History Main / ChooseYourOwnAdventure

If a direct link led you here, please correct it to go to proper article.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1365620833044520100
%% Image kept per IP thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1551493304046852500
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:300:[[Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gamebook_6699.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple The choices are yours, and yours alone!]]]]

''Note: This is the entry for the entire genre, also known as "gamebooks". For the actual ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series, click [[Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure here]].''

Gamebooks 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 eponymous ''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.]]

'''Example:'''
You enter the marble-clad forum to discover a GHOUL feasting on a corpse. Do you want to:
* Attack the GHOUL? (Turn to [[CurbStompBattle 203]])
* Use your Potion of Persuasion, if you have one? (Turn to [[EpicFail 288]])
* Try to sneak around? (Turn to [[LudicrousGibs 17]])

Nearly all of these books feature SecondPersonNarration, which is {{justified|Trope}} in a meta sort of way: you're the one reading the book and making the decisions about what to do next, so you should take the role of the protagonist. Occasionally there is a limited role for chance and player attributes in fighting and feats of skill. Mapping and note taking is often needed in more complex works. There are typically more ways of failing and/or dying than succeeding. Death sometimes comes in [[TheManyDeathsOfYou horribly]] [[HaveANiceDeath inventive]] [[{{Gorn}} ways]], yielding textual LudicrousGibs.

Success often depends on a combination of luck, possession of difficult to obtain items and sometimes manipulation of the entry number to reach an entry unavailable any other way. {{Lock and Key Puzzle}}s abound. Sometimes these puzzles are so obscure and unintuitive they are SolveTheSoupCans puzzles.

The directed graph of entries for a book can contain alternate paths to the [[SchrodingersGun same destination]], loops, and occasionally island entries unreachable from any legitimate point in the book. Sometimes these unreachable entries are used to humorously scold the reader for cheating. On rare occasions, these islands have included the best ending/only ending in which the PC survives, rendering the whole thing {{Unwinnable}}.

Gamebooks are a rich vein of fantasy, science-fiction and RPG tropes. Illustrations are a key element in setting the mood of a gamebook world.

Several people have written scripts for Internet gamebooks [[RoundRobin allowing the players to add new pages.]] The results are... [[SturgeonsLaw interesting]].

For those interested in creating their own choose your own adventure stories, several programs on the net allow for an easy access and coherent flowchart tool. A notable example is [[http://twinery.org/ Twine,]] a completely freeware program that can be either downloaded or used through a browser.

See also CruelTwistEnding, HaveANiceDeath, InteractiveComic.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Originators]]
* ''Tutor-Text'' is the UrExample. Unlike most later examples these were made as education material rather than fiction.
* The TropeMaker is, depending on who you ask, the french Oulipo movement, the American author John Thomas Sladek or the English author Edmund Wallace Hildick. It's complicated.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'', the TropeNamer and [[TropeCodifier Codifier]]. A series of over 200 books by many different authors, with varying quality. Most are known for their {{Cruel Twist Ending}}s. They also include many interesting [[TheManyDeathsOfYou ways to die]]: your character gets his head bitten off by dinosaurs, smashed by glaciers, bisected by ninjas, etc.
[[/index]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' has a pair of CYOA spinoffs, which were not well-received. Perhaps it was the fact that the story did not actually branch at all, and making the wrong choice simply got you killed on the very next page.
* ''Be a Detective'' is a choose-your-own {{Crossover}} series between ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' and ''Literature/NancyDrew'', which ran for six books.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/BeAnInterplanetarySpy'' is an interesting variation where you have to solve puzzles (analogues to your current situation) instead of simply making a choice. Essentially a multiple-choice visual logic test with a plot.
* ''Literature/BloodSword'', a series of five books by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris created for multiple players. Set in a world very much resembling Medieval Europe (in fact, the same as that of their RPG ''Dragon Warriors''), the series deals with the reawakening of five evil entities, the True Magi, and the coming end of the Millennium.
* ''Literature/TheBoxcarChildren'' introduced a new series of CYOA-style books ("The Boxcar Children Interactive Mysteries") in 2018, the first being ''Midnight at the Haunted Hotel''.
* ''Literature/CanYouSurviveTheZombieApocalypse'' is a more adult twist on the genre, and is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin -- your choices determine how well you do in the ZombieApocalypse.
[[/index]]
* ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'': A series of these type of books were also published in the franchise, which follow the premise of the computer games.
* Creator/SteveJacksonGames licensed their popular ''TabletopGame/CarWars'' tactical combat game as a series of six books published by Creator/{{TSR}} (several being expanded adaptations of adventures previously published in their house organ ''Autoduel Quarterly''). The books were notable for including game mechanics so the player could play through combat with enemies. The books even suggested that groups could play by taking control of different characters or enemies.
* ''Choose-omatic Books'' spoofing the trope as well as the genre covered in each book (ZombieApocalypse and {{Superhero}}, so far). Also, like the early CYOA books that told you how many endings each book had, these ones do too. And tell you how the vast majority [[TheManyDeathsOfYou are some kind of comical death scene]].
* ''Choose Your Own Autobiography'' by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris is an autobiography in CYOA form.
* ''Choose Your Own Horrible History'' is a brand of novels. ''Killing Hitler with Praise and Fire'' is a choose your own adventure type game about killing or eliminating Hitler to make the world a better place. There are a myriad of options available, though the choice is up to you. Some of the options include infanticide, homicide, altering his preferences in partners, biological warfare, art school, raptor Nazis and of course the most cruel, getting him hitched with lots of kids thereby putting to sleep his dreams like he did so many others.
* ''Choose Your Own Mind Fuck Fest'', a parody successor to the beloved childhood series. All endings are losing situations.
* Brazilian books ''[[http://www.liliansypriano.com.br/img/livros/coracao-acelerando_gg.jpg Coração Acelerando]]'' ("Heart Going Faster") and ''[[http://www.liliansypriano.com.br/img/livros/sobressalto_gg.jpg Sobressalto]]'' ("Jolt", as in JumpScare), two DefangedHorrors books, one in a forest and another in the city.
* ''Crossroads Adventure''.
* ''Der Schatz im Ötscher'' (''German for "The treasure in Mt. Oetscher"'') is an Austrian "Choose your adventure book". You're traveling through the caves of the Oetscher (one of Austria's highest and mythological most important mountains) and search for a treasure, while being hindered by traps and monsters from folklore and myths. One especially memorable ending had the protagonist being [[BodyHorror slowly and explicitly]] [[BalefulPolymorph transformed into a toad]] by an old witch.
* ''Destiny Quest'' by Michael Ward is a modern take on the Choose Your Own Adventure genre inspired by games such as ''Diablo'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', featuring monsters to fight and loot to be had. The three books currently available also happen to be [[DoorStopper pretty damn huge]].
