A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not follow paragraphs in a linear or ordered fashion. Gamebooks are sometimes called choose your own adventure books or CYOA after the influential Choose Your Own Adventure series.>Fighting Fantasy PDF archivehttps://www.annarchive.com/fighting_fantasy.html>Fighting Fantasy wikihttps://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy_Wiki_-_Titannica>Other Gamebooks on archive.orghttps://archive.org/details/gamebooks>Previous threadNone
So how are the Fabled Lands books? They came out at the end of the gamebook fad, but sound pretty interesting. I've never seen a copy though, let alone played one.
>>85018884hey cool, i was writing a cyoa! im gonna read through that there list. thanks man
>>85018884This thread reminded me that somewhere in my library I have an old gamebook that I never actually played. I recall it was based on Piers Anthony's "Bio of a Space Tyrant" (never read it) and was titled something like "Cut by Emerald". I recall being interested because you command a fleet in a sci-fi storyline.Thanks for the reminder. Going to dig around for it now.
>>85018884I forgot to mention the source of that image. That's House of Hell by Steve Jackson. Hard as nails, but the theme is amazing.>>85023383I'm writing one myself, 2000 paragraphs so far. Good luck to both of us, I guess.>>85023345Never played them, the only thing I know is that originally they were intended to be books of the Fighting Fantasy series, but then it became its own thing. I want to give it a shot as well, because it looks promising.>>85024804You're welcome. By the way, people don't usually appreciate sci-fi themed gamebooks and I wonder why. They can be just as great as fantasy ones, in my opinion. See Rings of Kether (or as I like to call it, Miami Vice in Space).
>>85026631Rings of Kether was great and I wish they did more of them. I don't know if it was Starship Traveller that hurt the concept so badly that it never recovered or what, but Rebel Planet was great and in general there are tons of opportunities there.
>>85031324> I don't know if it was Starship Traveller that hurt the concept so badly that it never recovered or whatWas the first of the FF sci fi game books published before both Rings of Kether & Rebel Planet
>>85031401I know: I'm just saying that since it was generally considered bad even by its writer that maybe it gave the concept a bad image in the line. Then again, written fantasy seems to always outsell sci-fi regardless of the venue so it's probably just that people want more orcs.
>>85031324Starship Traveller and Space Assassin were regarded as the worst sci-fi FF gamebooks, so bad in fact that the reputation of the genre got tarnished before it even started. This is why Rings of Kether and Rebel Planet didn't get the success they rightfully deserved, or at least that's what I've come to understand.>>85031447That too.
>>85018884This was my first one. Took me several attempts to break out of the starting dungeon. Some parts were intentionally difficult and unclear, but damn what a great story.When handling gamebooks where you hit dead ends a lot, do you go back to a "save state" or reroll each time?
>>85026631im this guy >>85023383 you wanna keep in touch? my email is NGNKOM @ gmail.com, hit me up if ya wanna chat. maybe we could help each other somehow every now and then
>>85032607Ah, Creature of Havoc, one of the best. I just bought that same edition, it was only 2 USD on abebooks. Anyhow, on the dead end topic it usually depends. If it's my fuck up, I reroll. If it's the book's fuck up due to an incorrect redirection of paragraphs or an absurd puzzle, you can rest assured I will cheat my way through it. A while back I used to photograph my progress so I could use those pictures as checkpoints, but by now I don't do that anymore. It's time consuming and rather autistic.
>>85032607Creature of Havoc is the only FF I've looked up the solution for, it makes House of Hell look simple by comparison
>>85026631What is your game book about? Is it also sci-fi? I want to write one someday but I have always struggled with writing
>>85023345I love them but they can be tedious. You never want to go on a quest unprepared which means spending time getting blessings. I recommend playing as a thief or wizard because they have the best quests. Another annoying thing are one time only quests that you can stumble on and lock yourself out of.
>>85036306It's mainly sci-fi with a hint of Lovecraftian horror and high fantasy, but the genre itself might change according to the reader's choices and the worlds he explores (for example there's a route that's strictly about mystery, therefore a whodunnit story). Write and read a lot and you'll surely find your style; that's what I did.
