Choose your own path: Developing digital interactive fiction (IF) in the humanities

In this session, the presenters will discuss how interactive fiction (IF) can be used for storytelling, discussion, and reflection in the undergraduate humanities classroom. IF, also referred to as “Choose Your Own Path” or gamebooks, has become a popular method to engage students in scenario-based learning. These engaging digital games lead students through a branching story, and the choices students make in the game directly influence their future choices and the story outcomes.

Funded by an AMICAL Small Grant, Kaitlin Lucas (technologist), Irene Lubbe (faculty), Juan Manuel Rubio Arévalo (doctoral student, Medieval Studies), and Flora Ghazaryan (doctoral student, Comparative History) embarked on a journey to explore how IF could be incorporated into Central European University’s interdisciplinary bachelor’s programs. Along the way, they partook in meaningful collaborations with CEU’s librarians, faculty, IT, and web development teams.

In this session, they will share:

• key takeaways from each stage of the collaborative game development process;
• the outcomes of the project, which include two digital games (“The Four Cities: A story of Outremer in the 12th Century” and “The Richest and Most Favoured Rayahs of the Sultan: The Case of Düzoğlus”) and an OER guide to developing IF;
• their plans to incorporate the games into the classroom during the 2023-2024 academic year.

While their current quest is wrapping up, it is just the beginning of a larger journey to incorporate purposeful game-based learning experiences within the higher education humanities curriculum.