* ''Disney'' made some CYOA books for little kids of both genders in TheEighties, inspiring them in their most classic movies. i.e., the protagonist of the ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' one is Cinderella's neighbor who witnesses the Fairy Godmother's spells and gets roped into going to the ball with Cindy, the ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarves'' book has a country boy who gets lost in the forest around the same time Snow runs away from her WickedStepmother, etc.
* ''Series/DoctorWho Decide Your Destiny''. These books aren't the first ones done for the show.
* Steven Brust authorized one when starting the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' series; it stands as a possible case of OldShame.
* ''Dreszcz'' ("Shiver"), an old Polish gamebook from the '90s; it emulates ''Literature/FightingFantasy'', and is mostly memorable for being horribly error-ridden (and UnwinnableByMistake many times over).
* ''Literature/EndlessQuest'' and ''Super Endless Quest'' (later ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks'') were Creator/{{TSR}}'s official lines of game books, and included novels set in the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' and ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' continuities. Some early books even drew from TSR's non-fantasy games like ''TabletopGame/TopSecret'', ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' and ''TabletopGame/StarFrontiers''. It also includes books about Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian and Franchise/{{Tarzan}}.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/TheFabledLands'' are a fantasy series of gamebooks written by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson that have recently been republished in 2010. During its initial release in the '90s, only the first six were ever released. In addition, only the first two were ever published in the USA, under the name ''Quest''. Despite all this, they are amazingly fun to play, mainly because of their open-ended style (That is, they're a WideOpenSandbox series of books, each book covering part of the game world's map). While most other gamebooks had a definite objective, the Fabled Lands books just plonked you down in a random place and said, "have fun whatever you do." Other cool features were six unique character classes, the ability to buy ships and houses, and a huge number of quests you can do whenever you want, or not at all.
* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'', a wildly popular British series that includes simple [[TabletopGames Tabletop RPG]] elements, with dice as randomizers.
** ''Literature/TheWarlockOfFiretopMountain'' by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, the first installment and the one that started it all.
** ''Literature/TheCitadelOfChaos'' by Steve Jackson, second installment of the series.
** ''Literature/TheForestOfDoom'' by Ian Livingstone, third installment of the series.
** ''Literature/CityOfThieves1983'' by Ian Livingstone, 5[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/DeathtrapDungeon'' by Ian Livingstone, 6[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/IslandOfTheLizardKing'' by Ian Livingstone, 7[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/ScorpionSwamp'' by Steve Jackson,[[note]]Not the same Jackson who co-wrote ''Firetop Mountain'' and wrote ''Citadel'', but the US game developer[[/note]] 8[[superscript:th]] installment of the series. Features unusual, multiple alignment-based paths and endings.
** ''Literature/CavernsOfTheSnowWitch'' by Ian Livingstone, 9[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/TalismanOfDeath'' by Jamie Thompson and Mark Smith, a crossover with Literature/WayOfTheTiger.
** ''Literature/TempleOfTerror'' by Ian Livingstone, 14[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/SeasOfBlood'' by Andrew Chapman, 16[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/AppointmentWithFEAR'' by Steve Jackson stands out by using a comics-superhero setting instead of the usual HeroicFantasy.
** ''Literature/HouseOfHell'' by Steve Jackson, similarly, departs by its inspiration being [[HorrorFilms horror movies]].
** ''Literature/DemonsOfTheDeep'' by Steve Jackson (US), set in an unusual underwater setting.
** ''Literature/SwordOfTheSamurai'', letting you play as a samurai in a [[JidaiGeki japanese-like setting.]]
** ''Literature/TrialOfChampions'' by Ian Livingstone, a sequel to ''Literature/DeathtrapDungeon''.
** ''Literature/MasksOfMayhem'' by Robin Waterfield, the 23[[superscript:rd]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc'' by Steve Jackson, where the reader plays this time as a mindless killing monster, in a notable subversion of usual fantasy gamebooks.
** ''Literature/BeneathNightmareCastle'', this time with a dash of Horror thrown in it.
** ''Literature/CryptOfTheSorcerer'', known for being infamously hard.
** ''Literature/PhantomsOfFear'', adding the unusual mechanic of the Dream World.
** ''Literature/MidnightRogue'', which lets you play as a rogue of Port Blacksand.
** ''Literature/ChasmsOfMalice'', by Luke Sharp, an adventure set entirely underground.
** ''Literature/ArmiesOfDeath'', where you're in charge of an army.
** ''Literature/PortalOfEvil'', by Peter Darvill-Evans, where [[EverythingIsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs are met!]]
** ''Literature/VaultOfTheVampire'' by Keith Martin,38[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/DeadOfNight'' by Jim Bambra and Stephen Hand, a gothic-horror adventure where you play as a DemonSlaying templar.
** ''Literature/MasterOfChaos'' by Keith Martin, the 41[[superscript:st]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/TheKeepOfTheLichLord'', whose style became the basis for ''Literature/TheFabledLands'' series
** ''Literature/LegendOfTheShadowWarriors'', Stephen Hand's second book.
** ''Literature/TowerOfDestruction'', the 46[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/{{Moonrunner}}'', Stephen Hand's final book, with a dash of FantasticNoir.
** ''Literature/ReturnToFiretopMountain'' by Ian Livingstone, sequel to ''Literature/TheWarlockOfFiretopMountain'' and MilestoneCelebration.
** ''Literature/IslandOfTheUndead'' by Keith Martin, 51[[superscript:st]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/NightDragon'' by Keith Martin, 52[[superscript:nd]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/{{Spellbreaker}}'' by Jonathan Green, 53[[superscript:rd]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/LegendOfZagor'' by Keith Martin,[[note]]though credited to Ian Livingstone[[/note]] 54rth installment of the series.
** ''Literature/KnightsOfDoom'' by Jonathan Green, 56[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/RevengeOfTheVampire'' by Keith Martin, 58[[superscript:th]] installment and sequel to ''Literature/VaultOfTheVampire''.
** ''Literature/CurseOfTheMummy'' by Jonathan Green, 59[[superscript:th]] installment of the series and the final entry in the original 1982-95 run.
** ''Literature/EyeOfTheDragon'' by Ian Livingstone, 60[[superscript:th]] installment of the series, and the first completely original release of the noughties revival.
** ''Literature/{{Bloodbones}}'' by Jonathan Green, 61[[superscript:st]] installment of the series.[[note]]Originally intended to be published as part of the 1982-95 run as number 60, but the abrupt cancellation of the original series left it unpublished until the noughties revival[[/note]]
** ''Literature/HowlOfTheWerewolf'' by Jonathan Green, 62[[superscript:nd]] installment of the series.
** ''Literature/BloodOfTheZombies'', a SpiritualSuccessor to ''House of Hell'' above, is a loving homage/pastiche to Zombie Horror Films.
