---
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
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
---
# Interactive fiction and text-based actions

id: narrative-investigation--t188
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t188/

Interactive fiction turns reading into an action choice, after which text reports state changes and available continuations.

## At a glance

![Free text beneath the story in AI Dungeon](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/dialogue-ai-dungeon-01.webp)

[AI Dungeon](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Enter an action in your own words

- Show command outcomes and preserve understandable input context.

- [AI Dungeon](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/)

## How it works

Interactive fiction turns reading into an action choice, after which text reports state changes and available continuations.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t188-variants"></a>

- Links provide explicitly named actions. <a id="t188-v1"></a>
- Parsers accept a constrained command grammar. <a id="t188-v2"></a>
- State memory changes familiar place descriptions. <a id="t188-v3"></a>
- Clarification resolves ambiguous object references. <a id="t188-v4"></a>

## Design example

Inspection reveals a key and a later table description acknowledges the emptied space.

Prototype check: Test synonyms, unknown commands and out-of-order actions with state explanations instead of verb guessing.

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and 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.

- [inkle: ink](https://github.com/inkle/ink) (id: source-24607f3488b057c0)
- [AI Dungeon](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519310/) (id: source-9d03e465838b74e1)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors