Unleashing Your Imagination: Dive into the Thrilling World of Interactive Fiction Games for a Fresh Take on Storytelling | Games

IIn late May, at a $58 million mansion in the hills above Bel Air, influencers, reality TV stars, and other Los Angeles residents gathered around a Netflix-branded TV screen displaying their choices: Are you a Gemini or a Capricorn? What’s your eye color? What’s your occupation? The party, which marked the launch of the streaming giant’s newest service, featured attendees selecting traits for their digital avatars in a “choose your own adventure”-style mobile game inspired by the most popular reality TV shows.

“I wish I was a character!” exclaimed Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim, pausing near the top of the stairs leading to the Netflix reflection pool.

“I’d love to be able to buy real estate, like in Monopoly. I’d love to be able to win,” he said, “and have my character beat my brother.” (His twin brother, Brett, also stars on the show.)

“Plus, it would be cool if my character was tall, because then it wouldn’t make sense,” added the famous real estate broker, who is 5ft 6in tall. “I would have had a better chance of playing the role.”

Selling Sunset is one of several popular reality-TV franchises that Netflix has incorporated into its upcoming games this year. The splashy debut marks further mainstream integration of “choose-your-own-adventure” style games, a genre formally known as interactive fiction. These games, which function like novels, with players’ choices determining how the story unfolds, have exploded in popularity in recent years, fueled by the pandemic, advances in mobile gaming technology, and growing public interest.

The four games Netflix announced this month follow what the company calls huge success with its previous interactive fiction games, the first of which was a game based on the TV show “Too Hot to Handle” in 2022. Each new game will be released alongside the latest season of its respective series, with “Perfect Match” out now and games based on “The Ultimatum” and “Selling Sunset” set to release alongside the latest “season” of “Too Hot to Handle” in 2024.

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