CHOICES, CHOICES

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**SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for stories on the mobile app Choices: Stories You Play follow.

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One of the things I adored most as a kid was finding choose-your-own-adventure books at the library. There was always a sort of thrill that came along with reading one of those little books, and looking back I now understand that it gave me agency and the ability to be involved in a story in a way I had never experienced before.

Growing up, I had a sizable collection of games on the family Wii and enjoyed playing games where you could walk around and do things, but I don’t think I fully realized what video games could be until I was much older and played my first open-world RPG (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, on a crappy laptop). But between the ages of “young enough to play Barbie Horse Adventures” and “oh cool I can play M-rated video games now”, I was constantly searching for that elusive genre that would let me have some say in the way things would play out. 

About five years ago, in the latter half of 2016, I found Choices. 

I would’ve been thirteen years old when I first downloaded Choices: Stories You Play by Pixelberry. I had played other Pixelberry games, both High School Story and Hollywood U, partly because I enjoyed the small elements of choice that the story quests allowed you to have. I didn’t have a lot of experience with visual novels, but I had heard of Episode and played at least a few chapters, but didn’t enjoy it at all. Going in, I’m sure I had mixed expectations. But all these years later, I can confidently say that I made the right decision picking that app out of the Google Play Store’s catalogue. 

I like to say that I was one of the “first” people to really love Choices. It seems to have a pretty large following now (considering it somehow managed to be the #1 trending tag on Tumblr every week for a while), as well as a huge collection of stories in their library. But back in mid-2016, there were 3 or 4 books. Is this a case of “I liked it before it was cool”? Maybe. Maybe not. But, I always end up finding things several years after everyone else, so let me have this one, alright?

All these years later, after falling in love with video games and gaining a deep appreciation for the visual novel genre, I still have a strong fondness for Choices — not only is it one of my favourite visual novel apps of all time, it is also the one I play most often, even today. I stay up-to-date on every book in the Choices library, so I usually play a few times a week when the app updates. Other than that, the only visual novel apps that have survived the test of time are The Arcana: Mystic Romance and Fictif, both by Nix Hydra. But seeing as these apps are more recent additions, what has made Choices stay in my phone storage for so long, and furthermore, what has made me fall in love with an app that so many of my friends and peers would label as bad or completely “cringey”?

I've noticed a few reasons for this. First of all, when examining the mobile app visual novel genre, there are so many low-quality apps and stories that have earned the entire genre a bad reputation. However, from my perspective, Choices is one of the few apps that I've found that goes above and beyond the limits of similar games. The user interface and aesthetics enhance the overall experience, rather than detracting from it, and the writing — while not necessarily the best or the most groundbreaking literature out there — is at the very least coherent and professional, something that many other visual novel apps don't seem to have.

Generally, I do believe that the calibre of writing featured in Choices books is better than most other apps available. Sure, some of it is a bit cliché, or too short, or completely irritating, but many of them — even most of them — I have thoroughly enjoyed. And if not the greatest works of fiction I have ever read, the vast majority of the books are entertaining. 

There were a few books in particular that I loved, and of course, a few that I didn’t like so much. But we’ll tackle that another time. For now, let’s break down my top 4 favourite Choices books/series of all time. I was originally going to do a top 5, but as I was going through the library I realized that there were several books I could put forward in fifth position. The top 4, however, are the best of the best. These truly are my favourites. Spoilers to come!

4. Blades of Light and Shadow (2020)

Blades of Light and Shadow is a fantasy book that premiered in January 2020. Currently, there is only one book, but a second book is in development. I had huge expectations for Blades when it was originally announced, and the book certainly did not disappoint. 

In addition to allowing players to choose between a male and female protagonist, something that very few Choices books offer, Blades took extra steps to create a highly customizable fantasy hero. Players can choose to play as a human, an elf, or an orc, and further customize their character with special skills that allow them to make unique choices or pass various skill checks throughout the game. There is also an experience points mechanic that allows players to “level up” and unlock new skills over the duration of the game. 

Blades also features different purchasable collectables, such as elite skills, lore tablets, legendary weapons, and the typical unique clothing and additional scenes. This is pretty standard, most Choices books feature quite a bit of pay-walled content, but Blades does a good job of providing additional content that enhances your playthrough without feeling like you have to buy everything for the outcome to be satisfying.  