>>85034514I was able to get to a bad ending without a guide, but yeah I had to get some help for seeking out the best ending. I can't tell you how many attempts it took to make it that far.>>85034404I had a similar method, but rather than using pictures I would map out the paragraph numbers as routes to keep track of which paths led to certain death and which ones led to important items, etc. Definitely a fair amount of autism involved.Any recs for other compelling and challenging gamebooks? CoH was my first. I played another right after but I cleared it in one try. The atmosphere and story were nice, but it felt like a cakewalk, partially because of dice and partially because I happened to make the right choices.
>>85044012Forgot to attach image, the only book besides CoH that I've played. Much easier and more straightforward than the maze-like masterpiece.
>>85044012>>85044126I suggest you to play either Puffin or Wizard editions of Fighting Fantasy, the cover you posted is from Scholastic which is notorious for changing the illustrations and make them way shittier.That being said, these are my recommendations:- Sorcery! series (by Steve Jackson and part of the FF universe)- Deathtrap Dungeon (By Ian Livingstone; the most loved FF title)- Freeway Fighter (FF; recommended if you like post-apocalyptic settings on Earth)- Rebel Planet and Rings of Kether (FF; recommended if you like sci-fi)- House of Hell (FF; recommended if you like horror, i.e. Resident Evil)- Scorpion Swamp (one of the easier FF, it still needs to be mapped and it has different missions according to your alignment - Good, Neutral or Bad; probably the first to feature a spell system)- Forest of Doom (FF; similar to Scorpion Swamp in terms of difficulty)- The Sword of the Bastard Elf (if you like fantasy and comedy)House of Hell is definitely the harder one among those, but the setting makes up for it.Deathtrap Dungeon is a must; both challenging and engaging, the plot is cool as well.Sorcery! is a good saga, has interesting puzzles and a more fleshed out spell system.
>>85044437>>85044126>>85044437[CONTINUE]At the moment I'm playing Demons of the Deep though. After finishing Bloodbones (which is FF with a pirate theme), this felt like the closest thing to a gamebook to enjoy in the summer. In fact, DotD takes place underwater, in the ocean, and I find it to be an interesting idea. You may want to add these two titles to the other ones I've suggested. There are probably more I'm forgetting about, but if you need something I recommend you to go on the first link in the OP. There you'll find the vast majority of FF, in form of .pdf(s). Of course, if you want to buy them, or search for other series, you probably won't be as lucky... I posted an archive.org link but in general you'd have to purchase what you need via abebooks or something similar. Just don't get fucked by scalpers.By the way, if you're interested there's Fighting Fantasy Classics on Steam. It's not the same thing as having physical books, but probably better than virtual documents.Enjoy!
>>85044437>>85044555Thanks for that, sounds like Deathtrap Dungeon and House of Hell will be obligatory. The Scorpion Swamp alignment gimmick also sounds cool. Freeway Fighter sounds like it'll scratch the ol Mad Max Road Warrior itch.If I'm able to get my hands on the physical copies I'll be sure to avoid the Scholastic publications. It's no wonder the art was so disappointingly juvenile in my copy.I saw the PDF archive too. It does seem like a bit of a hassle compared to the pure serotonin that comes with flipping through the pages, but ctrl + f along with the paragraph number should ease the pain a bit.
>>85046750Yeah, you nailed it. One more thing: the best websites where you can purchase these books are abebooks, Awesome Books and Book Depository. Avoid Amazon at all costs, since the prices over there are stupidly high. Generally, you shouldn't spend more than 10 USD on a FF gamebook; Deathtrap Dungeon (Wizard edition) is currently at 2-3 USD on abe, which is a fair price all things considered. Personally, I use a .pdf only for later FF chapters that have inflated prices (Magehunter for example is notorious for having a price tag around the hundreds of dollars). So in conclusion, the best thing you can do is to always strike a balance between quality and costs (it sounds obvious I know, but I see way too many dudes getting fucked over by scalpers and Amazon).
Anyone know this post-apocalyptic gamebook? You had stats and rolled dice, drove around city ruins in a car, had art that was literally just traced from Road Warrior. I remember loving it in middle school
>>85050800Search for Freeway Fighter on Google Images. That's probably what you're looking for.
>>85051640>Freeway FighterThat's the fucking one, thanks.
I liked Armies of Darkness - you gotta raise and lead an army against a God and its army. Very neat.
>>85018884I collected a bunch of these when I was a kid and teenager. I would buy armful of them for like 1 pr 2 euros a piece in flea markets. I think the illustrations are what drew me in. The digital art they used in later editions doesn't evoke the same sense of mystery.
