ABSTRACT
Interactivity profoundly changes the way one experiences a work of entertainment. Without interactivity, digital entertainment would simply be a duplicate of traditional entertainment, except that the medium, in which it is presented, such as video or audio, would be in a digital format rather than an analog format. Passive entertainment and interactive entertainment are often differentiated as lean back and lean forward experiences. Game consoles, unless connected to the Internet, are restricted to just a few players at a time. When it comes to the types of interactivity offered by the various digital media, no one size fits all. Works of Interactive Fiction (IF) can be found on the Internet and they are also available on CD-ROMs. The basic types of interactivity are as follows: stimulus and response, navigation, control over objects, communication, exchange of information, and acquisition. In examining the relationship between stories and games, it is possible to create interactive stories that are not based on game models.