Finally, Blades has the adventuring party mechanic, which allows you to recruit people to your party. It’s pretty inconsequential, considering you have almost no control over who is in your party and all of the side characters and love interests join up with you regardless, but just being able to visualize my party and know they are officially “part of the team” is very rewarding to me. 

Overall, the unique gameplay mechanics that Blades has elevate the player’s experience. The skill checks make it reminiscent of a classic tabletop RPG like Dungeons & Dragons and raise the stakes a little bit. The side characters are likable and represent typical fantasy archetypes, and the plot is interesting and engaging every step of the way. 

My absolute favourite element of any book is a good antagonist. One of my biggest problems with Choices books (especially romances) is that antagonists typically feel pretty goofy or the conflict is so low-stakes that I’m not super invested. But Blades did a great job of having multiple antagonists with their own goals and motivations, united as the overall threat of the Shadow Court returning. There was mystery and intrigue and a good number of plot twists that I enjoyed, even if I predicted them or had my suspicions.

From the beginning, I was most intrigued by Prince Aerin, and I absolutely loved the reveal that he had been working for the Shadow Court all along. Some would argue that it’s a bit cliché or basic, but I never get tired of the trope and was thrilled by the idea of the potential consequences of his actions and my own in future books. (Yes, I am absolutely hoping that you can recruit and romance the traitorous prince in Book 2.)

Overall, Blades of Light and Shadow was, in my opinion, a wildly successful book. I love the classic RPG elements, the fantastical setting and world-building, the looming threat of death, and all of the revenge and sacrifice. This was a book that didn’t force you to pay for additional content, but made me want to. I can’t wait for this story to continue. 

3. Queen B (2020)

Queen B was a bit of a surprise for me. It’s a romance book that could arguably be called a drama or a comedy that premiered in June 2020. I didn’t have any real expectations going into it, but this book blew me away. It has its problems, but nothing that I couldn’t overlook. 

Unlike Blades of Light and Shadow, Queen B does not allow players to choose the protagonist’s gender — you must play as female. The options for love interests are also not as wide, considering you typically have 3-4 love interests in any Choices book and Queen B leaves you stuck with two. In fact, that’s one of my biggest complaints about Queen B; the two love interests. The main love interest is a gender-customizable professor at the elite university you attend. Although they give a content warning for this at the beginning of the book, this was a bit of a disappointment for me. I really dislike student-teacher romances in fiction, and it’s evident that the developers intend for your character to have some kind of relationship with the professor. Even when I was careful not to choose any romance dialogue options, the conversations had with and about the professor were very focused on our tumultuous and scandalous relationship and how we were bouncing between hiding our feelings for each other and being open and honest with ourselves. Bleh. Not a fan, especially now that the inciting incident for Book 2 is this supposedly ruinous photo of the two of you… sitting next to each other. How scandalous. 

Zoey Wade, on the other hand, was a wonderful love interest. She was fun to flirt with and I liked how she was crucial to your mission to gain popularity and rise in the rankings. I especially liked how your obsession with beating Poppy has an impact on your relationship, even driving Zoey to leave your squad. There was tension in the relationship that enhanced both characters. My only complaint with Zoey is that she felt underdeveloped. She fulfills the classic “stylist” character role, constantly offering your character exclusive outfits — which is weird, because I can’t remember any other love interests in the history of Choices that take on this role. Additionally, despite the flirty dialogue options being very cute, there are very few diamond scenes available for players to purchase in order to further explore their relationship with Zoey. It definitely feels like Zoey as a love interest could have been a late addition, which also explains why everything is so focused on the professor. It may be that this was originally going to be a book with only one love interest. Regardless, I’m glad Zoey is a love interest, because I think this book would have been much lower in my ranking if you were forced into a relationship with Professor Kingsley. 

Queen B has some great gameplay mechanics. First of all, the popularity ranking system, which allows players to collect “reputation points” and level up throughout the game. This was fun, especially as I got closer and closer to the end of the story. I felt motivated to win, and was focused on being as strategic as possible to get reputation boosts. Similarly, Queen B offers you a chance to recruit characters to your posse, which earns you reputation boosts and advantages in later chapters. I wanted to spend my diamonds on those characters. It felt so rewarding, especially when you were able to recruit the people closest to Poppy, and seeing them support you in the end. 