[[/index]]
* ''Find Your Fate'' is a series of interactive books based almost entirely on licensed properties. There were books based on ''Franchise/GIJoe'', ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'', ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'', ''Film/JamesBond'', ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''Literature/TheThreeInvestigators''...
[[index]]
* ''{{Literature/Falcon}}'' is a ScienceFiction series by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson features a special agent codenamed [[ProtagonistTitle Falcon]] who is a member of the TimePolice in the year 3033. You are graded each book by how well you maintain the timeline, or at least a CloseEnoughTimeline if everyone dies otherwise.
* ''Literature/FreewayWarrior'' by Joe Dever (of ''Literature/LoneWolf'' fame) is set in a a post-apocalypse world inspired by the ''Film/MadMax'' movies.
[[/index]]
* ''Futabasha'' had made licensed the following books based on existing video game IP:
** The ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' trilogy of books based on ''[[VideoGame/PhantasyStarI I]]'', ''[[VideoGame/PhantasyStarII II]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII III]]''.
** The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' books ''The Battle of the Old Castle'' and ''Genuine Vampire Hunter''.
* A trio of friends under the {{pseudonym}} Helena S Paige have written three woman-oriented choose-your-own-ending erotic novels, ''A Girls Walks Into A Bar/Wedding/Blind Date''. They specifically opted for the CYOA format as a way of putting the woman in control.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'', a spinoff of Creator/RLStine's ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' novels. The "game over" endings were often as gruesome as they were creative, giving many young readers their first direct encounters with horrific imagery. These also have the unusual structure of having the story branch off into two distinct storylines completely cut off from each other, with an earlyish choice in each book determining which one the reader followed. This pivotal choice wasn't exactly pointed out either, so in the early stages of each book, the reader was left in suspense as to which choice would suddenly set them down a distinct path for the rest of the adventure.
* ''Literature/GoldenDragonFantasyGamebooks'', a short but atmospheric series with a simple playing system.
* ''Literature/GrailQuest'', written by J.H. Brennan, is a series set in the Myth/KingArthur universe. Despite its dark and edgy-looking covers and book titles, the series is mainly comedy and parody, inspired by ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. Like ''Fighting Fantasy'', it has RPG elements, with a character sheet and dice-based combat.
* ''Literature/GravityFallsDipperAndMabelAndTheCurseOfTheTimePiratesTreasure,'' a "Select Your Own Choose-venture" based on ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls,'' has [[SeekerArchetype Dipper]] [[SiblingTeam and]] [[CloudCuckooLander Mabel]] help [[TimeTravel Blendin Blandin]] find a lost treasure; you can go to the Middle Ages, Old West or the future to find the necessary key (with each option providing one "winning" path). It was written with help from Alex Hirsch, the show's creator.
[[/index]]
* ''Badlands of Hark'' and ''Invaders of Hark'', where the eponymous DeathWorld offers so many wacky ways to die it makes ''VideoGame/{{Shadowgate}}'' look benign.
* ''Literature/HorrorClassicGamebooks'': Two books by J.H. Brennan, which despite being about {{Dracula}} and Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}, respectively, have a humorous tone similar to ''[=GrailQuest=]'' (fighting [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a vampiric Granny Smith apple]], anyone?). They were also notable for providing two adventures in one, both taking place in the same location but using a different character; in ''Dracula's Castle'' you could play as either the Count himself or Jonathan Harker, and in ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' you were either the monster or its creator.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has a new Choose Your Own Adventure [[http://images.kingdomofloathing.com/cyoa/ booklet]] each year at Comic-Con, often parodying and [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] tropes common in Choose Your Own Adventure books.
* ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' was adapted into two, based loosely on the storyline introduced in ''Lemmings 2: The Tribes''. In the first, you took control of eight Lemmings tribes in an attempt to regain eight pieces of the [[McGuffin broken medallion]]. The second took on a more linear narrative where a small band of Lemmings has to go out to battle an unknown enemy, which is making the Lemmings act against their natures (eg, Shadow Lemmings setting up bright floodlights or Highland Lemmings turning English).
* ''Life's Lottery'' by Creator/KimNewman uses the ''CYOA'' format to take you through a fairly ordinary life (or extraordinary, it depends on you) from birth in the '70s till death, and the small choices you make may have great impact on your life -- in the playground, do you like [[Series/TheManFromUNCLE Illya Kuryakin or Napoleon Solo]] better?. The first choice you have to make is whether or not to draw breath after being born. If not, [[CatchPhrase "go to 0"]]. It can also be read straight through, to reveal a very different story. The main character later appears in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' stories, in which he has the power to shift between different AlternateUniverse versions of himself.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/LoneWolf'', featuring an epic swords-and-sorcery world and a continuing story line with the unique feature of importing your character from book to book. You can read most of them all open-sourced and legal, complete with author approval, at [[http://www.projectaon.org/ www.projectaon.org.]]
[[/index]]
* ''Series/LostInAusten: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure''.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/LesMessagersDuTemps'' (''The Messengers of Time''), a French gamebook series that was marketed as being written by some guy called "James Campbell" despite being a totally French production (including the illustrators) and "being translated from English". HA! Nevertheless, the gamebooks focus more on the storytelling and the universe than the actual gameplay (which is quite linear).
* ''Literature/MetroidZebesShinnyuuShirei'' (''Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order'' or ''Metroid: Zebes Incursion Directive''), a Futabasha gamebook based on ''VideoGame/{{Metroid|1}}''.
* ''Literature/MidnightArcade'', where the reader visits a haunted abandoned video arcade and plays especially immersive old games.
* ''Literature/MurderAtColefaxManor'' is a British murder mystery gamebook set in UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain. [[https://goo.gl/7IlMZf Released as a free PDF here.]]
[[/index]]
* The ''Literature/AmericanGirlsCollection'' released "My Journey" books with the [=BeForever=] reimagining of the historical line in 2014. The books have a female protagonist going back to the Historical Character's time in a FieldTripToThePast, where they have several adventures with the main character. Since the books are aimed towards younger readers (late elementary to middle school), no endings result in death or major injury and the protagonist is always assumed to return home safely to her own time without major issues.
* ''My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel'' is this for the RomanceNovel genre.
[[index]]
* ''[[Literature/MakeYourOwnMagicTheStarswirlDoOver My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Make Your Own Magic – The Starswirl Do-Over]]'' is set in the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]]'' universe. The girls go to a music festival, but Sunset Shimmer finds herself in a GroundhogDayLoop, so she and the reader must make the right choices to break it.
[[/index]]
* The ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia Solo Games]]''.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/NintendoAdventureBooks'', released by Creator/{{Nintendo}}, which were essentially Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books starring either [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] or [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and/or Luigi]]. Unlike many examples of this trope, in each book there was ''[[GoldenEnding only]]'' [[GoldenEnding one good ending]], with the bad endings having "GAME OVER!" written at the end. Also, when ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Super Mario Advance]]'' was first released, a Choose Your Own Adventure book that corresponded with the game's events was released by Scholastic. Each of the four characters went through one of the various worlds on their own and came together to fight [[BigBad Wart]], and at the same time, it was something of a guide for advice. Following it were ones for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' and ''VideoGame/WarioLand 4''.
