{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188","type":"mechanic","id":"narrative-investigation--t188","lang":"en","title":"Interactive fiction and text-based actions","summary":"Interactive fiction turns reading into an action choice, after which text reports state changes and available continuations.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188.md","aliases":["Interactive prose"],"tags":["Narrative, dialogue and investigation","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-24607f3488b057c0","source-9d03e465838b74e1"],"sources":[{"id":"source-24607f3488b057c0","title":"inkle: ink","url":"https://github.com/inkle/ink","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-9d03e465838b74e1","title":"AI Dungeon","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Interactive fiction turns reading into an action choice, after which text reports state changes and available continuations."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t188-variants\"></a>\n\n- Links provide explicitly named actions. <a id=\"t188-v1\"></a>\n- Parsers accept a constrained command grammar. <a id=\"t188-v2\"></a>\n- State memory changes familiar place descriptions. <a id=\"t188-v3\"></a>\n- Clarification resolves ambiguous object references. <a id=\"t188-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Inspection reveals a key and a later table description acknowledges the emptied space.\n\nPrototype check: Test synonyms, unknown commands and out-of-order actions with state explanations instead of verb guessing."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Narrative challenges give players grounds for interpretation, observable consequences of choice and ways to revise a hypothesis. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"narrative-investigation","id":"t188","title":"Narrative, dialogue and investigation","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/narrative-investigation/#t188","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Interactive prose","description":"Interactive fiction turns reading into an action choice, after which text reports state changes and available continuations.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/dialogue-ai-dungeon-01.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"crop":{"x":60,"y":300,"width":1320,"height":510},"game":"AI Dungeon","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1519310/ss_ee95450224396e9e199c8222a92a89dfa3dcbd1d.1920x1080.jpg?t=1709918592","credit":"Latitude","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Free text beneath the story in AI Dungeon","alt":"Free text beneath the story in AI Dungeon","markers":[{"x":42,"y":97,"label":"Enter an action in your own words"}]},"tips":["Show command outcomes and preserve understandable input context."],"examples":[{"title":"AI Dungeon","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/narrative-investigation"}}