Choices: Stories You Play is an interactive storybook app for teens like High School Story (made by the same developer) or Episode — Choose Your Story. As the stories progress, readers choose between pre-written scenarios to move the stories in different directions. Characters earn points for saying or doing things that make people like them, and readers get reward points for finishing chapters. Some series-based stories are updated weekly, in-app purchases are required to access some story options, and ads appear between chapters. In many stories there’s some sexual innuendo and swearing, and there are some messages around dating and appearance that some parents may not love.
Teens looking for some interactive stories may find this fun, but the cheesy lines, sexual innuendo, consumerism, lack of positive messages, and inability to create content make it a lesser choice. Choices: Stories You Play includes different genres of books — Romance, Fantasy, Mystery — and some come in series of books updated weekly, which is nice for fans who get hooked on certain storylines. Because the visuals don’t change much, a lot of what’s happening in the stories has to be described in the written text (“Dom is attracted to you.” “You knock the sword out of his hand.”) without any corresponding visuals. This often feels stilted and weird. And getting from one piece of dialogue to the next can be slow. The points come slowly, and some choices are off-limits until the player earns enough points or purchases them via in-app purchase. If the messages were more positive or teens could contribute stories, there would be more to recommend. As it stands, though, there are better choices for this type of app.
One choice can change everything! Fall in love, solve crimes, and embark on epic fantasy adventures in immersive visual stories where YOU control what happens next! Current stories include:
Features –
THE FRESHMAN, BOOK 1. Welcome to Hartfeld University! You’ll make friends for life, and maybe even find true love. Will you date bookish James, party girl Kaitlyn, football hero Chris… or all three at once?
– Dress to impress with fashion forward outfits.
– Choose a date for the elegant and romantic Winter Formal.
– Support new friends as you tackle freshman adventures together!
THE CROWN & THE FLAME, BOOK 1. Your enemies stole your kingdom, but now the time has come for you to raise an army, master magic, and reclaim your crown!
– Form alliances to build your army.
– Master unique weapons.
– Choose between elegant ball gowns and powerful armor.
– Crush your enemies in an epic battle!
MOST WANTED, BOOK 1. The heat is on when a no-nonsense Texas Marshal and a Hollywood detective are thrown together to stop a deranged hitman. Can you catch the killer?
– Play as Detective Dave Reyes and U.S. Marshal Sam Massey.
– Investigate a mystery with twists you won’t see coming.
– Examine evidence at crime scenes.
– Stop the killer before he can claim another victim!
…PLUS more new stories COMING SOON!
Choices is by the team that first created story games for mobile over a decade ago. Later we created Surviving High School and Cause of Death, the first games with episodes, for EA.
Both games hit the Top 25 and were inspirations for other companies. After leaving EA, our team regrouped in a small office and with the quacking of nearby ducklings we set out to create story driven games with heart. As Pixelberry, we launched two hit games, High School Story and Hollywood U.
Our team has now grown to over a dozen of the most experienced game writers in the industry. In our 10 years of creating story games together, we’ve seen heartbreak, marriages, great adventures, and even Pixelbabies.
But even through diaper changes and late nights, we think we’ve created our best work to date. We hope you’ll fall in love with our newest characters, Chris, James, Kaitlyn, Dave, and Sam just as we have.