[[/index]]
* ''Playing with the Prism's Light'' (לשחק באור המנסרה) by Israeli writer Hadas Elber-Aviram has the distinction of not only being one of the only Israeli fantasy books ever, but an ambitious attempt to put a mature twist on the standard fantasy gamebook. While it takes place in the traditional, pseudo-medieval fantasy setting of the "Lands of Snow", the story is far deeper and touches upon far more complex ideas than most others - most prominently, ones about gender, love, and the meaning of male and female sexuality. The protagonist grows as a person throughout the book, and depending on their choices, has the opportunity to become involved in one of a few unusually complex political, philosophical and romantic stories (from becoming the pawn of a witch who grows uglier the more she is loved unconditionally to becoming entangled in a civil war between a prince who was crippled and thus can't be a warrior and a princess who was disfigured and thus isn't seen as a woman).
* ''Pretty Little Mistakes'' and ''Million Little Mistakes'' by Heather [=McElhatton=] are meant to be "adult" variations on the format. Both have a realistic, present-day setting, but it doesn't preclude some very fanciful things from happening to the main character.
* ''The Raging Tide or The Black Doll's Imbroglio'': Not a game, exactly, but this Creator/EdwardGorey's non-linear story uses the Choose Your Own Adventure technique.
* A couple ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' CYOA books were written.
* A couple of storybooks based on the little known toyline Robo Force have a few points in each story the reader has to "Help the Robo Force!". In each case, there is only one right answer.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/RomeoAndOrJuliet'' is a choose-your-own-adventure version of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' by Creator/RyanNorth, and a sequel of sorts to ''Literature/ToBeOrNotToBeThatIsTheAdventure''.
* ''Literature/LaSagaDuPretreJean'' (''The Prester John's Saga''): A French series of books telling the story of Prester John and his quest for the city of Shangri-La across the Orient.
[[/index]]
* ''Sagas of the Demonspawn'': Also by J.H. Brennan, a more serious ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''-esque SwordAndSorcery story.
* ''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.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/{{Sorcery}}'' brought ''Fighting Fantasy'' to an older audience; its books feature very dark artwork influenced by Goya. The series is being [[http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery/ adapted into a computerized version]].
[[/index]]
* ''Stake Your Destiny'': Gamebooks based on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', each set in different spots in the series. They basically put you in Buffy's role, [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne lucky you.]] It doesn't specifically say where, the first is presumably during Season 1 and two more in Season 2.
* ''Literature/StarChallenge'', a series of ten books taking place in a Sci-Fi setting whose unique gimmick was a score system depending of how successful was your mission... if you survived.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/TimeMachineSeries'': The reader has to search through a historical era to discover artifacts or lost knowledge. The books only have one ending, but also include inventories that affect your choices.
* ''Literature/ToBeOrNotToBeThatIsTheAdventure'' is a choose-your-own-adventure version of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' written by Creator/RyanNorth.
* ''Virtual Reality'', a series of six books from the early nineties. Notable for having much more exotic plots than the average gamebook and for using a unique, non-random rule system. The four books by Dave Morris, the ''Panurgic Adventures'' series (of which the best known is ''Literature/HeartOfIce''), are some of the most interesting and intricate gamebooks written. ''Heart of Ice'' is a slightly different take on AfterTheEnd; inspired in part by Jack Vance's ''Dying Earth'', it's a quest set in a world where [[AIIsACrapshoot an insane AI]] has triggered global weather changes and turned the Sahara into a desert.
* ''Literature/TwistAPlot'' is a series of eighteen pick-a-path adventure books published by Scholastic in competition to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'', published by Bantam. Contributors to the series included R.L. Stine, who would go on to write the wildly successful ''Goosebumps!'' series.[[note]] The ones he wrote (and nobody else's) were actually reissued to cash in on his popularity after ''Goosebumps!'' took off. [[/note]]
* ''Literature/WayOfTheTiger'', written and illustrated by ''FF'' alumni Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson, is an especially well-written series featuring a {{ninja}}. Unlike many similar books, this series spends pages describing its world while telling an exciting and atmospheric story with a lot of variety that involves the player not only fighting but also have to deal diplomacy, politics and command strategy.
[[/index]]
* ''Which Way Books'' have a pair of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' books and a spinoff mini-series based on Creator/DCComics heroes.
[[index]]
* ''Literature/WizardsWarriorsAndYou''
[[/index]]
* ''Literature/WhatIf...'' is a series of "choose your own adventure" books when the reader makes choices for the teenage protagonist as to which boys she flirts with, which group she talks to, etc. There are two different types of endings. The "bad" endings (for example, letting the protagonist exploit her popularity too much or letting her team haze the freshman girls) tell the reader to start over. However, some of the endings that don't tell you to start over have bad outcomes, such as getting a hangover or being left alone in motel room after prom night. But most "good" endings have fairly good outcomes, while bad endings almost always chastise the reader for choosing the bad choice.
[[/folder]]

----
!!Examples in other media

[[folder:Arts]]
* ''She Loves The Moon'' is a strange cross between gamebooks, [[AlternateRealityGame ARGs]], and graffiti, as it was drawn on the sidewalks of San Francisco.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* During the side story of ''ComicBook/BatmanEndgame'', the Joker describes his past not as [[MultipleChoicePast multiple choice]], but more like a "choose-your-own-adventure" story.
* The third ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]]'' comic book special, ''Masters of Time and Space'', is a comic book version of this. Notable for its time travel plot, which makes some of the storylines several pages longer than the comic itself. Also notable for having two endings that couldn't be accessed at all unless you skip to them.
* Mike Carey's comic book ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten'' features an issue told as a "Pick-A-Story" book, which tells the backstory of one of the characters. The choices are mostly used to create AlternativeCharacterInterpretation, but there's also a TemporalParadox ending where the protagonist ends up drugged up to her eyeballs in a mental institution.
* ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'':
** The 2012 holiday special has a ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story, "Choose Your Own Xmas" that [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this trope]]; you have to make choices for an everyman, Jason Packard, who is out doing Christmas shopping until he has to suddenly deal with Dredd; the reader is sent bouncing from panel to panel according to their choices. Packard is concerned about the [[InteractiveNarrator strange voice]] talking about page numbers and choices. Meanwhile, Dredd is growing concerned about the way [[spoiler:Packard seems to be reappearing throughout the story, despite being run over, arrested, blown up, or just running out of a room a second ago.]]
[[index]]
** The franchise also experimented with the format in the short-lived ''ComicBook/DiceMan'' comic.
[[/index]]
* Issue 10 of the ''ComicBook/AdventureTime'' comic, as well as the ''[=KaBOOM!=] Summer Blast'' Free Comic Book Day Edition reprint, had Ice King miscasting a mind-control spell that ends up giving the reader control over Finn and Jake.
* Creator/RyanNorth, who wrote the above ''Adventure Time'' example, also wrote a CYOA issue in ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'', which has the reader controlling Squirrel Girl against Swarm.
* One issue of Marvel's ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' allowed the reader to choose from three different outcomes of a situation involving ComicBook/IronMan and the Living Laser.
* Parodied in the first volume of ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' when [=ThugBoy=] is given three choices how to respond to Emp's question.
[[index]]
* Makaka, a French editor, has started a franchise called ''The comic book in which you are the hero'', or also ''ComicBook/DiaryOfAHero'' which is a series of CYOA in comic book form. The books exploit heavily this nature by hiding items or instructions for better paths in the drawings, involving the player in a deeper way than a prose book.
[[/index]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Superlopez}}'': The adventure ''Los Petisos Carambanales'' is this in comic book form.
* Several stories in the ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics written in Italy followed this format. They were known as ''storie a bivi'' (crossroads stories) and they were published mainly in TheEighties and TheNineties.
* A ''Deadpool'' comic, ''You Are Deadpool'', written by the same writer as the ''Judge Dredd'' example up above, with a tiny bit of roleplaying added into the mix (different choices come with a meter for Deadpool's badness or sadness meter, and some choices are determined by dice roll).
* The ''ComicBook/{{Futurama}}'' comic invoked and parodied this trope in issue #46, ''Follow The Reader,'' where the reader is every so often given choices on whether to skip forward or backward in the comic -- but the reader's choices don't actually affect the story in any way, they just decide how much of it you actually read (and sometimes alter the context of a scene a little by making different set-ups or payoffs for jokes).
** Some of the alternate paths offered are even complete jokes in and of themselves, such as the part where Fry wishes he still had the reality-warping die from ''Bender's Game,'' and the reader is told to "cut this panel out, then cut the shape out, tape it together, and you have a die! Number it, roll it and go to that page! Unless you've gone stupid, then just read on."
** One of the paths even leads to a story that was covered in an earlier issue, and if picking this path, the reader is told to go read that issue.
** And the ending leads to a final path telling the reader to go back to the beginning of the issue, and it's implied several times during the story itself that the story is actually a StableTimeLoop where the same things happen over and over.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Twilight's Big Adventure'' is a fan-created example [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZphMMGeo9A&feature=share told with the video annotation tools on youtube]] based on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. [[EsotericHappyEnding Technically every ending is a "win" solution]], but one would be hard pressed to describe some of the endings as ''good''.
* ''[[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.
* Another one is ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/421779/ Voyage Of The Equinox]]'' which dumps the Mane 6 and other ponies in a sci-fi setting.
* http://www.touhou-project.com/ is a site dedicated to ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' [=CYOAs=], though how closely writers stick to the genre varies as a few stories are nigh-choiceless.
* There is an ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'' [[FanFicRecs/StarWars fanfiction]] called ''[[http://yonwords.livejournal.com/2315.html Flight School]]'' which fills this trope. It's pretty short, but also quite decent. Note that while some endings are better or worse than others, impressing or not impressing the famous pilots, none result in death. Or maiming. Or worse, expulsion.
* [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Early chapters]] of ''FanFic/SweetiesMansion''. Helpfully, fatal choices are red links whereas choices that advance the plot are green.
* An [[http://www.philome.la/Opaopa13/undertale-a-diary-v3 online game]] called ''Undertale: A Diary'' supplements the original game and involves you reading through Sans's diary. It's styled as a CYOA book filled with [[SchrodingersQuestion Schrödinger's questions]] about your journey. And after you finish reading the diary, [[spoiler: you reset and realize that you can just flip to whatever page you want.]]
* [[http://monsterjail.itch.io/steamedhams SteamedHams.exe]] is a fan-made choose-your-own-adventure version of the "Skinner and the Superintendent" segment from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield 22 Short Films About Springfield]]".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''Scourge of Worlds'', a made-for-DVD CGI-animated film based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', featured several decision points where the viewer could impact the direction of the story.
* CYOA had one of those itself based on one of its early books about looking for the Abominable Snowman (and staring the voice of Frankie Muniz). There had been talk of others but apparently there wasn't enough of a reaction to the one they did make.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The horror film ''[[http://www.oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=598 Chuckle's Revenge]]''.
* The 2001 film ''Point of View'' was one of the first produced specifically for DVD in order to make use of its technology. At certain points in the film, viewers could make decisions that impacted the direction of the story.
* The Thrill Ride Edition of ''Film/FinalDestination3'' on DVD features "Choose Their Fate", in which the viewer gets to determine the fates of some characters. Subverted in that each person would be killed in a different fashion immediately after they were saved by your choice. This is sort of in keeping with the predestination ideas of the movie.
* Creator/JimHenson and Creator/MauriceSendak developed ideas for [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Varied_Adventures_of_Mischievous_Miles a film]] where the audience was able to influence the story's direction... in '''[[OlderThanTheyThink 1980]]'''. Needless to say, it didn't materialize, but that was mostly because Henson and Sendak were becoming too preoccupied with other projects.
* ''Film/ReturnToHouseOnHauntedHill'': The unrated DVD features technology which allows you to change the decision made by a character, and thereby radically alter outcome of the movie. There are 96 total ways the movie can play out.
* The mind-bending videogame-esque game-within-a-show-within-a-game-within-a-film ''Film/BlackMirrorBandersnatch'', where the characters, incidentally, are also trying to choose their own adventure whilst "knowing" that you're doing it for them, too. From the mind of Creator/CharlieBrooker.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* There was a televised example on UK children's TV in the '80s hosted by Sylvester [=McCoy=] called ''What's Your Story?'', where viewers phoned in after each episode to suggest what happened next.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has the "code blue" game on their [[http://www.scrubs-tv.com/fun.html website,]] in which your choices of lines of speech can dramatically alter your first day at the hospital.
* Another example from UK children's TV: sci-fi drama ''Jeopardy'' (not to be confused with the US game show) gave viewers the opportunity to vote on the ending of the final episode from a choice of "happy", "sad" or "spooky". The spooky ending was chosen with the other two options appearing on the CBBC website for several years before disappearing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The [[CanadaEh Canadian]] rapper Classified did this with his "Self Explanatory" CD. The tracks were, aptly named, CYOA 1 - 6.
* Another music-related example is the electronic music collective Gescom's Minidisc, which has 88 tracks ranging from mere seconds to few minutes. The record is supposed to be played on shuffle, with a different hour-long consistent piece being played each time. (At the time of its release, only the obscure Minidisc format allowed gapless playback between tracks.)
