#gamebook

[theartofmadeline]

lil 16 page zine that i made at the coffee shop this weekend! a sort of pick your path style mini game, because i love wizards + interactive fiction. hope you get out of the wizard dungeon!!

[greekmythcomix]

You Are Odysseus

So

I’m a teacher of Classical Civilisation that has taught the Odyssey for over a decade and studied pretty much every myth and story with Odysseus in it.. I think

and I’m writing an Interactive Fiction (choose your own path) version of the Odyssey, inspired by the Homeric phrase “he turned his great heart this way and that”, where you are Odysseus, allowing you to follow his decisions or make your own

and it already has 400 sections to it - written to emulate modern translations of the Odyssey, including the literary features of simile, formula, epithet, and the rest - and 21 different ways to die, and quite a lot of period and theme-appropriate alternatives

(and if I get time, the option to be Telemachus or Penelope, although that might have to wait because it’s already a monster)

and I’ve tested what I’ve made so far on my pupils, other Classics teachers, and some of the leading (and best-read) Greek Mythology podcasters and YouTubers, all of whom have universally loved it (yay!)

(EDIT: Oops and I presented on it at the Classical Association conference last year)

I’m trying to finish it this summer, but need a bit of encouragement to do so

EDIT: and I forgot to say that ideally I’m planning on it being a beautiful BOOK with an old-fashioned cover and lots of ribbons to mark your place ❤️ (ex-bookseller ofc)

so, please let me know if you’d like to know more!

(EDIT: or sign up here go get notified directly when it’s ready: https://ljenkinsonbrown.wordpress.com/you-are-odysseus-signup/ )

[sandypuggames]

We cannot lie to you, best beloved. Though you may avoid us, there is no escape.

We’re in the walls and behind your eyes. We carved every inch of these tunnels and we’ve seen all that goes on inside them. 

Centuries of cities and strangers and frightful, ugly sights. We’d spare you from it if we could, but then maybe you are the adventuring kind after all.

Just remember, no matter where you go, you belong to us. Whether you wait or whether you run, we will find you.

You’re in the Maggots’ Keep now. And that’s forever. 

We just launched a new book! THE EXQUISITE CORPSE IN MAGGOTS' KEEP Is a branching narrative gamebook, where your choices guide you deeper into the ichor-slick darkness of MAGGOTS KEEP. Written by over a dozen authors, and illustrated by the modern Goddess of Gloom, @jnbutlerart

[aalaynirakul]

Enter Nirakul Archives Detailed update: 170224 (Nírákùlaalai - Study part 1)

— Minor update to Staff office. [3rd floor, Nirakul Archives] — An update to Museum Guide. [3rd floor, Nirakul Archives] — Things added to Picture's Book. [2nd floor, Nirakul Archives] — Added another thing to Roadside [Roadside, Nirakul Archives] Nns̄ậngslmụngchụnthrạms̄ī| [Study, Nírákùlaalai]

——————————————————— Patreon | Shop | Twitter | ArtStation | Youtube

[vintagerpg]

The Malifestro Quest is a good deal better than Forces of Krill, I think. Popping cover by Phil Parks, too. He did the cover for the first book as well, but this one is far better, I think. Dell Harris does the interiors, which are a step up from the first book as well, and seem to evoke Jim Holloway in a way I can’t quite put my finger on.

A hero is being held hostage by an evil wizard and the protagonists need to ransom him. There’s one path to success here and again, maybe two dozen endings. These are really on par with the CYOA and Endless Quest books, but with just a hint of something else thanks to their association with the Zork games, so I am not expecting Crown of Kings here. This is probably the Zorkiest of them, humor-wise. Things are pretty silly throughout. Even with the demon. Which, speaking of, bold cover choice with the pentagram during the Satanic Panic, right?

[dndhistory]

413. Terry Phillips - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebook #4: The Soulforge (1985)

The second gamebook in this series set in the Dragonlance universe, this is a pretty interesting gamebook for all those who are into that world, and particularly for fans of Raistlin, the morally ambiguous wizard.

In this gamebook the player takes on the role of Raistlin himself in what is a prequel to the Dragonlance Chronicles, as he takes the test at the Towers of High Sorcery that end up giving him his wizard robes. He does this with the constant assistance of his twin brother, beefcake Caramon. 

The story of this gamebook is inspired by a previous tale of the twins and the sorcery test, published over a year earlier in issue #83 of Dragon magazine, but this will also itself inspire the 1998 Margaret Weis novel, also called The Stoneforge which tells the whole story of the test in a more extended form. One of the best gamebooks in this series, it's definitely worth your time, particularly if you are into Raistlin. 

[gurumog]

Brutal Moon - a science fiction novel in which you are the hero.

Published today.

I love Adventure Gamebooks. I love the cover. The blurb makes it all sound terribly British too! I’m gonna order a copy. Paperback, of course, because old-school.

timeandfate.com

[gontijolab]

Role-and-Write games?

Every once in a while I browse through the many design contests on Board Game Geek website. I'm an enthusiast of print-and-play, solitaire wargames and portable stuff myself so it wasn't really a suprise when I ended at the 15th ROLL & WRITE GAME DESIGN CONTEST page today. For those asking themselves what is that,

"[Roll-and-Write Games] are (usually) small and portable games that involve players rolling dice and marking the results on sheets of paper or erasable boards. Another common factor is that marking choices made in previous plays limit a player's marking choices in future plays."¹

When I noticed two hours had already passed and I was looking at all the entries of the last years. I've had some good experiences playing this subgenre of boardgames in the past, but only now I'm asking myself the right question:

Why not add roll-and-write mechanics into Solo RPGs and Gamebooks?

