Arcanum · One Pager · Pre-Seed · 2026 · Confidential
Interactive stories are
the next format of fiction.
Arcanum is the only platform that lets creators build, validate, and monetize rule-driven interactive stories — without writing a single line of code.
$13.4B
Narrative games market
Problem & Solution
The Problem
- Twine, Ink, and Ren'Py require scripting — most fiction writers never publish
- Simple choice editors have no rule system, state management, or validation
- No platform offers live graph validation or structural integrity checking
- No creator-first IF tool has native monetization at story or branch level
- Structure and content are forced to be built simultaneously — blocking flow
≠
The Solution
- 5 action templates generate all underlying logic automatically — no code ever
- Full rule system: dice rolls, stat checks, fight mechanics, DSL expressions
- Live validation engine surfaces dead ends, orphan nodes, and continuity conflicts
- Built-in monetization: story sales, premium branch unlocks, Creator Pro subscriptions
- Placeholder system separates structure from content — build architecture first
Market Sizing
Total Addressable Market
TAM
$13.4B
Global narrative games market (2024). Includes IF creation tools, visual novels, mobile narrative games, and gamebooks. Growing 28% YoY.
Serviceable Addressable Market
SAM
$1.2B
Creator tools + IF platforms. Creators actively seeking tools to build and monetize interactive fiction. English-speaking markets.
Serviceable Obtainable Market
SOM
$12M ARR
Arcanum Year 3 target — 0.98% of SAM. Conservative, based on Twine's 2M+ download pool with near-zero commercial conversion.
Why Now
| Tailwind | Signal |
|---|
| Creator economy maturity | Substack, Patreon, and itch.io prove the recurring subscription + commission model. Creators pay for professional tools. |
| Episodic content validated | Choices and Episode generate $2.4B annually. Player demand for interactive stories is proven and growing. |
| Platform gap — 5+ years | StoryNexus sunsetted. Wattpad sold. No new creator-first IF platform at scale since 2019. Window is open. |
| New creator generation | Gen Z and Millennial creators grew up on narrative games and intuitively understand interactive mechanics. |
| LLM maturity | GPT-4o / Claude quality now sufficient for AI-assisted placeholder generation — a Phase 3 differentiator. |
Pricing
Creator Free
$0
forever
+ 20% commission on all sales
- 1 story · 50 nodes max
- 3 action templates
- Basic validation
- Player embed
Creator Pro Most popular
$19
/month
+ 15% commission on all sales
- Unlimited stories & nodes
- All 5 templates
- Analytics & heatmaps
- Custom branding
- Priority validation
- Full test mode suite
Creator Studio
$49
/month
+ 12% commission on all sales
- All Pro features
- 3 team seats
- API access
- White-label player
- Path coverage analytics
Platform Commission
18%
avg blended rate
Applied to all story sales, episodes, and premium branch unlocks
- Story sales
- Episode purchases
- Premium branch gates
- Player marketplace
Financial Projections
| Metric | Year 1 — 2026 | Year 2 — 2027 | Year 3 — 2028 |
|---|
| Paid creators | 400 | 1,800 | 7,000 |
| Active players | 5,000 | 30,000 | 200,000 |
| Blended ARPU | ~$22/mo | ~$24/mo | ~$28/mo |
| Subscription ARR | $106K | $519K | $2.35M |
| Commission ARR | $74K | $301K | $850K |
| Total ARR | $180K | $820K | $3.2M |
| Gross Margin | ~82% | ~83% | ~84% |
Unit Economics
Blended ARPU~$22/mo
CAC (community-first)$18
LTV (12-month)~$264
LTV : CAC14.7 : 1
Gross Margin~82%
Monthly churn target5%
Time to first publish (target)<14 days
Breakeven estimateM+22
Go-to-Market Acquisition
Technology Stack
React + React Flow (node editor)
Node.js rule engine
PostgreSQL + JSONB snapshots
Graph traversal validator
Restricted DSL expression parser
Cloudflare Images
External video embeds (MVP)
Stripe payments
The Ask
$500K pre-seed. 18 months of runway to build the product, onboard the first 1,000 creators, and prove that narrative intent can be translated into structured, playable, monetizable experiences at scale.
| Category | Amount | Purpose |
|---|
| Engineering & Product | $280K | 2 engineers + 1 designer · Node editor, rule engine, validation, player session, test mode |
| Product & Design | $120K | Creator UX, onboarding flow, template UI, graph visualisation, player experience |
| Community & GTM | $60K | Anchor creator programme, game jam sponsorships, content marketing, community management |
| Operations & Legal | $40K | Entity setup, GDPR compliance, payment processing, accounting |
| Total | $500K | 18-month runway to Series A preparation at M+18 |
Series A Targets (M+18)
1,000+
Story completions (anchor)