Don’t Let Go is a unique interactive audio novel on the Spotify platform, created to launch ‘Happiness’, the debut album from Manchester electronic duo Hurts. The novel was written by Manchester author Joe Stretch and voiced by actress Anna Friel.

 

After listening to each chapter, Anna offers the player a choice of what to do next, along with a unique code for each action. Typing this code into the Spotify search field brings up the next chunk of the story. Players must stop the villain Guy Lockhart from distributing his heartbreak cocktail and condemning humankind forever to a loveless, empty existence.

 

Throughout the experience players hear extracts from "Happiness". If a player made it to one of the story's eleven possible endings without dying, they were rewarded with an exclusive track preview.

 

The project won a Cyber Lion at Cannes and attracted almost a quarter of a million players in the week before the release of Happiness. If you have Spotify installed on your computer or mobile device you can start playing by following this link.

 

This fan-made diagram shows the large number of possible routes through the story.