Gamebooks, specifically, are a suitable medium to carry roll-and-write mechanics into their pages. I can't see why they still don't actually. Afterall, they already share a lot of the same traits of R&W

both portable;

both affordable;

both solitaire-first;

both low-cost in terms of production

I believe R&W mechanics could be integrated into gamebooks as subsystems or even just as minigames that would bring some breath into the usual roll-against-attribute loop. Not only that, but they actually allow the writers and the readers to deal with gaming experiences that are simply not possible trough conventional gamebook practices.

Just imagine if you need to ask the player to

map a region with random encounters;

hack into a computer by solving a sudoku-like puzzle;

fix a spaceship engine using creativity;

design and build a fort;

go through a tactical movement combat.

The intersection between gamebooks and boardgames are also not that new

I'm not inventing the wheel here. Barbarian Prince did that in 1981 and and the Middle-Earth Quest Gamebooks actually proposed a very sandboxy hexcrawl mechanic in 1985. Another obscure example is the Nintendo Gamebooks published between 1991 and 1992. Targeted at young children it's main mechanic was all about newspaper style pencil-puzzle challenges. 40 years ago these ideas were being published and I feel the entire Scene has been sleeping on them since then.

I don't have an answer on why that happened. My biased guess would be a purist prejudice against boardgames merging into roleplaying games, but I may be completely delusional of course. I hope so, really. All I know is that I'm already buying, downloading, playing and studying a lot of Roll-and-Write games and seeing the possibilities expanding in front of me.

[mrmeltingpoint]

FINALLY I am releasing the DEMO version of 963: MIRAGE, which is a gamebook I'm working on to give a little more insight into Dr. Mirage, my 963 rewrite!

It runs entirely within your browser, no download required!

[taritoons]

All the drawings from our Fighting Fantasy: Chasms of Malice livestreams. Once a month on tuesdays Noon EST/ 6pm CET over on Twitch @ ArvanEleron.

Bonus warm up doodles:

[moody-mae]

Hey, people!

Been a minute since I released a substantial update and new content for you to try. So here's some stuff!

I discovered that I didn't account for bleed dimensions when preparing the pdf for the new version of the zine. This will complicate things where printing is concerned, so, obviously, it will have to be dealt with before sending the file to the printing service for test copies. This basically means that I need to create a new document in the correct dimensions and copy and paste ALL OF THE CONTENT over from the document I'm currently working on. It's not the end of the world, just a tedious hold up.

Illustrations are coming along. I only have three more Entities left to illustrate, (the Physical Entities) and the Imp is already in the works. I'll share my favorite Entity illustrations at the end of this post. ^u^ After the Entity index is complete, all that's left is revamped cover art for the front cover and title page, and then I need to make a wax stamp illustration for the Letter of Welcome from the Overseer (new feature). With all that done, I can resize my document and send it in for test copies. Then we're VERY Close to the Kickstarter launch. >u<

I released a new pdf for download today. It's a wip pdf, and I withheld certain features (namely Possession & Purification, and the Achievement's page). There is some art missing, the stuff that I mentioned above. But this is closer to what the finished version will look like than the old pdf I had available. The main game is intact in this version. So give it a go. ;) Eventually, I'll release a version that includes Possession & Purification, as well as the juicy Achievements page.

So, the game's itch page got a tiny makeover...

And here are my favorite Entity illustrations so far:

And here are what the pages look like in the version I just released today:

Afterlife Archive download page

[greekmythcomix]

TELL ME, O READER, THE STORY OF THAT RESOURCEFUL MAN…

Try a sneak peek preview of the Odyssey Gamebook:

Let the Muse of Epic Poetry, Kalliope, inspire you to tell a tale worthy of the generations to come!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A brief word from the late C6thBCE philosopher Heraclitus:

‘A man’s character is his fate.’

If you’re reading as Homer’s Odysseus, you will at least get home.

If you choose a different path… well, that’s a different fate, and a different story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read the story, then tap the ‘Go to…’ option you prefer in order to move on.

You are Odysseus. Go to 1.

[if-you-are-tired-clap-your-hands]

they've made an animorphs gamebook ???? i had never heard of those

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

THE CHASM OF DOOM 

by Jean-Baptiste “Djib” Reynaud

[vintagerpg]

The Cavern of Doom (1983) is the third Zork pick-your-path book. Most of the basic features are the same: two kids, a boy and a girl, explore the Great Underground Empire in a fairly linear quest suitable for young readers. It plays fast — you can probably solve it in about 30 minutes, it has one optimal path (I think), about 15 ways to die surprisingly grisly deaths and one trap for cheaters. Plot-wise, we’re exploring the titular cavern in hopes of finding the elves Max and Fred. As they are missing, so is a good deal of humor that was found in the previous book.

This one makes up for that lack by being the most like a Zork videogame in structure. You need to collect objects to solve challenges and you pick your way through a dungeoncrawl that, for the first time in the series, actually feels like the GUE to me. There are lots of grue. We even get to see what they look like, thanks to Dell Harris’ illustrations. I’m not sure how I feel about that broadly, but I do appreciate how toothy they are (I also have a hard time believing this Dell Harris is the same as the last book’s Dell Harris, to the point that I am wondering if it is a pen name). Phil Parks delivers a cover that is less awesome than the last volume’s but, I think, suits the book, and the larger Zork universe, quite nicely.

If you’re gonna get one Zork pick-your-path that isn’t tied to nostalgia for the cover, this is probably it.

[haridraws]

tiny peeks of a secret thing I’ve been working on