Of those I’ve listed, all have weaknesses. In the case of Choice Of Games, I don’t like the user interface (and the lack of customisability for it) or the licensing restrictions (must be hosted by them): however, I can see how it’s perhaps the easiest established platform for those new to the genre. Their hottest selling feature seems to be their instant “app” output, which is cute but doesn’t interest me personally (I’d far rather see versatile adaptive web applications than yet-another-app, but that’s a personal preference thing: I can see how others enjoy “apps”). It’s been a year or two since I seriously looked at them, though.

Undum’s my second-favourite, and it’s only its license that I don’t like (the restrictions require a plug for the platform in the footer of your work). Both Undum and Twine/Twee provide a great deal of customisability for those with a Javascipt/HTML/CSS background, and that’s great (although Twine/Twee isn’t always easy to do, owing to the quirks of TiddlyWiki, out to which it compiles).

I suppose that the final selling point between Undum and Twine/Twee for me is that I’m lucky enough to already be intimately familiar with TiddlyWiki, so I don’t mind the arcane syntax tweaks necessary to highly-customise the output. I’m also (very slowly) working on a tool to convert Twine/Twee-TiddlyWiki output into PDF files reminiscent of traditional choose-your-own gamebooks.

For a newcomer to the scene, I’d recommend Twine/Twee if they’ve got TiddlyWiki and a little programming experience, Undum if they’ve merely got a little programming experience (or want to learn), and looking elsewhere (Choice Of…? Varytale?) if they haven’t.

Perhaps I’ll write a blog post on “Choosing Your Own CYO Platform”.