Want to write a gamebook? Then here's a reading list (2023 edition)

Hello all! I first published the reading list back in 2017, but then realised that some people have written articles since then, so I will repost this reading list with updates every year. Here is the 2023 version. 

Whassup! Here is the fruits of my labours on a little project I was working on. I wanted to collect a definitive  list of gamebook analysis that anyone who wants to write a gamebook has to read. So far, I have come up with the following blog posts and links to give you a good grounding in the art and science of gamebook writing. Enjoy!

EDIT: The links weren't working because I had pasted hyperlinks in from a Word document (!?) but I have re-inserted the links so they should all work now.

Grey Wiz

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/03/the-problem-with-gamebooks-trilogy-part.html

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/03/the-problem-with-gamebooks-trilogy-part_15.html

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/04/the-problem-with-gamebooks-trilogy-part.html

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/04/the-problem-with-gambooks-trilogy-part-4.html

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/06/the-problem-with-gamebooks-trilogy-part.html

http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/07/fixing-gamebooks-6-dont-break-story.html

Andrew Drage 

http://www.thebrewin.com/blog/entry/the-brewin-guide-to-writing-better-gamebooks

Ashton Saylor 

http://www.ashtonsaylor.com/2012/08/game-design-principles.html

Sam Kabo Ashwell

https://heterogenoustasks.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/a-bestiary-of-player-agency/

https://heterogenoustasks.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/standard-patterns-in-choice-based-games/

Jake Care 

http://jakecaregamebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/classifying-and-rating-linearity.html

Paul Gresty

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/gamebook-design-finding-workarounds-for.html

Dave Morris

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/gamebooks-value-of-doing-it-with.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/hot-and-cold-about-interactive.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/how-do-we-make-gamebooks-pleasure-to.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/do-gamebooks-need-text.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/do-gamebooks-need-dice.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/gamebooks-where-youre-not-hero.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/does-interactive-fiction-need-randomness.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/how-many-endings-does-gamebook-need.html

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/does-interactivity- have-downside.html

Fabled Lands: Gamebooks: the value of doing it with dialogue

Richard S. Hetley

http://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/guest-post-richard-s-hetley-on-way-of.html

Jon Green

http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to- write-adventure- gamebook-part-1.html

http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to-write-adventure-gamebook-part-2.html

http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to-write-adventure-gamebook-part-3.html

http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to-write-adventure-gamebook-part-4.html

Heather Albano from Choice of Games 

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2010/04/sailors-are-not-dragons/

Adam Strong-Morse from Choice of Games

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2010/05/dont-start-at-the-beginning/

Dan Fubilich from Choice of Games

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2011/03/five-tactics-for-designing-games-while-depressed/

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2011/07/by-the-numbers-how-to-write-a-long-interactive-novel-that-doesnt-suck/

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2011/07/7-rules- for-designing- great-stats/

https://www.choiceofgames.com/2011/12/4-common-mistakes-in-interactive-novels/

Emily Short

https://emshort.blog/2016/04/12/beyond-branching-quality-based-and-salience-based-narrative-structures/

Peter Agapov 

Just about anything on his blog. It's all so in depth.

Lloyd of Gamebooks: Peter Agapov

Victoria Hancox

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #1 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #2 (victoriahancox.com)

Marketing Your Gamebook: Insider Tips (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #3 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy Tip #4 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #5 (victoriahancox.com)

What's that they say about old dogs and new tricks? (victoriahancox.com)

Behind the Scenes on the NIGHTSHIFT (victoriahancox.com)

Choosing the right route? Interactive fiction vs gamebooks The Wandering - a (kind of) review. (victoriahancox.com)

Paulson’s Peak — A Masterclass in Gamebook Writing! (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy Tip #6: Putting It All Together AKA Where Do I Even Start? (victoriahancox.com)

Adam C. Mitchell

All About Newsletters (victoriahancox.com)

 Random Encounters (wraithwright.com)

Random Encounters: Exposition Tools in Solo Adventures (wraithwright.com)

Random Encounters: Locational Mapping and Timed Events (wraithwright.com)

Random Encounters: Reputations in the Solitaires Method (wraithwright.com)

Random Encounters: Loss of Continuity in Solo Gamebooks (wraithwright.com)

Writing Gamebooks the Uncle Mac Way

 

All right, kids, gather 'round and park your butts. Uncle Mac is gonna talk your ear off for a bit.

Quite a few of you write gamebooks, or want to write them and are still figuring out the best way to do it. Word on the 'net is there are a number of softwares you can use to help navigate the labyrinthine process of piecing a gamebook together. I shall refrain from commenting on those, because I am what you might call a "cantankerous old coot" and prefer not to go out of my way to learn newfangled technologies if I don't find it absolutely necessary.

