Lit interactive fiction

Literary Interactive Fiction

Turn a literary work into an original, playable, single-file HTML interactive fiction game. The output honors the source's spirit while being legally safe and creatively independent — original characters, original plot, original prose.

Core workflow

1. Extract the kernel — identify the source's philosophical core; run the copyright check
2. Originalize — invent new characters, places, and events that embody that kernel
3. Design the narrative structure — chapters, choice nodes, value axes, endings
4. Design meaningful choices — real dilemmas, butterfly effects, characters with secrets
5. Build the HTML game — use the scene-engine template in assets/
6. Generate shareable assets — ending cards, three-platform social copy
7. Offer extensions — second language, unlockable epilogues, dialogue-mode variant, deployment

Read references/narrative-design.md before designing chapters and choices — it contains the detailed craft rules (meaningful choices, character secrets, ending design, pacing). Read references/html-engine.md before writing code — it documents the template's architecture so edits go in the right place.

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Step 1: Extract the kernel

Ask: what is this work about beneath its plot? One sentence.

• The Baron in the Trees → "defining freedom through one irrevocable choice"
• Invisible Cities → "every city is a way of describing desire and memory"
• The Metamorphosis → "what remains of a person when their usefulness ends"
• Hamlet → "every hesitation defines who you are"
• The Diary of a Madman → "you choose what to believe: your eyes or the order"

The kernel — not the plot — is what the game adapts. This single sentence drives every design decision that follows.

If the user hasn't named a specific work, help them pick one whose kernel naturally produces dilemmas (works about choices, identity, freedom, love vs. duty adapt well; pure atmosphere pieces are harder).

Copyright check

Verify the work's status before proceeding:

Region	Rule	Example
China/EU	Author died + 70 years	Lu Xun (d. 1936) → PD since 2006
US	Published + 95 years OR author died + 70 years	Kafka (d. 1924) → PD
Global	Ancient/classical texts	Shakespeare, Homer, Dream of the Red Chamber

Public domain → proceed to Step 2 (direct adaptation is allowed; still originalize fully — it makes a better game).

Copyrighted → offer the two paths:

"《[作品名]》仍在版权保护期内（[作者]，预计 [年份] 年进入公域）。两条路径：

A. 公共领域替代 — 主题相近的公域作品：[列 2-3 部，附作者与 PD 年份]

B. 内核原创 — 提取《[作品名]》的哲学内核（[一句话]），生成完全原创的互动叙事：所有角色、地名、情节、意象均为原创，与原作无对应关系，封面注明 'inspired by' 致敬。

选 A 还是 B？"

Path B is legitimate and well-tested — a game built this way shares only an idea with the source, and ideas are not copyrightable. What it must never share: names, scenes, plot sequences, or prose. If the user asks to reproduce actual text, characters, or recognizable scenes from a copyrighted work, decline that specific request and restate the A/B options.

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Step 2: Originalize

Everything player-facing must be original. "Originalize" means transform beyond renaming — create a new interpretation that stands as an independent work.

Transformation requirements

Element	Minimum transformation	Example
Protagonist	New identity, profession, era	Hamlet (prince) → memory archivist
Setting	New time/place/world	Elsinore (castle) → memory library
Core conflict	New physical form	Revenge → discovering erased records
Key imagery	New metaphor system	Ghost/mirror/sword → data ghost/glitch/fragment
Supporting cast	New roles, relationships	Ophelia (noblewoman) → data curator

Originalization checklist

• Protagonist's identity would not be recognizable without the title
• Setting has no visual or textual overlap with the source
• Core conflict operates through different mechanics
• No character names from the source appear
• No iconic scenes reproduced (even with new names)
• If the source title were removed, the work stands alone
• Cover credits the inspiration honestly ("Inspired by X — all characters and story are original")

If any item fails, return to redesign.