* From Neil Cicierega of Music/LemonDemon and ''WebVideo/PotterPuppetPals'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUIu6_eTkjY "Haircut, a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Song!"]]
* A billboard in Los Angeles band Lord Huron's music video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl1FOuZnOAg "Fool for Love"]] features a 1-800 phone number that, if called in real life, leads to a choose-your-own-adventure story.
* Not exactly music, but there was a series of interactive audio dramas called ''Terror T.R.A.X.'' where the user would skip to certain tracks based on their decisions. ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' once did a review series on them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Poetry]]
* There's ''[[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/419203 Choices: a poem]]'', a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure [[{{Poetry}} poem]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Many [=RPGs=] rulebooks include a short (under 100 scenes) example of this trope, where the reader uses the game system (and a pre-generated character) as the randomizing element, as a way of teaching the rules and RPG concepts. For example ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' RPG, ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'', ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace''...
* ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'' has the solo adventure Sub Africa in Challenge 58.
* The TabletopRPG ''TabletopGame/TunnelsAndTrolls'' has a line of "Solo Adventures", which were essentially gamebooks with the game's rules and dice added as a randomizing element.
* Such things also existed for other systems, such as early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' or ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye''. The concept really only ''worked'' for fairly rules-light games with reasonably abstract combat. And even then, only for a restricted range of characters as anticipated by the writers (which generally meant "no magic-users" and might plausibly limit the player to a single class -- commercial solo adventures were most popular during the heyday of class-and-level systems, which helped).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''
** The original TabletopRPG rulebook features a remarkably edgy and sour short example to teach basic game concepts, mechanics and help confuse the tone of the game.
** It's probably a different one that was in the Jan/Feb issue (No 77) of ''Fantasy Gamer'' magazine, which is now available in the Python programming language. Just search for "doesn't exist. Can't happen with computer version," and compile. It's the ''Paranoia'' ChristmasSpecial! Contains StupidityIsTheOnlyOption, ButThouMust, and YouCantThwartStageOne.
* There was once a ''two-player'' example called ''1 On 1'', where the players were opposing factions and would role-play the monsters the other fought as well; naturally, there was a combat system and stats so the players could interact. There were even a pair of entries based on Creator/MarvelComics series. The ''Combat Heroes'' series by Joe Dever (of ''Literature/LoneWolf'' fame) is another example of this concept. Also, the ''Lost Worlds'' gamebooks; each character in the system had his/her own book, and any two players could battle by exchanging books. The series was franchised to Creator/MarvelComics and ''Franchise/StarWars''; right now, arguably the most famous version is the ''Anime/QueensBlade'' series, which is basically ''Lost Worlds'' [- WITH HOT [[ActionGirl ACTION GIRLS]] IN [[{{Stripperiffic}} TINY OUTFITS]]!-]
* ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' received a board game version with ''House of Danger.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In the play ''Theatre/ShearMadness'', a murder occurs off-stage. In the second act, audience members are allowed to question all of the characters in the play and try to figure out who the murderer is. The ending of the play changes based on what the audience decides.
* The [[Theatre/{{Drood}} musical adaptation]] of ''Literature/TheMysteryOfEdwinDrood'' stops at the point where Creator/CharlesDickens died writing the original novel and lets the audience choose who the murderer is.
* Creator/TeamStarkid's musical ''Theatre/TheTrailToOregon'' allowed the audience to choose names for the main characters, which of the family will die at the end and the method of their death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' adds a short but playable one called ''Kolb and the Dragon'' to its list of [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe books]].
* You can find a non-playable one in ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}} 2''. Apparently it's seems to be a TakeThat.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' has a short parody text adventure during the mission where you confront Matt Miller, leader of the Deckers, called "Dragons and Tears: Part 1 of The Spiraling Darkness Trilogy." How do you win? [[spoiler:Kill the unicorn]].
* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', the mission to rescue Matt Miller from [[AlienInvasion the Zin]] involves a text-adventure segment calling back to the previous game.
* ''VideoGame/FableIII'' has a book like this called "Choose Your Own Endeavor", but since like all books in the game the contents are limited to a short audio clip, you can't actually play it.
* Numerous sections of ''VideoGame/KentuckyRouteZero'' play out like this.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' and SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' are two high-profile videogame examples of this trope, but are more accurately described as VisualNovels.
* The ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'' is all about this trope. The player has to make multiple choices throughout the game.
* Adventures in ''VideoGame/WildStar'' play like this, having branching paths that affect the storyline and the environment. Do you quell the rioting prisoners, save the Warden, or get stronger munitions for the guards?
* ''VideoGame/TheYawhg'' gives you six weeks to decide how your characters will live their lives -- and raise their stats -- before the YAWHG arrives.
* A few relatively obscure CD-based interactive movies were this, called "Choose your own nightmare". There is ''no'' shortage of NightmareFuel in them, being adapted from the books of the same name. Humorously, you can hear Mithos Yggdrasil and possibly Spinelli in a few.
* ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'' is a deconstruction of 'Choose Your Own Adventure Stories' (and video games in general), highlighting how essentially, all the 'choice' is meaningless since they're all pre-existing paths that you cannot alter. Also, ironically, the 'best' ending, where Stanely manages to throw off his mind control, escape to freedom and be happy, can only be obtained by [[spoiler: following the Narrator's instructions to the letter.]]
* ''VideoGame/MixOre'' allows the player to choose which girl they will follow. However, each route will result in the character either nearly dead or completely broken.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has you choose which side to fight for: The peace loving Japanese-like Hoshido, and the Medieval Europe-like Nohr. You could also TakeAThirdOption and have Corrin initially reject both families, only to rally them all together after discovering the game's GreaterScopeVillain.
* Games made in the Twine engine are, generally speaking, variably elabourate versions of gamebooks: some tell a lightly interactive story, while others have audio-visual elements and some additional game mechanics. The most famous/infamous of these is probably ''VideoGame/DepressionQuest'', though many other Twine-based games have some degree of acclaim in independent game circles.
* ''VideoGame/HardWest'' alterns TurnBasedTactics sequences à la ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', and a worldmap on which the party travels between points of interest, which triggers dialogs which can give new party members, gold or items (or loss of them), allow to visit a merchant, receive buffs or de-buffs (usually from receiving a wound), and enter into fight sequences.
* Between missions in ''VideoGame/StarFoxCommand'', the player is given choices about what to do next, and the choices made affect the characters that join the group and the direction the plot moves, eventually leading to one of ten different endings.
* ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'' focuses a lot on this trope. The choices can lead to several branching paths in the game. Some of the choices affect TheProtagonist's relationship with another ranger.
