Twine is a
free and open-source tool created by
Chris Klimas for making
interactive fiction in the form of
web pages. It is available on
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
,
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
, and
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
.
Software
Twine emphasizes the visual structure of hypertext, and does not require knowledge of a
programming language
A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language.
The description of a programming ...
as many other game development tools do.
It is regarded as a tool which can be used by anyone interested in interactive fiction and experimental games.
Twine 2 is a
browser-based
A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection.
History
In earlier computing models like client-serve ...
application written in
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
and
Javascript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...
, also available as a standalone desktop app; it also supports
CSS.
It is currently in version 2.5.1, as of September 2022.
[
Rather than using a fixed scripting language, Twine supports the use of different "story formats". In Twine 1, these mostly affected how a story was displayed rather than how it was written, but Twine 2 story formats combine style, semantic rules and markup conventions and are described as "dialects" of the Twine language.][
]
Notable works
* '' Rat Chaos'' (2012)
* ''Howling Dogs
''Howling Dogs'' is a Twine game and piece of interactive fiction created by Porpentine in 2012. The game is text-based and includes occasional abstract pixel art. In 2017, the game was included in the Whitney Biennial.
Gameplay
''Howling Dogs' ...
'' (2012)
* '' Depression Quest'' (2013)
* '' Queers in Love at the End of the World'' (2013)
* '' The Writer Will Do Something'' (2015)
* '' Arc Symphony'' (2017)
Film
Twine was used by writer Charlie Brooker
Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
in developing the interactive film '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch''.
References
External links
*
**
*
*
{{Portal bar, Free and open-source software
Free software
Hypertext
Video game development software
Free game engines
Authoring systems
Adventure game engines
Interactive fiction
Text adventure game engines