Netflix Choose Your Own Adventure, Interactive Show Debuts With New Animated Series

Netflix has debut its very first interactive show on its platform with the series, “Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale.” Netflix says it's calling this new type of programming as “branching narratives,” where audiences get to choose how the story unfolds.

“Content creators have a desire to tell non-linear stories like these, and Netflix provides the freedom to roam, try new things and do their best work,” said Carla Engelbrecht Fisher, the director of product innovation at Netflix. “Being an internet-based company enables us to innovate new formats, deliver at scale to millions of members all over the world on multiple device types and, most importantly, learn from it.”

With “Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale,” kids will be able to go on a Neflix choose your own adventure style of watching the show. Watching on a smart TV, kids will be able to make choices by simply pressing the left or right arrow buttons on their remote. Netflix says that interactive content will work on “most” TV.

On iOS devices, children will simply have to tap, touch and swipe on the screen. Unfortunately, the Netflix choose your own adventure show doesn’t work on the desktop website, Android devices, Apple TV or Chromecast.

“They also talk to their screens, as though the characters can hear them,” Fisher said. “Now, that conversation can be two-way. It’s really about finding the right stories - and storytellers - that can tell these complex narratives and bring them to life in a compelling way.”

Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale features 13 different storyline choices, and features two possible endings, according to Engadget. Puss in Book can last between 18 and 39 minutes, and kids will be given choices every two or four minutes.

For those who have ever played any of Telltale’s video games like The Walking Dead or Guardians of the Galaxy, Puss in Book looks like it functions in the same way. This kind of blurs the line between being a TV show and being a video game, in a sense.

Fisher also said that making an interactive show for the children’s programming space was a “natural place” for them to start, since kids would be most eager to play with their favorite characters. Development for this type of content lasted for more than two years, since Netflix had to improve its technology, while DreamWorks had to develop the show’s story.

“As you can imagine, with two years of development, I’m really excited to see how our members engage with this,” Fisher told The New York Times. “From there, we’ve built this tool set for our creators, and it’s ultimately about finding creators who want to tell complex stories in this way. We’ll see where things go.”

Netflix has already lined up two other shows that feature the same interactive feature. On July 14, “Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile” will premiere, while “Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout” is currently in development and will arrive sometime next year.

Although Netflix's choose your own adventure shows are intended for children, it isn’t so hard to imagine for Netflix to use its new interactive format for other genres in the future.