Some people may write it off for its silly writing but grailquest book 1 is fun especially if you make a map like the book suggests. I didn’t like book 2 as much though because it had some bullshit traps that made me lose all of my stuff.
>>85055265Oh and also book 2 takes place in a town so you can’t really make a map like in book 1. But exploring the town was still fun.
>>85054329If I remember correctly Armies of Death was part of a trilogy along with Trials of Champions and Deathtrap Dungeon itself. All three are great despite being loosely connected, and the one you mentioned has a very nice gimmick. Commanding an army is cool indeed.>>85054462The shit that Scholastic gets for their new illustrations is truly well deserved. As an example, just look at pic related; fucking hell, this series became My Little Pony or something...
>>85056033Yeah, your character in Armies is the one who successfully completed the dungeon in Trial of Champions. No real connection to 1, though, except that the dungeon is 2 is expressly built because the first version was solved: same place/contest but that's itAlso, yeah, the art in the new books is beyond terrible. I can't image how anyone thought that it was more appealing than the old stuff. I'm guessing they could just get shit-tier digital art for much cheaper than increasingly rare proper hand-drawn art.
>>85056033I mean it's cute and not bad art per se but it looks like a book for 8-10 years old rather than teenagers. I don't know if the writing matches the cover.Pic related is worse imo. It's gaudy and has a comic-book vibe that I don't like at all.
>>85060660Now compare it with the original covers. I know it's all subjective and nostalgia plays a part but I think they're much better. They are usually more subtle and act more like an invitation to read the book.
>>85060721Here's another example that highlights what you were saying.
>>85060969Oh yes, that's another good one. Alongside Russ Nicholson Iain McCaig was perhaps my favourite illustrator for the inside art. I see he published an art book last year but the style feels very different to me, to the point that I would not have guessed it's the same artist. I guess the FF illustrations had a humoristic and naive touch that gave them a special charm despite being less technically complex.
>>85060721I agree with your general point, but the cover art for Warlock was trash before and the Scholastic version is a slight improvement. Frankly, a black cover with the title in bigger letters would be better than either.
Anyhow, if people like gamebooks I can only recommend the Sorcery! video game adaptation in four parts. The spirit is extremely faithful to the originals, the gameplay has been enhanced with lots of branching paths and freedom of exploration and the writing is incredibly good. My only regret is that there isn't even more of it.
I always liked the give yourself goosebumps books
>>85061135I'm currently playing this. Great way to enjoy Sorcery! without spending a fortune for the books.Similarly, there's The Warlock of Firetop Mountain on Steam, and each character you use has a different quest. Despite that, both the original text and illustrations are the same - they just added a chess-like combat system with dice, a map akin to a board game, an ambient soundtrack and the new classes.I was wondering if Fighting Fantasy Legends and Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy on Steam could compare to that. It's probably not the same level of polish, but the bundle of both said games are currently at 1,90 USD so I guess I could give it a try.
>>85049409I love that House of Hell art. They were really pushing it for a book aimed at children. I remember seeing pic related when I was about 8 and being pretty freaked out, especially with the accompanying section - you just open the front door, see this then NOPE the fuck out of there.House of Hell might be the second hardest of all the FFs, just because you really do have to against your instincts to check every single room and attack everything (I eventually learned that searching most of the named rooms is pointless). Plus there's red herrings and dead ends everywhere, but it's all part of the fun.
>>85061965It's a real flip of expectations from today: a blind first play of any FF book is doomed. I genuinely think it's impossible. Whereas most players today are looking for victory as long as they're careful.
>>85062096It depends. Some are borderline impossible and others are relatively straightforward as long as you don't roll shit stats and don't do anything stupid. Forest of Doom and Scorpion Swamp were pretty lenient as far as I remember. Pic related was crazy hard but had a very interesting premise.
>>85062096I won Rings of Kether first try without looking at any guide. Either the book was easy and/or most likely, I made the right decisions by sheer luck. Admittedly, something like that doesn't repeat itself!>>85061965Yeah, the image in the OP angered a lot of parents for example and it wasn't even something you normally cry about. It wasn't the "satanic" feel of it, but the naked woman instead. If I remember correctly there was also an illustration of a nip slip, so...
