History Main / Gamebooks

* The horror film ''[[http://www.oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=598 Chuckle's Revenge]]''.

* Website/FourChan:

* [[http://www.anonkun.com/ Anon-kun]] is a website created due to [=CYOA=] overflow in Website/FourChan. As per their origin, most stories are written live with the audience discussing the current state of the story in a chatbox.

* Website/WritingDotCom has an entire section devoted to these, simply calling them "Interactives" and allowing the readers to not only choose their adventure, but add to it as well.

The VisualNovel medium is very similar to gamebooks (except in the case of the [[KineticNovel Kinetic Novels]], which are linear like usual novels), and some may consider them a modern equivalent. InteractiveFiction is a full-on videogame that plays similarly to a Gamebook, and InteractiveComics and {{Forum Quest}}s use a similar style but are much more open due to having an actual GameMaster running them rather than a predetermined set of actions.

Gamebooks[[note]] here referring to books that are games, not to be confused with books of rules for games. In tabletop RPG circles, to set them apart the latter may be called rulebooks, sourcebooks, splatbooks (or just splats), Player/Dungeon Master's Guides/Manuals/Handbooks, and so on.[[/note]] are InteractiveFiction and a paper {{Adventure Game}}s. The player advances the action by reading a short passage describing a scene and choosing one of several actions. To take that action, the player reads a numbered section in the book. The ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' series is a famous and highly successful example of the gamebook genre with 250 million copies in print. The peak of the gamebook craze came in the 1980s, but the form is [[VisualNovel far from dead.]]

The VisualNovel medium is very similar to gamebooks (except in the case of the [[KineticNovel Kinetic Novels]], which are linear like usual novels), and some may consider them a modern equivalent.

See also CruelTwistEnding, HaveANiceDeath, InteractiveComic. Compare NarrativeBoardGame, another narrative-focused style of tabletop game with roots in the roleplaying genre.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' had [[Literature/SonicTheHedgehogAdventureGamebooks a series of six adventure gamebooks released from 1993 to 1996]] at the height of his phenomenal popularity in the UK, written by the authors of the novel series but not belonging to that continuity. One was an AdaptationExpansion of the second [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Mega Drive]] game, in which Robotnik has built Metal Sonic to rampage around and destroy the real Sonic's reputation (any similarity to the plot of the nineteenth ''Literature/LoneWolf'' book ''Wolf's Bane'', published the previous year, is entirely coincidental -- the book, and sometimes Metal Sonic himself, still have the nickname "Hedgehog's Bane" in some circles) and Sonic has to hunt him down through the game's levels.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' had a series at the height of his phenomenal popularity in the UK, written by the authors of the novel series but not belonging to that continuity. One was an AdaptationExpansion of the second [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Mega Drive]] game, in which Robotnik has built Metal Sonic to rampage around and destroy the real Sonic's reputation (any similarity to the plot of the nineteenth ''Literature/LoneWolf'' book ''Wolf's Bane'', published the previous year, is entirely coincidental -- the book, and sometimes Metal Sonic himself, still have the nickname "Hedgehog's Bane" in some circles) and Sonic has to hunt him down through the game's levels.

* Try to sneak around? (Turn to [[LudicrousGibs 17]])

* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/178769 The Purloined Pony]]'' is one of the only few CYOA stories on Platform/FimfictionDotNet, focusing on Carrot Top and the fillynapping of Applejack's sister Applebloom.

Gamebooks[[note]] here referring to books that are games, not to be confused with books of rules for games. In tabletop RPG circles, to set them apart the latter may be called rulebooks, sourcebooks, splatbooks (or just splats), Player/Dungeon Master's Guides/Manuals/Handbooks, and so on.[[/note]] are InteractiveFiction and a paper AdventureGame. The player advances the action by reading a short passage describing a scene and choosing one of several actions. To take that action, the player reads a numbered section in the book. The ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' series is a famous and highly successful example of the gamebook genre with 250 million copies in print. The peak of the gamebook craze came in the 1980s, but the form is [[VisualNovel far from dead.]]

* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/178769 The Purloined Pony]]'' is one of the only few CYOA stories on Website/FimfictionDotNet, focusing on Carrot Top and the fillynapping of Applejack's sister Applebloom.

* ''Webcomic/TheBookOfLore'' is a collection of ongoing gamebook-style stories by Ted Bishop, the creator of ''Webcomic/TraderLydia''. There are two versions of the stories: [[https://www.deviantart.com/dragon-fangx/gallery/52140271/lore here]] is the Website/DeviantArt version, which has more short-form entries, and [[https://owlquill.com/lorestories/ here]] is the version on Ted Bishop's website "The Owl Quill", which has more long-form entries. Both versions have a FramingDevice starring the guardians of the titular Book of Lore that the other stories are kept in.

* As seen with "Haircut" above, link annotations in Website/YouTube videos can be used to make [=CYOA=] videos like ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3zJcMlqWZA A Heavy's 2fort Adventure]]''. And there's the even longer ''[[http://youtu.be/KS3ANTUOevY A Granary Adventure: The Underdog Story,]]'' which was written by xlr105.

* The [[CanadaEh Canadian]] rapper Classified did this with his "Self Explanatory" CD. The tracks were, aptly named, CYOA 1 - 6.

** However, the "Quest Threads" have not stopped appearing, and have now become a main staple of /tg/, with multiple different settings and gameplay rules to choose from. Just look up the "Quest Threads" or "Collective Games" tags in the [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html /tg/ archives.]]

** The relatively new /mlp/ board has spawned numerous quests including [[http://mlpg.co/arc/mlp/RenneQuest/RenneArchive.html# RenneQuest,]] the never finished [=AuraQuest=], and Shooting Stars, among others. A mostly complete archive can be found [[http://anonpone.pineapplecomputing.com/ here]].

** WebOriginal/{{Eternal}}
** WebOriginal/{{Necromancer}}

* ''Literature/FreewayWarrior'' by Joe Dever (of ''Literature/LoneWolf'' fame) is set in a post-apocalypse world inspired by the ''Film/MadMax'' movies.

* Creator/ChoiceOfGames and its labels [[VideoGame/ChoiceOfGames Hosted Games]] and [[VideoGame/ChoiceOfGames Heart's Choice]] are companies specializing exclusively in text-based CYOA games, with several dozen already on offer. Some of them available for free on their website. Some examples are:

* The entire VisualNovel genre can be described as a kind of gamebook, since the gameplay is entirely about reading text and making choices to direct the story. There is no need to list every individual visual novel here.

* https://www.touhou-project.com/ is a site dedicated to ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fanworks with a focus on [=CYOAs=], though how closely writers stick to the genre varies as a few stories are nigh-choiceless.

* ''Angel Devoid: Face of the Enemy'' (alternatively titled ''Videogame/DeathMask'') has you playing as a police investigator who woke up in a wanted criminal's body without your vocal chords, and must uncover the truth behind what actually happened. The entire game is played out using pre-recorded cinematics, with the outcomes depending on the routes you clicked on.

* [[Creator/StuartAshen Dr. Ashen]] made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWYY4BCAyzQ Who Stole My Sofa?]] in a similar way to ''A Date With Markiplier'', using annotations to allow his viewers to guide him on a journey to find out [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who stole his sofa]]. Featuring [[SpecialGuest special]] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover appearances]] from other [=YouTube=] personalities, including WebVideo/KickThePj, Music/DanBull, [[https://www.youtube.com/user/EuphoricCreation Emma Pickles,]] WebVideo/DanAndPhilGAMES, and [[https://www.youtube.com/user/WorldOfTheOrange WorldOfTheOrange]], a few cameos from "characters" seen in Ashen's other videos, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sponsored by]] [[ProductPlacement Dr. Pepper]], this particular take on gamebooks [[HilarityEnsues gets rather entertaining.]]