My first encounter with the concept wasn’t online. It came from Goosebumps gamebooks.
As a teenager, I loved renting Goosebumps books from a local market. I’d race home, eager to dive into their spooky stories. One day, I stumbled upon a gamebook version. It was unlike anything I’d read before.
Gamebooks aren’t linear. They let you shape the story by making choices. I remember deciding whether to enter a creepy basement or explore dark woods. Both sounded terrifying, but each choice led to a new page and a new adventure.
When I first used the internet, hyperlinks immediately reminded me of those books. Clicking a link to jump to a new page felt just like flipping to page 57 to escape a monster.
The genius of HTML and the web is easy to take for granted, but it’s revolutionary. It’s simple and natural—just like those gamebooks.
Looking back, those gamebooks were my first taste of interactive storytelling. Who knew they’d prepare me for a love of the internet and the way we connect through it today?