* Creator/ChoiceOfGames is a company specializing exclusively in text-based CYOA games, with several dozen already on offer, all of them available for free on their website. Among their number are:
** ''VideoGame/ChoiceOfRobots''
** ''VideoGame/SabresOfInfinity''
** ''VideoGame/AStudyInSteampunk''
** ''VideoGame/TinStarChoiceOfGames''
** ''VideoGame/WayWalkersUniversity''
** ''VideoGame/ZombieExodus''
** ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}''
* ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' provides a simple story about a {{Yandere}} girl wanting to be with her Senpai. Despite this easy storyline, you get to choose her personality and her actions. She can either be a matchmaker for her rivals or she can a sociopathic monster who's willing to hurt and kill anyone who stands in her way.
* ''VideoGame/TheAgeOfDecadence'': Quests 'can' go down the path of violence, but unless your character is specifically geared toward it, that tends to be discouraged. Instead, most quests will end up being a series of dialogues with plenty of skill checks.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterLovesYou'' follows the general format of a CYOA book, with some LifeSimulationGame elements thrown in.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims4'', the game sometimes presents choices like these while your Sim is at work, at school, exploring the jungle, or exploring space in a rocket. It's particularly pronounced in the latter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* 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.
* Some gamebooks that were originally published in print have been adapted to digital format and sold as video games. These are mostly published by ''Creator/TinManGames''. Entries include "The Forest Of Doom" and "Starship Traveller", both of which were originally published as ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' books.
* ''VisualNovel/SwordDaughter'' is a direct adaptation of a gamebook from the "Dragontales" line, now illustrated in the style of a visual novel.
* In ''VisualNovel/MyHaremHeavenIsYandereHell'', the reader has two/three choices for each situation. The choices will determine who Yuuya gets and what his ultimate fate will be.
* ''VisualNovel/YandereILoveYouSoIWantToKillYou'' goes this ways as well. There are only two choices available for the whole novel and they point to ten different endings.
* ''VisualNovel/PurinoParty'' has something like this going for it. You can interact with all of the girls in the game or just to stick to one at a time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* The video series ''The Journal of Morning Mist'', based on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', features Morning Mist going to a seemingly-deserted island and finding evidence of a ReligionOfEvil that worships an EldritchAbomination known as "Mother," and writing about what he finds. Whichever path the viewer chooses, the expedition all goes to hell quickly, and the journal turns into an ApocalypticLog. [[DownerEnding None of the paths end well for Morning Mist]]; some entries feature him [[BrainwashedAndCrazy getting brainwashed by Mother]], some feature him dying from Mother [[EyeScream making him tear his own eyes out]], and a few have him begging for help after the cult captures and tortures him. Even the entries where Morning Mist isn't dead, tortured or indoctrinated are ambiguous, but [[UncertainDoom the implications are clearly unpleasant]].
* ''WebAnimation/CheeseFestival'' is an interactive game based on the cartoon "Hey Arnold" with teenage versions of the characters. The player chooses Helga's moves throughout the three days before the Cheese Festival, however the outcome of the story remains the same.
* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner''
** The 2005 Halloween cartoon is the interactive animation [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/ween05.html Halloween Potion-ma-jig.]] It actually features a bit of bait-and-switch, presenting the viewer with one adventure in the intro (helping Homestar find his costume and escape a haunted mansion) and then giving them another (helping Homestar find ingredients for Marzipan's Halloween potion... ''after'' he had doodled all over her recipe).
** The Strong Bad e-mail "one step ahead" took the form of a gamebook after the e-mail was read to determine whether to glue Strong Sad's hands to his face. The choices left for the user is "Yes", "Maybe" and "Take it in a bit of a different direction", with a different scene playing for each choice.
* An episode of ''WebAnimation/BonusStage'' titled "2 Fast" had an ending where the viewer chooses how to resolve the plot of Joel being cursed by living in the house next door into a female blue blob creature, with the choices "Normal Ending", "Creepy Ending", and "''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' ending". The first ends the episode with a de-transformed Joel stabbing Phil, the second with out-of-character romance that was later {{Orwellian Retcon}}ned into puppetry, and the third with a non-sequitur pun.
* ''WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsDigitalSeries'' did a number of interactive shorts with MultipleEndings, where one of the girls has a dilemma (like Sunset trying to pass her driving exam in "Driving Miss Shimmer", or Fluttershy trying to overcome her stage fright in "Fluttershy's Butterflies") and you choose which of their friends helps them out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Sci-fi webcomic ''Webcomic/GiftsOfWanderingIce'' has its own choose your adventure game [[http://mildegard.ru/art/DL_icegifthunt.html "Ice gift hunt"]] that lets readers decide the course of some background events of the main story.
* The sprite comic ''Metroid: Third Derivative'' once used a 12-panel [[http://bobandgeorge.com/comics/archives/metroid/Metroid239.png example]] as filler.
* Creator/JasonShiga has a few gamebook {{webcomics}} on [[http://shigabooks.com/ his website.]] ''ComicBook/{{Meanwhile}}'' is the longest and best of these.
* ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' did an AlternateUniverse Choose Your Own Adventure story-arc in April of 2008, a second arc in December 2008, and a third in mid-2010. At particular points in the story line, readers were given a choice between different actions that the main character Ethan could take and were encouraged to send an email to a special account to indicate their selection. The choice with the most votes was illustrated for the next installment of the comic. Counts as a CYOA because Tim Buckley had already scripted out where each choice would lead ahead of time, and did not change "bad endings" even if they won the popular vote. The first story ended halfway through with the main character dying horribly due to a failed AirVentPassageway escape. Following this, the structure was modified so the narrative would have fewer "dying horribly" options and more "Ethan gets screwed but the story can continue" choices. Though [[http://www.cad-comic.com/images/news/planetofdoom_storytree.gif this]] is still pretty bloodthirsty, the voters managed to get through it alive.
* ''Webcomic/CityOfReality'' ran an arc which essentially functioned as this, run by a snarky time-reversal device.
* ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' once had a [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1027 "CYOA"]] that amusingly features a ButThouMust. A [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1486 later guest strip]] by [[Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures Andrew Hussie]] features T-Rex attempting to do an animated strip version of a CYOA, with Dromiceiominus and Utahraptor discussing with him about the problems with handling a CYOA in said format. [[spoiler:It falls apart in the fifth panel, where T-Rex and Utahraptor end up carrying their conversation through the panel shifts.]] In case you want to read the whole thing at your own pace, [[http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1287951646 here you go.]] Click the image (actually the .swf) after clicking the link and then use the left and right arrow keys (on your keyboard) to navigate.
* The second ''Webcomic/{{MS Paint Adventure|s}}'', ''[=BardQuest=]'', was in this format, but it was abandoned pretty quickly for being too complicated to do as a serial.
* ''Webcomic/{{Buttersafe}}'' has one, called [[http://buttersafe.com/2007/05/03/choose-your-own-adventure/ "Choose Your Own Adventure,"]] but [[ChandlersLaw loses the will part way through...]]
