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The Best Examples Of Choose Your Own Adventure Interactive Video

(Note: We previously wrote about Choose Your Own Adventure Interactive Video being either fad or trend - and it’s definitely a trend.  This article will go into more detail on some of the best examples of Choose Your Own Adventure content that are out on YouTube, the Web and even Mobile.)

Interactive video takes many forms, everything from how to instructional videos and games to community driven interaction.  With the advancement of emerging technologies however, choose your own adventure video (CYOA) has given Edward Packard’s storytelling format of yesteryear a kick towards the digital mainstream.  Its resurgence can be credited partly to YouTube for easing the development process and establishing its prominence within the community; although independent Flash executions, Blu-ray DVDs and mobile applications are also unlocking the potential of CYOA video.

With the introduction of YouTube Annotations, out went the programmer.  All you need is a good storyteller that understands interactive, a computer and a camera. 

To date, there have been a few successful attempts at CYOA’s leaning toward the higher end of the YouTube production scale.  “The Time Machine”, a third-person CYOA in which it is your mission to get Chad, Matt and Rob to their twelve o’clock meeting without dying, and “Follow Your Instinct”, a first-person CYOA in which you awake after a long night with a lovely lady.  Late for a meeting, you either choose to follow your instinct to successfully navigate the outcome of your day or make all the wrong moves.  Each CYOA video uses comedy as the basis of its storytelling narrative; one is in the science fiction genre, the other aims for aspiring lifestyle.  What they do well is engage the user from the start and peak enough curiosity to want to continue.  Both of these videos have enjoyed moderate success but so have the basement productions.

One such production is “Choose Your Path”.  In this third-person CYOA it is up to you to help find Sparta, the missing cat.  Excluding the novelty of YouTube Annotations—as I believe this might be one of the first videos to use the feature—it has racked up nearly 1.7 million views.  Someone has a soft spot for lost kitties. 

The earliest forms of CYOA storytelling that I was able to locate on YouTube comes from our friends down under, Australia.  Added on February of 2007, before Annotations was available, Choose Your Own Tube, a sitcom of sorts, used community commenting to vote on what would happen in the next episode.  Although voting to see what happens next is a great tool for fostering community growth, the storyline failed to maintain interest throughout and its inability to capitalize on the online generations need for instant gratification led to a dwindling audience.  Season one, episode one garnered 70,717 views while season three, episode one netted a significantly lower 9,037 views.

“Survive the Outbreak”, an independent Flash execution, uses a custom Flash player to reveal its narrative.  Within this third person “Night of the Living Dead” CYOA it is up to you to make the right decisions to survive.  The beauty of the execution of “Survive the Outbreak” is driven by two components.  The story starts the viewer off in the thick of the action right from the start and maintains your interest by leading you into tension-driven decisions that result in life or death.  The second is the custom Flash player.  For users who lack the time or the patience to try all the options, there is a chapter select feature that allows you to navigate back to decision points so you can quickly try alternate options upon failure.

For the iPhone there are several CYOA downloads such as text games and audio books. However, the one that has caught my eye is “Alternate Endings”.  In this cinematic CYOA the story revolves around the murder of an unbearably controlling director on the set of a new movie.  All of the film’s crew have justifiable motivation to want him dead, it is up to you as Russell the security guard to solve the mystery.  What is unique about “Alternate Endings” is that it provides mobile entertainment that gives chase to replay.  The story digresses enough with intriguing backstories to motivate the user.  The structure provides paths that sometimes return you to previously viewed clips, but the options give enough incentive to continue off onto an entirely unique path without the story falling apart.

The beauty of interactive video and CYOA are their abilities to build community and foster replay, thus increasing time spent with your story.  In today’s world of increasingly demanding audiences and marketing budget shifts, it makes sound sense to unite interactive with traditional production to reap the benefits of a long-term investment.  Choose your own adventures are not necessarily the be-all-end-all of entertainment.  What it provides is a unique story telling platform that engages users to revisit content, ultimately giving reasonable value to viewers to purchase a DVD, download a mobile application or spend more time in front of your brand.

Tags: annotations, Choose Your Own Adventure, Interactive Video, youtube