Writing screenplays, for example, required that I purchase special software to write in screenplay format easily. My word processor of choice is problematic enough without my having to jury-rig its default formatting to the anal retentive degree required by the film industry. So I broke down and bought Fade-In (not a plug, but kind of a plug).

My approach to writing gamebooks was different. I didn't bother getting any computerized aides because I found a way to write and organize gamebooks without them that suits me fine. And also because I prefer to do things the hard way, apparently.

Being a decent writer is a good start to writing a good gamebook. Natch. Most of you probably figured that out already. But it's best if you also have experience as a game designer. For simpler gamebooks like CYOA, it can help you better organize the book's structure and keep it engaging; for more advanced works ranging from Interplanetary Spy to Fighting Fantasy, it's essential if you want to design effective mechanics, puzzles, and games. In either case, it can help a lot with worldbuilding, too. You'd be surprised how much easier it is to world-build with a board game, video game, or tabletop RPG prototype than with a simple novel and a ream of research notes as long as your leg.

So far I'm wearing my Captain Obvious cape. You didn't come here to listen to me prattle about writing a chapter book. Writing a chapter book isn't all that hard. The tricky part is writing a chapter book with forking paths, and then mixing them up, all without losing track of which choices lead where.

I have seen a few useful ideas for structuring a gamebook on the 'net, but when I started out writing gamebooks I found their usefulness was pretty limited. The most common method I've seen is to map the book somehow, either with a diagram, or with index cards / sticky notes.

Ghetto Scribble Diagram Method

Plot Map for Dinah-Mite #2 and several painkillers.

At a glance, the diagram approach looks like it's more trouble than it's worth. I've found it does have its uses, however. Much like writing a synopsis before tackling a story in detail, a plot map like this can help get you started on a new gamebook project when you aren't quite sure where you're going. 

It is messy, however, due to the amount of erasing you'll end up doing whenever you re-plot a section, and I mostly recommend this method if you want a quick and dirty way to get the ball rolling.

Index Card / Sticky Note Method

The index card/sticky note method has its uses, too. Basically it's the same as the plot map technique, except it's easier to rearrange things and add new chapters. It has the added bonus of making it a lot easier to decide on chapter order: once you have all your paths sorted out, rearrange the cards into whatever order suits you and then number them.

The downsides here are 1) running out of space, which may require the purchase of a bulletin board dedicated to your gamebook projects; and 2) the page-organizing aspect only really works if you are going the CYOA route of one-page chapters, OR the Fighting Fantasy style gamebook with paragraph chapters rather than page chapters. If you want to write a basic gamebook with more involved narrative like Dragontales, the sticky notes won't help you with reorganizing pages.

Uncle Mac's Method

When I sat down to write the first Dinah-Mite gamebook, Holiday in Castle Quarantine, I quickly realized that the above techniques would only get me so far. I didn't want to write chapters as short as Which Way, nor as long as Dragontales; and I wanted a protagonist with a backstory rather than the generic "You" of CYOA. Essentially I wanted to write a maze-like adventure in the style of The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, and The Neverending Story, something that would stand on its own as a story or as a gamebook.

Both Holiday in Castle Quarantine and its upcoming sequel were written in two main drafts: the Chapter Draft and the Page Draft. Someone else probably writes their gamebooks the same way and has their own name for it, so I'll refrain from pretending I've invented something super unique and useful and worthy of accolades. I can only be so pretentious in one sitting.

Phase 1: The Chapter Draft

Let's assume for the sake of argument that I'm writing a Dinah-Mite story where Dinah has a misadventure in the American West. I start by writing the first chapter as if it were a linear novel, and I give the chapter a header that reads "Ch1." When I reach the first fork in the plot at the end of Ch1, instead of listing a page number, I list a chapter number.

If Dinah enters the saloon, turn to Ch2.

If she explores the train station first, turn to Ch5.

Nearly all of the chapters are only a few pages long, so now I start adding blank pages with appropriate chapter headers (Ch2, Ch3, Ch4, etc). As I add each new page, I write a one-sentence summary of what will happen in that chapter. This helps spark ideas for what happens next, if I haven't already started a plot map like the one pictured earlier.

If I don't know which chapter will come next, I'll use "ChX, ChY, ChZ" as placeholders. And if I think I might have a puzzle in a particular chapter, I'll list generic options that I can figure out later.

=========

Ch2

Dinah enters saloon full of surly, uncooperative customers who are angry that the player piano isn't working. She tries to get piano working to lighten the mood.

Solution A? Turn to Ch3.

Solution B? Turn to Ch4.

