Understanding Interactive Digital Narrative
Abstract
This remarkably clearly written and timely critical evaluation of core issues in the study and application of interactive digital narrative (IDN) untangles the range of theories and arguments that have developed around IDN over the past three decades. Looking back over the past 30 years of theorizing around interactivity, storytelling, and the digital across the fields of game design/game studies, media studies, and narratology, as well as interactive documentary and other emerging forms, this text offers important and insightful correctives to common misunderstandings that pervade the field. This book also changes the perspective on IDN by introducing a comprehensive conceptual framework influenced by cybernetics and cognitive narratology, addressing limitations of perspectives originally developed for legacy media forms. Applying its framework, the book analyzes successful works and lays out concrete design advice, providing instructors, students, and practitioners with a more precise and specific understanding of IDN. This will be essential reading for courses in interactive narrative, interactive storytelling, and game writing, as well as digital media more generally.
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The SPP model explains how IDN differ from traditional narratives.
“Koenitz' SPP model (system, process, product) (Koenitz, 2015;Koenitz, 2023) (cf. Figure 6) explains how IDN differ from traditional narratives.”
From Interactive digital narrative (IDN)—new ways to represent complexity and facilitate digitally empowered citizens (2022) · cites this paper as Koenitz, 2023
The SPP model understands a dynamic system as the central element, and describes the interactive process which results in instantiated narrative products.
“The SPP model understands a dynamic system as the central element, and describes the interactive process which results in instantiated narrative products.”
From Interactive digital narrative (IDN)—new ways to represent complexity and facilitate digitally empowered citizens (2022) · cites this paper as Koenitz, 2023
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Koenitz, H., Barbara, J., & Eladhari, M. P. (2022) · New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia · doi:10.1080/13614568.2023.2181503 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“High-level view of the SPP model (left) and protostory elements (right) (Koenitz, 2023). in cultural heritage (Vanoverschelde, 2019), or the rules of a particular political system.”
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“A narrative organisation of the experience can provide a meaningful framing and an understandable reduction of the complexity of the history of the site (as supported by Koenitz (2023)).”
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“The field of interactive digital narrative has explored various ways to interact within a narrative (e.g. Koenitz 2023), thereby varying the distribution of narrative agency between a narrator and its audience.”
BackgroundKoenitz, H., Eladhari, M. P., & Barbara, J. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_11 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationIDNs in Education: Skills for Future Generations
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Self-citationInteractive digital narrative (IDN)—a complexity case
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Fighting Against Hate Speech: A Case for Harnessing Interactive Digital Counter-Narratives
Silva, C. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_10 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Transculturation in Latin American Video Game Production: Between Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism
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“Furthermore, in the case of video games and other forms of interactive digital narrative, the audience engages with a dynamic system that they can modify through their decisions (Koenitz, 2023).”
<i>All click and no play?</i> Game comics, comic games, and user agency
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From Links to Dialogue; Hypertext Challenges and Opportunities in Conversational Navigation
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The IDN Design Model: A Proposal for an Extended SPP Model
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Self-citationDecolonizing IDN Pedagogy From and with Global South: A Cross-Cultural Case Study
Reyes, M. C., Silva, C., & Koenitz, H. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_9 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationRoth, C., Pitt, B., & Bender-Salazar, R. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_19 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Wang, J. (2025) · International Journal of Inclusive Education · doi:10.1080/13603116.2025.2567424 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Leow and Ch’ng (2021) and Koenitz (2023) elucidate how VR/AR enables a transition from linear to nonlinear narrative.”