I also enjoyed the flirting dialogue mechanic. Most Choices books don’t allow you to flirt with characters other than the official love interests, but Queen B makes a clear distinction between characters you can pursue seriously (where dialogue options may be marked with a heart) and characters you can flirt with or have more casual interactions with (where dialogue options may be marked with lips). I thought this was a lot of fun, especially considering the genre and the setting.

Finally, Queen B allows you to choose what kind of Queen B you want to be, with different dialogue options marked with either an angel or a devil throughout the game. They don’t affect the plot, but have a huge impact on the tone of the story and your character arc. Consistently being the “good girl” paints you as more sympathetic, while consistently being the “bad girl” makes you more ruthless. If you choose enough of either type, dialogue options later in the book will increase your reputation as the good girl or the bad girl, regardless of what the dialogue option actually is. 

Personally, I love a good corruption arc, so watching my protagonist slowly slip into this cunning, two-faced role where she was willing to do anything to get to the top (and becoming exactly like Poppy in the process) was so much fun. Despite the drama with Professor Kingsley, I am very excited to see what Book 2 has to offer. 

2. Endless Summer (2016-2018)

Now, I know I said I was picking my top 4 books, but I’m going to put the entire Endless Summer series in my number 2 spot. The series debuted with its first book in December 2016 and ended after three books, with the third premiering in December 2017. It’s a mystery series with fantastical elements, and one of the oldest series in the app. However, after all this time, I still find myself occasionally thinking about it. 

Despite being one of Choices’s earliest projects, Endless Summer has a lot of unique gameplay mechanics. One of the most effective mechanics is their friendship indicator. Throughout the game, you have the opportunity to interact with a large cast of characters, and unlike most Choices books, what you say matters. Dialogue options will either positively or negatively impact your relationship, which means side characters and love interests can either hate you or consider you their best friend, which a whole range of relationship statuses in between. In later Endless Summer books, they even introduce the “tough choices” mechanic, which — if chosen — will either dramatically increase or decrease your relationship with a given character. The better your relationship to begin with, the more likely the choice will go in your favour. Endless Summer also features a unique romance mechanic which allows you to see the strength of your relationship with any of the love interests. 

Finally, Endless Summer also has various opportunities for the player to gather clues and collectibles that will help the player piece together the story or give them access to bonus scenes. Many of these collectibles are only available if you purchase them with diamonds, but the story doesn’t suffer if you miss out on them. Back in 2016, I didn’t have a lot of diamonds to spare, but I was still completely invested in the story and didn’t feel like I was missing anything important. The collectibles served to simply enhance an already good story, which I feel like a lot of other Choices books fail to do. 

Overall, what made Endless Summer so successful for me was the cast of characters. By the end of the very first book, I already loved each of them in their own way. They’re all completely unique and well-developed, and often have clashing personalities. This means that if you want them all to like you, you have to mindful of what you’re saying and to who you’re saying it. In the context of a high-stakes mystery/fantasy story, having player-dependent relationships and various consequences depending on the relationship was hugely successful. I desperately wanted all of the characters to be safe and happy. When there were betrayals, I struggled to find a balance between sympathizing with the traitor and those who had been betrayed. In the final ultimatum, I didn’t hesitate to sacrifice myself in order to save everyone else — and I loved that as an ending. 

I still think of those moments, even all of these years later, because of how impactful they were for me. This story not only made me care, but it also took all of the feelings I had and made them relevant to the story. Suddenly, my actions mattered, and would have direct consequences on the story and characters I cared so much about. To me, that is what makes a story in this format so successful. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think very, very carefully about the decisions I was making while playing it. 

1. It Lives Anthology (2017-2019)

Finally, in my number 1 spot, let’s talk about the It Lives anthology. This includes two books: It Lives in the Woods, which premiered in October 2017, and It Lives Beneath, which premiered in October 2018. The two books take place in the same universe with different casts, although a few characters from the first book do make a cameo appearance in the second. The series is one of Choices’s few horror projects, and one of the first books that I was truly invested in.

