Twining: Critical and Creative Approaches to Hypertext Narratives

by Anastasia Salter, Stuart Moulthrop

Hypertext is now links and linking structure nearly all of our experiences online. Yet the literary, as opposed to commercial, potential of hypertext has receded. One of the few tools still focused on hypertext as a means for digital storytelling is Twine, a platform for building choice-driven stories without relying heavily on code. In Twining , Anastasia Salter and Stuart Moulthrop lead readers on a journey at once technical, critical, contextual, and personal. The book’s chapters alternate careful, stepwise discussion of adaptable Twine projects, offer commentary on exemplary Twine works, and discuss Twine’s technological and cultural background. Beyond telling the story of Twine and how to make Twine stories, Twining reflects on the ongoing process of making.

"While there have certainly been attempts to study Twine historically and theoretically... no single publication has provided such a detailed account of it. And no publication has even attempted to situate Twine amongst its many different conversations and traditions, something this book does masterfully." —James Brown, Rutgers University, Camden

Genres: Nonfiction, Games

432 pages, Paperback

Published September 23, 2021

Reviews

[Colin Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Twine, the popular tool for making text games/interactive stories. Salter and Moulthrop are not only seasoned pros writing and teaching with Twine but are are leading scholars on the history and theory of digital literature. The structure of this book won’t work for everyone but I loved the mix of practical worked examples and essays placing Twine in a bigger context of digital literature and indie gaming.

[iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid intro to a lot of history and names around twine but rather gangly...