InfluentialRoth, C., Bender-Salazar, R., & Pitt, B. (2026) · Pedagogy Culture and Society · doi:10.1080/14681366.2026.2678550 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“IDNs (Koenitz 2023; Roth 2019) extend this tradition into interactive, immersive forms, fostering self-directed learning by allowing learners to make meaningful choices and explore complex ideas (Murray 1997; Roth and Koenitz 2016; Ryan 2006).”
van Enschot, R., Fikkers, K., Prins, J., & Roth, C. (2023) · Conference on Information Technology for Social Good · doi:10.1145/3582515.3609529 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Grace, L. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47658-7_4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Koenitz, H., & Eladhari, M. P. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationHiggins, M. (2023) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Experience, Don’t Tell! Integration of IDN into Journalistic Narratives
Silva, C., Medina, R. Z., & Šuminas, A. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_20 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Design of Knowledge Graphs for Interactive Digital Narratives Authoring
Abhilash, M., & Nack, F. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78450-7_18 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Affective Sound: Developing a Critical Framework for Audio-Based Interactive Digital Narratives
Holloway-Attaway, L., & Fawcus, J. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78450-7_14 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
B∀BEL : Streams of Biocultural Diversity in a Participatory Narrative
Bouchardon, S., Cros, I., Fülöp, E., et al. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_14 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Mind Stories: A Story Making Game - From Narrative Therapy to Interactive Narrative Therapy
Eladhari, M. P., & Koenitz, H. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47658-7_14 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationInteractive Digital Narrative Syllabi from Around the World: A Preliminary Analysis
Fisher, J. A., Reyes, M. C., & Barbara, J. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_2 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
37Making choices in the storyworld: User agency in digital interactive narratives
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Designing for Ideological Flexibility: Tracking Perspective Shifts in an Educational IDN
Pitt, B., Youngblood, W., & Haahr, M. (2025) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12405-0_14 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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“…reality, holography, and arti fi cial intelligence are expanding the boundaries of digital narrative (Boboc et al., 2022; Ch ’ ng et al., 2020; Gîrbacia, 2024; Tang and Zhang, 2023), introducing greater interactivity, multimodality, and user participation (Koenitz, 2023; Koenitz et al., 2015).”
QinLi, T., & Li, L. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1849923 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Many studies still classify differences according to whether there is interaction or multiple endings, and do not systematically compare countdowns, branch depth and outcome differentiation in the same framework, which limits the comparability of cross-work effects (Koenitz, 2023).”
InfluentialOn the Interactions Between Narrative Puzzles and Navigation Aids in Open World Games
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Bury Me, My Love: The Boundary Between Reality and Fiction in IDNs for Smartphone
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Curiosity and Digital Stories: Exploring Preschoolers’ Behaviors
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Insights from Interactive Digital Narratives
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Curatorial Challenges of Exhibiting VR IDN’s in Film Festival Formats
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Figure of Speech Detection and Generation as a Service in IDN Authoring Support
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Between Storytelling and Storyliving: User Customisation of Virtual Reality Narratives
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Streams of Consciousness in Interactive Digital Narrative Research Design
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“The SPP model, proposed by Koenitz (2023), is a foundational framework for interactive digital narrative.”
Making research accessible by comparing published perspectives through IDNs
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“Competing interpretations create a level of uncertainty around history (Barbara & Haahr, 2023), that presents a complex phenomenon which is underserved by traditional narratives (Koenitz, 2023).”
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A Culturally Sensitive Interactive Digital Narrative to Promote Bodily Awareness Among Afghan Women
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Self-citationVideo Feedback as a Model for Emergent Narrative
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Evaluating Retellings as a Design Goal for a Fighting Game
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Emerging Practices in LLM-integrated Game Writing
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Participative Interpretation Using Interactive Digital Storytelling
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- Authors
- Koenitz, H.
- Affiliations
- University of the Arts Utrecht (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Koenitz, Hartmut
- ORCID
- Koenitz, Hartmut
- Venue
- Routledge eBooks
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2023-03-13
- OpenAlex
- W4324057066
- Semantic Scholar
- 54b6e91bf1288859218ee795e357d36963201cef
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 103.13
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Narrative Theory and Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence in Games
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Keywords
- interactive digital narratives, interactivity, storytelling, digital media, game design, game studies, narrative theory, interactive documentary, cybernetics, cognitive narratology, game writing
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