Somni Tales

The best public-domain books to live as the hero

Public-domain classics are the perfect material for interactive fiction: their worlds are rich and familiar, and because the copyright has expired, you can step inside them freely. Here are our favourites to play as the hero — organised by the mood you're in.

For a first adventure

If you've never played a book before, start somewhere with a strong pull and a clear world. These open fast and never let go.

For a night of dread

Gothic classics are built for choices — every one of them turns on a decision the original hero got wrong. Play them and get it right, or wrong in a new way.

For a detective's chair

Mystery is the genre that most wants to be played — you get to notice the clue, press the witness, and spring the trap yourself.

For sweeping adventure

Swords, ships, lost worlds and long odds — the classics that were interactive at heart long before there was AI to run them.

For a quiet, human story

Not every great playthrough is a battle. These turn on wit, love and conscience — where the hardest choice is what to say.

For reading with a child

Flip on Kids-safe mode and read these together aloud — the child decides what the hero does, and the book answers in your own language.

Or name any book at all

These pages are just our favourites. On the home page you can type ANY title — a classic we haven't listed, a myth, or a world you invent — and the Storyteller builds it on the spot. Over a hundred classics have their own pages, and everything else works too.

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