hello, new user here. apologize if this isn't the right place to post but I'm trying to find out what kind of software/platform does the story app, Choices: Stories you play use and can everyday joe's and jane's get/create that type of software?

This is not a Game Design question. Moving to a more appropriate forum.

When in doubt, check their web site, especially job postings.

But based on both, it looks all custom. They hire Cocos2D-x developers, which is a cross platform library used by many games. They want “full stack” server developers who know Java, python, AWS, and Dynamo.

Putting those together, I'm guessing it's all unique software they created, and probably relies on Cocos2d-x and platform specific libraries rather than Unity, Unreal, C4, or similar engines.

All of those are freely available. So yes, you have access to the same tools. You may or may not have the skills and experience to use the tools, but the tools are widely available and widely used.

You can for example use tools like Articy Draft to create the stories and game design, then use their Unity Plugin to import anything into playable Unity code with some small amount of work and export it as mobile build.

They also provide a demo project to see how it works. However, you need a license for this kind of software but can get free months and they are on conventions and tradefairs as well gifting codes.

However, you still have to develop the game by yourself, don't think that there is some software that has an “create my game” button you simply can press and thats it ?

Thank you both! Really appreciate it. Sorry for it being in the wrong place.

Seems like a visual novel to me. Well I'm sorry if I miss something.

Regardless, if it's really a visual novel, give Ren'Py a try. Also if you prefer using Unity, JockerScript might be a good fit.