Like the other books on this list, the It Lives anthology features a unique game mechanic that set it apart from other books in the Choices app. In addition to the standard collectibles, the book has a mechanic that they refer to as the “nerve system”. Each main character, including the player character, has a score between 0 and 100 that indicates how they are faring mentally against the stressors present in the story. In both books, individual characters’ nerve scores impact the way certain choices or events play out, and have a major effect on the events of the finale. In It Lives in the Woods, all characters with a low enough score (excluding the player character and Noah) will die in the final battle with the book’s antagonist. In It Lives Beneath, if the entire cast fails a group “nerve check”, the character with the lowest score (excluding the player character) will die. Following this, the player character also has a chance to die, which they can avoid if their nerve score is high enough or they make the correct choices in order to escape. 

The reason I love the It Lives anthology so much is that it is the series in which your choices have the most impact. The stakes are higher in this story than any other story in the app. Not only is there risk of character death, but the fate of the characters also falls directly on the player’s shoulders. Unlike Endless Summer, this responsibility goes beyond a few major decisions and one big ultimatum at the end of the book. Rather, the player has to be mindful of everything they say and do, because any choice could contribute to a positive or negative outcome at the end of the book. 

To make this especially effective, It Lives in the Woods has one of my favourite casts of characters of all time. For this reason, I have to say that it’s my favourite Choices book of all time, beating It Lives Beneath by a slim margin. It Lives Beneath also had a fantastic set of characters, but there was some about the original gang that just made me fall in love with them. It might have been the fact that they were kids in high school, and I read the book when I was around the same age as them. Another aspect of it that I really liked was that the characters have an established relationship at the beginning of the book. In It Lives Beneath, the player character meets the rest of the cast for the first time at the beginning of the book. In It Lives in the Woods, it is explained that the characters were all best friends as young children, but after a traumatic event involving a supernatural power, they stop speaking. There’s an unresolved tension that exists between the characters, but also feelings of guilt and regret. When they’re forced to work together again, some of those old wounds begin to heal — but as the pressure builds and things begin to get out of hand, there comes a sense of panic and desperation, and the bonds between some characters strengthen and others fray and collapse. 

I have to admit that in the case of It Lives in the Woods, I may have thought about things a little too deeply, or “filled in the blanks” with my own narrative that doesn’t necessarily exist in the story. Regardless, the story that I experienced was emotional and engaging. I connected and sympathized with Noah more than any other character, and went out of my way to raise his nerve score because of how strained his relationship with the other characters was. When it is eventually revealed that Noah betrays the group, it was clear that my effort had paid off — Noah hesitated. This gave me the opportunity to do exactly what I wanted, which was to save Noah too. I had grown to care so much for all of the characters, nothing could have convinced me that any of them were worth abandoning or could not be forgiven. I took great pride in the fact that all of the characters survived the final battle; it felt like I had accomplished something. I had been the one to save them. And then came the final decision: sacrifice Noah or sacrifice yourself. Again, I didn’t think twice about sacrificing myself, even to save someone the rest of the group had written off as a traitor. And the ending was worth it. Heartbreaking, but worth it. I loved seeing Noah go on the run (my empathy levels were through the roof) and the other characters going on to live full, happy lives. The cameos in It Lives Beneath were arguably my favourite part of the book. I can’t explain how rewarding it was to see Noah and my sacrificed character appear and interact with each other and other characters. It felt like I had accomplished exactly what I wanted to. I felt like the writers had seen my thought process and reflected that in their writing choices; no other book has felt like that for me. 

I think I could probably talk about It Lives in the Woods indefinitely, but I’ll stop here and give one last summary of why it’s at the very top of my list. It Lives in the Woods checks every box for what a good Choices book — and an overall good story in this genre — should be. It has a dynamic and well-developed cast of characters, an engaging and high-stakes plot, beautifully crafted lore and settings, and most importantly, choices that actually matter on multiple levels. So yes, I will admit that Choices: Stories You Play is not necessarily the most distinguished or literary media out there, but I will also absolutely defend the belief that many of their stories are absolutely fantastic. I’m still thinking about some of them years later, and I will continue to read new books as they come out in the hope of discovering even more stories to fall in love with.