For narrative/interactive fiction work, my stack is pretty minimal by game-dev standards:
**Ink** (by Inkle) is the core. It's a scripting language purpose-built for branching dialogue — you write the story logic in plain text, compile it to JSON, and it plays anywhere JavaScript runs. No engine required. The branch/weave/tunnel system handles complex choice structures cleanly once it clicks. inkjs is the runtime; drop it in a browser page and you're done.
**VS Code** with the Ink extension for authoring — it gives you a live play-through panel so you can test branches without leaving the editor. Worth having even if you're only occasionally writing Ink.
**Playwright** for anything involving automation or browser testing. Overkill for most indie devs, but if your game is entirely browser-based and you want to run regression tests on story branches, it works.
Beyond that: plain HTML/CSS for the interface, Kimi K2 for brainstorming branching outcomes when I'm stuck, and Audacity for any audio.
The Ink-to-browser pipeline is genuinely underrated for narrative games — keeps you focused on writing decisions rather than engine decisions. If you're curious what a finished browser game built entirely on inkjs looks like, the Crossroads series (glowinteractive on itch.io) is a working example.