In The Story is a gamebook app for readers and authors. I usually prefer to read in print myself. I can navigate the text better than on a Kindle, but it does mean that every room in my house is lined with bookshelves and there are overspill boxes in the loft. Where gamebooks are concerned, though, there's a lot to be said for an app that keeps track of keywords and stats and that means you don't have to keep flipping back and forth through the pages. That's why Down Among the Dead Men is available in digital form on the Storm Weavers store and you can read my interactive version of Frankenstein in multiple languages.
If you're an author, it looks like you can assemble your gamebook in a browser and then publish on the ITS platform. And the technology gives you access to all sorts of gameplay features such as tracking the passage of time, which is very fiddly in print gamebooks, as players of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective will know. A new medium opens up new opportunities, so although it will be nice to see some classic gamebooks like Way of the Tiger on the In The Story platform, it's the all-new content I'm looking forward to.
As far as I can tell, for Apple devices it's only for Iphone at the moment. Doesn't even work for my Ipad Air. Similarly it's not currently available on Google Play in the Uk at all. Hopefully they'll widen the access as they develop it.
ReplyDeleteIt's very much in the start-up phase so far. I'm planning to put Heart of Ice on their platform soon, and Jamie Thomson & Mark Smith are considering licensing Way of the Tiger. But, as I said, it's the content written to the platform's own strengths that are most interesting.
DeleteNeat, I'd love to see Way of the Tiger on an App.
DeleteMany thanks for your comment and support! We're working hard over here to bring you new updates and great features soon. The Android version is availabile on UK now, and tablet support is coming next! Keep up with all our news on Instagram (@inthestoryapp).
DeleteThis is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI've entered a 100 paragraph gamebook into the Lindenbaum Prize this year and also made a playable html version of it with Claude that I'll publish once the competition is over.
Would be good to see how easy the creation process is and the extent to which you can have gamebook features like codewords etc
The In the Story team have just been showing me Heart of Ice. They adapted it very quickly and its has shops, codewords, and other game features. Oh, and best of luck with the Lindenbaum Prize -- the entries for which are here.
DeleteContact us at authors@inthestory.app! I'd be happy to help adapt your story too!
DeleteHi Dave,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the brilliant shout-out! We’re just wrapping up the adaptation of Heart of Ice right now, and the team is really looking forward to bringing many more of your works to life on the app.