices, three times, is 27 paths. Most writers use a "branch and bottleneck" structure, where paths split and then rejoin at key scenes.
3. Give every ending meaning
Bad endings are part of the fun, but each should feel earned by the choices that led there, not random.
4. A three-choice romance opener (original, adults, non-explicit)
The ferry is the last one tonight, and the only empty seat is next to the one person you swore you'd never speak to again. Your ex-business partner looks up from her book.
- If you sit down and say nothing, the silence lasts until the storm hits halfway across. Go to the cabin scene.
- If you sit down and apologize first, she closes her book, which she has never done in an argument. Go to the deck scene.
- If you stand at the rail instead, she follows you outside ten minutes later with two coffees. Go to the rail scene.
Each branch leads to the same island and a different version of the same relationship. That's branch-and-bottleneck in miniature.
For more openings to branch from, see our 100 roleplay ideas and romance tropes list.
Frequently asked questions
Who created Choose Your Own Adventure?
Edward Packard conceived the series and R. A. Montgomery co-created it; Bantam Books published the main series, which sold more than 250 million copies, according to Wikipedia.
Are there choose your own adventure romance apps?
Yes. Choices: Stories You Play (Pixelberry, 2016) and Episode (Pocket Gems, 2014) are well-known choice-based examples. Free-text apps like Be My Story let you write your own actions instead of picking from options.
How do I write my own choose your own adventure story?
Make every choice reveal character, keep branches manageable with a branch-and-bottleneck structure where paths split and rejoin, and make every ending feel earned by the choices that led to it.
Sources
- Choose Your Own Adventure — Wikipedia; checked October 9, 2026.
- Gamebook and Interactive fiction — Wikipedia; checked October 9, 2026.
- Choices: Stories You Play — Wikipedia; checked October 9, 2026.
- Episode — Wikipedia; checked October 9, 2026.
Be My Story is an independent product and is not affiliated with Chooseco, Pixelberry Studios or Pocket Gems.
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