Netflix launches choose-your-own-adventure shows

US – The programmes, aimed at children, are designed to take advantage of kids’ desire to play with characters.

‘Kids are already talking to the screen,’ says Carla Engelbrecht Fisher, director of product innovation at Netflix. ‘They are touching every screen. They think everything is interactive.’

The new format will include three one-episode examples based on characters that already exist in traditionally formatted series on the site. Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale was launched globally on 20 June and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile will be released next month. A third episode is planned next year. Each episode will let children ‘take a seat in the director’s chair’, according to Fisher, with Puss in Book offering 13 decision points at which to shift the narrative and Buddy Thunderstruck eight.

While Netflix hasn't explicitly stated that this format is intended to make children’s television more social, press images and videos promoting the new episodes show them as an activity being enjoyed in the company of siblings and parents.