The Märchenmaschine

Welcome! This project was created as an exploration of narrative theory. In other words: Could you write a story following a strict outline of functions?

Well, this is the answer. The intention was to write text that is so open that it can be combined with a variety of different situations as well as multiple situations for said text. The game has a total of about 17.000 words and multiple possible endings. The gameplay is simple: You read a chapter and make choices at the end of each that further the story.

My inspiration for the language and content of this were traditional fairy tales such as those by the Brother's Grimm. Structurally, the Morphology of the Fairy-Tale by Vladimir Propp was a huge influence, though his work has been adjusted significantly.

In terms of content and structure, this is more of a prototype than a finished product. Things like the identity of the hero and villain or even the endings are still rather limited in variation, but this should serve as a general example of the premise.

All that said: I hope you enjoy playing this!