ChatMapper is branching scenario software for training, serious games and simulation. Map the conversation visually, drive it with real variables and conditions, play it back the moment you change it, then publish to LearnBrite, SCORM, xAPI or Unity.
No install. Nothing to configure. Works on Windows, macOS and ChromeOS.
Branching scenario software lets you build a non-linear conversation or decision path, where each choice a learner makes changes what happens next. Good branching scenario software does three things a slide tool cannot: it shows you the whole branch structure at once, it lets you test the logic with real variables before anyone sees it, and it exports to the system that will actually deliver the scenario. ChatMapper does all three in the browser.
A branching scenario is a story, lesson or simulation told through non-linear dialogue. Players are offered choices on where to go, who to talk with and what to say, and those choices decide which scene comes next.
Instead of one fixed path, the learner navigates. Every branch is a real path through the material, so two people can take the same scenario and have two different experiences.
Conditions and variables decide what unlocks. Track trust, budget, time or clinical risk across the whole scenario and let the ending reflect what the learner actually did.
Because the scenario remembers, a poor choice early shows up later. That is what makes branching scenarios stick where a multiple-choice quiz does not.
The gamer’s illusion of freedom is a term designers use for an experience where players feel in full control while the author still shapes where they land.
Agency creates engagement, and engagement creates recall. When the learner believes the outcome was theirs, completing the scenario feels earned rather than sat through.
A well designed branch turns a wrong turn into the most memorable part of the course. The learner sees the consequence, understands why, and gets to try the conversation again.
Every path in the scenario, visible at once. This is the structure a slide tool hides from you.
Three scenarios built in ChatMapper and published to the browser. Play them, then open the editor and build your own.
A patient conversation where tone and sequence change the clinical outcome. Built for nurse communication training.
An objection-handling scenario. Push too hard and you lose the room, hold back too long and you lose the deal.
A time-pressured decision game where variables carry across scenes and the ending depends on what you tracked.
Playing a scenario back in ChatMapper. Variables update as choices are made, so you can test the logic before anyone else sees it.
The branch structure is the script. AI fills the space between the branches, and LearnBrite gives the scenario a room to happen in.
Describe the situation and ChatMapper drafts the branch: the nodes, the player choices, the conditions between them. You keep the structure and rewrite the lines, which is far faster than starting from an empty canvas.
Let the learner type or speak instead of picking from a list. The AI character stays inside the boundaries you authored, and the scenario still resolves to the branch you designed, so the assessment stays valid.
Give every character a voice and a face. Scenarios play back as spoken conversation rather than text on screen, with no separate recording session.
Publish a ChatMapper scenario straight into a LearnBrite 3D space and the conversation becomes a walkable roleplay: a clinic, a shop floor, a meeting room. Same branch logic, same variables, delivered as an immersive session your LMS can track.
AI proposes a branch. You review it and approve it. Nothing is written into your project until you say so.
From a blank canvas to a playable AI roleplay scenario, in about ten minutes.
Sign up free and the canvas opens in the browser. Nothing to install, nothing to license first.
Give it the setting, the characters and what you want the learner to practise. ChatMapper drafts the first branch for you.
Switch the player node to free text, set the character’s brief and the conditions that end the scene.
Run the simulator, fix what does not land, then publish to LearnBrite or export SCORM, xAPI or Unity.
Most authoring tools can fake a branch. Fewer can show you the whole structure, test the logic, and export it somewhere real. Here is where each one sits.
| Tool | Built for branching | Runs in browser | Logic testing | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatMapper | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Live simulator with variables | You need branch structure, AI roleplay and export in one place |
| Articulate Storyline | No, slide based | Authoring is desktop | Preview only | You are building slide courses with occasional branches |
| Adobe Captivate | No, slide based | Authoring is desktop | Preview only | You already own the Adobe stack |
| articy:draft X | Yes | No, Windows | Partial, via plugins | You are a game studio on Windows with a narrative team |
| Arcweave | Yes | Yes | Basic | You want a light collaborative board |
| Twine | Yes | Yes | Code it yourself | You are comfortable writing the logic by hand |
| PowerPoint | No | Yes | None | You are sketching, not shipping |
Branching scenario software is a tool for authoring non-linear conversations and decision paths, where each choice changes what happens next. It shows the branch structure visually, holds the conditional logic that decides which path unlocks, and publishes the finished scenario to a player or an LMS.
Yes, there is a free tier. You get the browser canvas, the live simulator and validation. ChatMapper Desktop is also free to download and stays free.
Yes. You draw the branch on the canvas and set conditions from the panel. Lua is there if you want scripted logic, but you never have to touch it to build a working scenario.
ChatMapper exports SCORM and xAPI, so it drops into any standards-compliant LMS. It also publishes to LearnBrite for 3D delivery and exports to Unity for game engines.
Storyline and Captivate are slide-based course tools that can branch. ChatMapper is built around the branch itself, so you see the entire structure at once, test it with real variables and export the dialogue as data rather than as slides.
Yes. AI roleplay lets the learner type or speak freely while the AI character stays inside the boundaries you authored, and the scenario still resolves to the branches you designed.
Open the canvas in your browser, draft the first branch with AI, and play it back before you write a single line of code.