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Step 3: Narrative structure

Default structure (adjust to fit the work):

• 4 chapters following life stages or escalating stakes (e.g., 誓言 → 树冠工程 → 思想与爱 → 风暴)
• 2 choice nodes per chapter for the first three chapters, each offering 3 options mapped to value axes
• 3 hidden value axes named for the kernel's central tensions (e.g., 自由 Freedom / 智慧 Wisdom / 联结 Bond; 看见 Seeing / 秩序 Order / 记忆 Memory). Choices add +2 to one axis. Displayed as themed icon trackers, optionally hidden.
• 1 forced final dilemma in the last chapter — a binary choice where one option leads to its own ending directly, and the other resolves via the highest value axis
• 4 endings: one per axis + one for the "break the premise" choice

Chapter interludes (text-only scenes between choices) control pacing — short, atmospheric, one or two paragraphs.

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Step 4: Meaningful choices

This is what separates a good literary IF from a quiz. Full craft rules in references/narrative-design.md; the non-negotiables:

• No fake choices. Every option must change visible text (reaction lines at minimum) and value state; major nodes should change later scenes.
• Dilemmas, not preferences. The player should feel "both options cost something," not "which flavor do I like."
• Supporting characters carry secrets — a motivation, a flaw, and one thing they never say aloud. Secrets surface (or stay buried) based on player choices.
• Plant at least one butterfly effect — a small early choice that visibly determines someone's fate near the end.
• Endings are personality verdicts, not grades. "宁愿不被任何人需要，也要保持完整的人" — never "good ending / bad ending."

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Step 5: Build the game

Copy assets/game-template.html and replace the story data. The template is a complete working game engine (scene backgrounds with gradient fallbacks, six particle systems, light rays, mouse parallax, character portraits, WebAudio sound, stat trackers, loading screen). Do not rebuild the engine from scratch — only edit the clearly-marked story-data section and theme variables. Architecture details in references/html-engine.md.

Use the atmosphere systems for emotional pacing, not decoration — fireflies for intimate night scenes, stars for solitary ones, rain for grief, embers+fire for the climax, light rays for hope. Every scene's effect choice should answer "what should the player feel here?" (mapping table in references/html-engine.md).

Writing style for game prose (Chinese or English):

• Short paragraphs, 1–3 per scene. Interactive reading punishes walls of text.
• Restraint over declaration: show the mother's voice going quiet, don't write "you felt sad."
• Reaction lines after each choice are one sentence, italic, consequences-flavored.
• Keep the literary register of the source's tradition without imitating its sentences.

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Step 6: Generate shareable assets

Generate these by default after the game works. Skip only if the user explicitly wants just the game.

6.1 Ending cards

An in-game DOM page shown after each ending (no external libraries — html2canvas and similar break the template's zero-dependency rule; players share via screenshot, which is how sharing actually happens on mobile anyway).

Each card contains:

• Game title + ending name (e.g., "化作长青 / Evergreen")
• Personality tagline (e.g., "宁愿不被任何人需要，也要保持完整的人")
• An original fictional epigraph attributed to an in-world source ("镇志里一句被反复传抄的话…") — never a real quote
• Choice statistics ("7/10 of your choices favored closeness over safety")
• Unique accent color per ending, drawn from the game's palette
• Designed inside a 1200×630-proportioned frame so screenshots crop cleanly for social

6.2 Social copy — three platform templates

Generate all three, matched to each platform's culture:

X/Twitter (English) — hook + mechanic + link:

I turned [SOURCE]'s idea of [KERNEL] into a playable game.

[One-sentence premise]. Your choices feed three hidden values — 
and the ending tells you who you became.

4 endings · ~10 min · free in browser
[LINK]

Which ending did you get?

小红书 (Chinese) — 测试型标题 + 情感钩子，配结局卡截图:

标题：如果你是[主角处境]，你会是哪种结局？

正文：把[灵感来源]做成了一个互动小说游戏🌲
[一句话前提]
你的每个选择都在悄悄回答一个问题：你到底是什么样的人。

四种结局——[结局1名]/[结局2名]/[结局3名]/[结局4名]
我玩出了[X]，评论区告诉我你是哪个👇

（链接放主页/评论区）
#互动小说 #文字游戏 #[作者名]

itch.io (English) — page description:

[TITLE] is a short literary interactive fiction inspired by [SOURCE/AUTHOR].