=========

Ch3

Dinah gets eaten by the player piano, but at least the music her dead body produces is catchy.

~ THE END ~ 

=========

Ch4

Everyone starts dancing. Dinah befriends saloon keeper.

~ Dinah gets the Poker Chips ~

Turn to ChX.

=========

Ch5

Dinah enters train station and meets lost hillbilly kid, who helps her if she doesn't anger him.

Choice A? Turn to Ch6.

Choice B? Turn to Ch7.

=========

Ch6

Dinah and hillbilly kid hit it off. He hooks her up with a horse to ride to the next town.

~ Dinah got the Work Horse ~

Turn to ChY.

=========

Ch7

Hillbilly kid tells Dinah to jump in a lake and won't talk to her anymore. Now has to find another way to reach her destination.

Turn to ChZ.

=========

Eventually I make my way through every possible idea for branching paths, coming up with games and puzzles on the fly (or creating placeholders). Once I know how many chapters I'm dealing with, I go back and write the chapters proper. When the entire book is written, and every chapter has been thoroughly edited and proofread, that leads into...

Phase 2: The Page Draft

So now I have all the chapters written in the order I came up with them, and they all have a chapter header designation. Now comes the tedious part: I rearrange all the chapters until they're thoroughly mixed up (preferably with a lot of space between sequential chapters).

I then go through the document and find every instance of the chapter headers listed thusly: Ch1, Ch2, Ch3, etc using the Find/Replace function, and replace them with their designated page number. So if Ch2 is on page 100, I Find/Replace all instances of "Turn to Ch2" with "Turn to Page 100."

Finally I go through every chapter and remove the "Ch" from the header, and probably add a cute bit of art around the chapter number to indicate which act of the book the reader is in.

==========

Some of you will no doubt find the Chapter Draft/Page Draft method standoffish. The disclaimer did mention that I like to do things the hard way. But I've found this method makes it easy to streamline cranking out chapter content. Also, by the time you're done putting it all together, it's already organized the way you want it, formatting and all. Relying on the sticky note method could lead to chapters occupying the wrong page numbers, forcing you to seek out the point where you went wrong and reorganize your chapters all over again.

Of course, the previously mentioned gamebook software probably makes all of this easier. If you don't want to bother experimenting with a new interface, though, give these methods a try and see if they gel with you a little better.

Time for bed. Uncle Mac out. Come visit anytime.

Ravages of Hate

 Hello all! Yesterday, I finished a project, which was a reboot of Green Blood and Coils of Hate, both by Mark Smith. I have now completed it. It is called Ravages of Hate. You can get it here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OFy8EsspwBRdXT_dcQt1rVVzVl77jriF/view?usp=drive_link

Any playtesting feedback would be welcome! Many thanks!

A question...

 So hen I was running Lindenbaum, someone suggested that there could be an "open" gamebook competition with no limits on sections or word count. I'm not against running one, but only if it's a Nanowrimo type event where people just write something over a month or some other time frame just for the challenge because I don't want to spend any more money on prizes or spend any more time running another competition.

Any interest in a gamebook Nanowrimo?

News

 Hello all! I'm very sorry, but the recent few weeks have been very busy. Here is a lot of news from the gamebook world.

The passing of Russ Nicholson

Russ Nicholson, a superb artist who has illustrated many, many gamebooks, passed away recently. He will be greatly missed.

I never met or worked with Russ, but I loved all of his artwork from the books he illustrated. 

You can read dedications to him on Fabled Lands and on the official Fighting Fantasy blog.

                                 

New releases

The Citadel of Bureaucracy

The Citadel of Bureaucracy holds many perils for civil servants unprepared for its labyrinthine cubicle walls. Yet enter you must. Working against the clock, you must fight unreliable transit, dodgy IT, the dreaded Canada goose, and a rising sense of nihilism in order to get paid and clear your desk for a much-needed vacation.

YOU decide which paths to take, which dangers to risk, and which colleagues to confront. May the Janus-faced God of Finance and HR be with you, for you’ll find little succour in the Citadel’s unhallowed halls.

