I’ve never been someone to reread books or re-watch movies. The main reason is because if I try to reread a book I will almost always remember the ending before I finish the first chapter which spoils the whole book for me. However, when I picked up my first choose your own adventure book (CYOA) as a child, I read it multiple times. I spent much more time on a single CYOA book than on a traditional book. I loved that instead of having to go out and choose another book, you can reread the same one over and over and never really know what ending you’re going to get. Another reason I was driven too reread CYOA books was the idea that there were multiple endings and that maybe I could find the BEST ending. It became a game for me to see how long I could last or if I could complete all the quests and come out on top. In the article “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games” from These Heterogeneous Tasks, the author Sam Kabo Ashwell describes various patterns that can be found in CYOA books including one called the gauntlet. The gauntlet proves that my childhood goal of correctly navigating to the best ending could’ve been reachable. The gauntlet is a pattern that has one clear thread but many side branches that can lead to abrupt death. The clear thread, if followed correctly, will lead the reader to the finale. However, this is not the only pattern that CYOA books can take. Ashwell describes patterns like open map, sorting hat, loop and grow, and time cave. While some of these also have one “best” ending, many have multiple viable endings or many different paths to the same happy ever after. I loved choose your own adventure books because in a way they are competitive, addicting and consuming. These qualities ensured that I didn’t put my CYOA book down even during dinner as a child.