[Two-sentence premise, present tense.]

Every choice feeds three hidden values. The final crisis resolves 
according to who you've become — four endings, none of them "good" 
or "bad," each a verdict on the life you chose.

~10 minutes · bilingual (EN/中文) · plays in browser · free
Tags: interactive-fiction, literary, bilingual, short, narrative

6.3 Cover image guidance

Point the user to screenshot the game's own cover page (it's designed to be poster-like), or generate a simple standalone cover HTML using the same palette variables. Don't add image-generation dependencies to the game file.

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Step 7: Offer extensions

After the core game and shareable assets, offer (in rough order of value):

• Second language version — separate HTML file, en/index.html structure, language switcher in both files (template includes it). Translate register, not just words; rename characters for target-audience readability (茯苓 → Ling, 老桦 → Elder Hua). Details in references/html-engine.md.
• Unlockable epilogues — each ending unlocks a different side-character's perspective document (the love interest's last letter, the mentor's old notebook). Resolves buried secrets; drives replay and discussion.
• Dialogue-mode variant — an alternative format where the player interviews the protagonist years later, powered by the Anthropic API with a locked character sheet (fixed biography facts, personality, reply length, never break character). Only offer if API access is available in the deployment context.
• Deployment — GitHub Pages (index.html + en/index.html), or itch.io for the IF community (use the 6.2 itch template for the page).

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Legal notice & commercial use

When delivering the finished game, always include a brief rights note to the user (in the conversation, not inside the game file). Adapt this template:

关于这个作品的权利状态（仅供参考，不构成法律意见）

• 路径：[公域改编 / 内核原创]。[公域改编：原作已进入公共领域，改编作品的版权归你所有，原则上可自由使用包括商用。/ 内核原创：本作仅与灵感来源共享不受版权保护的"思想"，所有表达均为原创，原则上是独立作品。]
• 商用前请注意：① 不同法域的公域时间不同（在中国进入公域的作品在美国未必）；② 若灵感来源为外语作品，其译本可能仍在版权保护期，本作未使用任何译本表达；③ 个别角色名/标题可能存在商标注册；④ 商用会提高权利方关注度，"实质性相似"的判定存在灰色地带。
• 素材：模板中的背景图片来自 Unsplash（其许可允许商用，但不得将图片本身作为主要产品转售）；音效与界面均为代码生成，无第三方素材。
• 重要商业决策前，建议咨询知识产权律师。 本说明不构成法律意见。

Rules for Claude when using this skill:

• Never state flatly that outputs "can" or "cannot" be commercialized — the honest answer is conditional, and both blanket permissions and blanket prohibitions are wrong.
• Public-domain adaptations and genuinely originalized kernel-creations are generally commercializable; the rights note explains the residual risks instead of promising safety.
• If the user's originalization is shallow (fails the Step 2 checklist) and they intend commercial use, flag the elevated risk explicitly and push the redesign before delivering.
• Do not present the "inspired by" credit as legal protection — it is honesty, not a license.

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Quality checklist before delivering

• Copyright check ran; copyrighted sources went through the A/B routing
• Originalization checklist passes; inspiration credited on cover
• Zero quoted or paraphrased source text anywhere (including epigraphs — write fictional ones)
• Every choice produces a distinct reaction line; no dead options
• At least one butterfly effect planted and payed off
• Final dilemma works: binary choice → one direct ending + axis-resolved endings
• All ending scenes reachable (trace each axis-dominant path mentally)
• Ending cards render with correct per-ending accent colors
• JS validated (node --check on the extracted script)
• Backgrounds show even with no network (gradient fallbacks intact)
• Mobile-safe (template handles this; don't break the media queries)
• Rights note delivered with the finished game (see Legal notice section)