Guides · 2 min read

Choose your own adventure audio for adults: stories that wait for you

The old gamebook idea, but you listen with your eyes closed and tap when he asks you something.

Choose your own adventure audio for adults is a story you listen to that stops and asks what you do next, then plays a different scene depending on your answer. On Moonvale, one voice talks to you, you reply with a tap, a slider or a code, and each story has several endings. Start with Last Train, free in full in your browser with no sign-up.

How it differs from the books you remember

Gamebooks told you to turn to page 112 if you opened the door. They were clever, and they were also full of interruptions: you stopped reading to find the page, and most of the fun was in the branching itself. Audio changes that. Nothing has to be looked up, because the next scene simply plays. You spend the time listening, and you only surface when somebody asks you a question.

The other change is who the story is for. Most interactive audio you will find in a search is for children, or it is a short game for a smart speaker. Grown-up versions are rare, which is why searching for one mostly turns up old lists. Ours are written for adults: tired people on the last train, a fae lord with a debt, a doctor home at four in the morning. They are intimate and never explicit.

What a choice sounds like

A story here is about five to nine minutes, and it contains a few moments where he stops and waits. The answers are not all the same kind of button.

• A choice between two or three things you could say back. He hears the one you picked, and answers that.
• A slider, when the question is how close, how much or how sure.
• A keypad code, when he told you a number earlier and now it matters whether you were listening.

If you do not answer, the story carries on without you, so nothing breaks if your hands are busy or you are half asleep.

Why endings matter more than branches

A branching story is only worth replaying if the branches lead somewhere different. Each Moonvale story has two to four endings, and the story page keeps count of the ones you have found. The first listen is the story. The second one is finding out what would have happened if you had said the thing you nearly said.

Where to start

• Last Train is the gentlest: a stopped train, rain, a stranger who notices you are cold. Free in full.
• The Keeper is a storm and a lighthouse keeper who has not spoken to anyone in years. Free in full.
• Two Cups of Wine has the sharpest stakes: you were sent to kill the prince, and he has poured you a drink. The opening is free.

FreeLast TrainComfort · 5 minFreeThe KeeperFantasy · 7–8 minMoonvale+Two Cups of WineFantasy · 6–8 min

For more on the format, read what interactive audio fiction is. If you would rather compare apps first, we wrote an honest comparison of interactive audio apps, with our bias stated.

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