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Interactive fiction is computer-mediated narrative. It is interactive because the story changes (to some degree) based on input from the interactor. While many creative activities involve audience participation to a lesser degree (such as a hypertext short story, which requires the reader to click on any of several pre-determined links) or a greater degree (such improvisational role-playing), the kind of interactive fiction described here more closely resembles traditional oral narrative.
The genre dates to the "Colossal Cave Adventure" (Crowther, 1972; Crother and Woods, 1976), as influenced by the board game Dungeons and Dragons. Real-time, 3D combat simulations are very interacitive, but have no narrative.
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