* Parodied in [[http://timeslikethis.com/?id=264 a strip]] of ''Webcomic/TimesLikeThis'', where the protagonist uses a time machine to get it right on the first read.
* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' created one as part as an April Fools Joke.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''VideoGame/SixQuest'' is collection of interactive gamebooks
* Nostalgia website ''I-Mockery'' has a few Halloween-themed [=CYOA=] stories. They used to be called "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories, [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope but are now called "Select Your Destiny" stories]].
* [[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.
* Lore F. Sjoberg's [[http://www.brunching.com/chooseadventure.html "Choose Your Own Damn Adventure"]] on the website ''Brunching Shuttlecocks''. In stark contrast to the usual escapist fare, a sardonic take on RealLife is played out in the form. It was later followed up with four sequels, "Choose Your Own Damn Serial Murder," "Choose Your Own Damn Sex Act", "Choose Your Own Damn Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Adventure," and "Choose Your Own Damn Franchise/HarryPotter Adventure."
* ''[[http://www.bradthegame.com Brad: the Game]]'' is just one big MindScrew. One gross, perverted, strangely attractive mindscrew (it's also written by a Reverend).
* The ''Website/{{Addventure}}'' series and spin-offs took the concept, put it online, and did the obvious thing of allowing readers to write their own chapters to add to them... How well this worked varied considerably, although those moderated for spelling and sanity (or at least consistency) tends towards being decent.
* ''{{Literature/Dream High School}}'' is a variant where you vote on what happens next and once voting closes the next page is written.
* Website/FourChan
** The WebOriginal known as ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' was a Choose Your Own Adventure operated via WildMassGuessing, played out over the course of two months by an author/artist known only as Weaver. It has spawned various other so-called "collective games", varying in quality. Most were {{troll}}ed to death, while Roleplay/DorfQuest (based off ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', which is very popular on the /tg/ board of 4chan) and Joan's Quest are still running.
** 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 /m/ board has also seen three major Quest Threads, with the largest being ''Roleplay/SuperRobotWarsQuest'' (based off ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''). There's also ''[[Roleplay/MusouVerse MusouQuest]]'' (a ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' / ''Franchise/DotHack'' mix), and /m/ Quest.
** 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]]
* Some of the aforementioned Internet gamebooks includes the Unending BE Addventure, Anime Addventure, and one on a site called Vampyou.com.
** http://www.bearchive.com/~addventure/game1/docs/1.html ('''NOTE: extremely NSFW!''' The "BE" stands for BreastExpansion.)
** http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/ ([[CaptainObvious focused on Japanese media]], had much less NSFW content, but now defunct; ''FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' began as a story thread on that site)
** http://www.vampyou.com/fiction/index.php
** http://www.sir-toby.com/extend-a-story/story-1/ for a more ... PG alternative.
* Neo-Adventures allow players of the website ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' to create their own Choose Your Own Adventure stories. They can then be shown to other players, who go through them by clicking a series of links in a pop-up window. There's even an option to add 'Turn to page __' at the end of each link!
* [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/flash-tub/tub-adventure.php Tub Adventure,]] as seen on Website/SomethingAwful's Flash Tub.
* Mike Kayatta, of Website/TheEscapist, created a ''Franchise/MassEffect'' [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9514-Pick-Your-Path-Mass-Effect Pick Your Own Adventure.]]
* 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.
* [[http://editthis.info/create_your_own_adventure/Main_Page Create Your Own Story]] is a wiki based site specifically for user submitted choice based stories where the reader assumes the role of the main character. Readers can add in different paths or start new stories of their own. The content is divided up into separate featured, family friendly, quizzes, PG-13, mature, and [[EverybodyHasLotsofSex adult]] categories.
* Website/ChooseYourStory is a website allowing all members to join and take part in writing their own interactive stories, otherwise known as story-games. (However, due to the versatility of the site's editor, CYOS (or CYOA) are not the only option. Quizzes, games of chance, regular stories, and role-playing games are also possible.)
** WebOriginal/AGameOfLifeAndDeath
** WebOriginal/{{Eternal}}
** WebOriginal/{{Necromancer}}
* ''Website/ClickHole'' has a series of articles called [[http://www.clickhole.com/features/clickventure/ "ClickVentures."]]
* Uncyclopedia has a "Games" sub-wiki made entirely of these.
* A Cracked photo contest "If Todays Games had been made in Earlier Generations" has ''Franchise/MassEffect'' as one of these.
* Wiki/SCPFoundation: [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975 SCP-2975]]'s [[http://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/scp-2975/Another%20Sun.html after action report.]]
* [[http://www.ffproject.com/ The FF Project.]]
* [[http://www.arborell.com/gamebook_archive.html Arborell's Gamebook Archives.]]
* WebOriginal/{{Jumpchain}} is a Choose Your Own Adventure-inspired journey through the multiverse.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} celebrated Valentines day in 2017 by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyU_1JD2wuA going on a date]] with his viewers using a Choose Your Own adventure game, made out of [=YouTube=] videos.
* [[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.]]
* WebVideo/ChadMattAndRob have posted five interactive films on [=YouTube=], using [=YouTube=] annotations to create branching paths for the viewer to choose.
* 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.
* WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob's 500th episode was a review done in this style centered around the filmography of Creator/SteveGuttenberg (presented as if it was Guttenberg's actual life).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Peter reading one in bed.
-->'''Peter:''' Hmm, to follow the ghost into the cave, turn to page 32. Okay, we'll just go on over to-- AH! AH! AH!!! Wait! It doesn't count because I kept my finger on the page! You seen it, Lois! You seen my finger on the page!\\
'''Lois:''' ''[sighs]'' Yeah, Peter, I seen it.
* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBookTrappedInAnEpicTale'' is the first of (probably) many Creator/{{Netflix}} films that will have this style, allowing the player to choose what happens next.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' has an episode that let the audience call in their choice as to how the episode ended. The two choices that didn't win were shown before the one that was. Since then, only the chosen ending has been shown in syndication.
* An early episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' had movies set up like this; theatergoers voted on where the film goes. The joke was it always went with the shit option no matter what.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Choose Your Own Adventure has branched out into real life, as a cult of "dice living" has developed. People make real-life decisions, ranging from where to go on Saturday night to what career to choose, based on rolls of the dice. Dice living was inspired by the novel ''Literature/TheDiceMan'' and other works by Luke Rhinehart. (Though it might be argued that this is an inversion of the trope. Choosing Your Own Adventure in fiction gives the reader control over events that they would normally only be able to observe and not influence. Letting the roll of a die make a decision for you in real life takes away a decision that otherwise would have been yours to make. [[SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate However, you ARE choosing to leave that decision to chance...]])
[[/folder]]

** ''Literature/VaultOfTheVampire'' by Keith Martin, 38[[superscript:th]] installment of the series.