Novels | J.D. Mitchell (jdmitchellwriter.com)

One Roll Gamery

One Roll Gamebooks has released the Seeker of Valenreath

The Seeker of Valenreath: Amazon.co.uk: Makin, Matthew D: 9780645661507: Books

If you seek adventure, then enter the fantasy realm of Lorelos and embark on a quest to find an ancient relic. You are a Seeker and must choose one of multiple paths you can take to reach your goal. You will need one six-sided dice, a pencil and an eraser to keep track of your attributes, record your discoveries and determine the victor in battles. You will use a unique, 1d6 combat system to do battle with Orcs, Goblins and many other formidable foes. Your success will oftentimes be decided by your strategy and the roll of one six-sided dice, be it combat or the execution of a task or skill of your choosing. You may come across puzzles to solve and riddles to decipher. Use alchemy to overcome the many challenges you will face and discover items and potions to aid you in your quest. You will journey through the mysterious Faewood or the marshy Fens of Lorelos, before embarking on your perilous ascent of the Blackspire Mountains to find the entrance to the ancient ruins. The many challenges that you will face and the characters you will meet on your journey, are contained in this adventure gamebook of over 350 pages and 1000 paragraphs. There are multiple paths to achieve your goal and each playthrough will be different depending on your choices and selected abilities. Containing 50 hand-drawn illustrations, your friends and foes are revealed in 22 full page illustrations with many secrets to discover.

You can follow them here:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/onerollgamy

One Roll Gamebooks | Facebook

Escape to Glitter Land

Escape to Glitter Land (fungamery.com)

In this world are two kinds of people: The Privileged and the Unprivileged. Unfortunately, you are the latter. That's why you are trapped in Dunghill Land, forced to perform menial tasks day-in and day-out, just to survive. You long for a way out.

Meetups

Dragon Warriors Day of Legends

DRAGON WARRIORS is the key to a magic world. A land of cobwebbed forests and haunted castles. A land where dire monsters lurk in the shadows of the night, where hobgoblins shriek across the bleak and misty moors, where wizards and armoured warriors roam dank dungeons in their quest for gold and glory. The realm of your imagination.

On July 15th, 2023, we come together on a Day of Legends. We meet old friends and make new ones. We drink, we eat, we game, and we celebrate.

We gather just before midday at Brewdog Chancery Lane, London, UK. This is a face-to-face meet with no online element.

Day of Legends. The Ultimate Dragon Warriors Convention | Warhorn

Narrascope

Home - NarraScope

Celebrating Narrative Games

June 9 – 11 at the University of Pittsburgh

In-person registration is now closed.

Online registration still open!

(through June 8th)

NarraScope first took place in 2019, live at MIT. In 2020, Narrascope was fully online, and for 2021 we skipped a year, returning for 2022 as an online event. Our conference aims to be a place for everyone interested in narrative games to hang out, exchange ideas and get inspired. We do this through a broad selection of talks, keynote speakers, discussions and workshops.

Subjects vary from interactive fiction tools to writing best practices and everything in between. Previous talks had titles like “Choosing Your Happily Ever After”, “Shaping Your Story with Emotional Intelligence” and “Adapting Film’s Techniques for Nonlinear Stories”, to give you a bit of an idea. The NarraScope History site lists everything we did over the past years.

Home - NarraScope

Zines

Voidspace

Voidspace is currently on issue 6.

https://voidspacezine.com/2023/04/15/voidspace-6/

The Warlock Returns

The Warlock Returns is currently on issue 9.

The Warlock Returns Issue #09 - Arion Games | Advanced Fighting Fantasy | DriveThruRPG.com

Blogs

A Puzzled Adventurer's Journal is still exploring gamebook design.

A Puzzled Adventurer's Journal (puzzlejournal.blogspot.com)

Podcasts

Fantastic Flights gamebook podcast is currently on Armies of Death.

Campaign on Dice is currently on Battleblade Warrior.

Fighting Fantasy 21 - Trial of Champions - Vintage Gamebook Podcast | Podcast on Spotify

Crowdfunding

Antarctica: a solo sci-fi post-apocalyptic gamebook by Chronicle Craft — Kickstarter

Embark on a journey through a post-apocalyptic world after the climate has changed everything. Explore, survive & forge your own path.

This Kickstarter is yet to launch.

Wallace Designs – Everything Martin Wallace

Wallace Designs is excited to announce its next major release, ‘Fighting Fantasy Adventures’, which will be coming to Kickstarter on the 1st July 2023. Based on the iconic series of books created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone the co-operative card game allows up to four players to experience the classic adventures in a completely new way. Martin Wallace, the co-designer of the number one rated board game ‘Brass: Birmingham’ has developed an elegant card-based system that gives the feel of a role-playing game without the need for a games master. The first campaign will comprise of five adventures, based on four beloved books, with the promise of more to come.

In Fighting Fantasy Adventures (Campaign 1), you can experience the stories in a whole new way. Now you can play with up to three friends, in a co-operative format. Gameplay is easy to learn and engaging, downtime is limited to some dice rolls and your characters level up after each adventure.

This Campaign includes the stories below:

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Island of the Lizard King

Deathtrap Dungeon

The Forest of Doom

Subterranea: Empire of Wrath A SAVAGE REALMS GAMEBOOK by Savage Realms Gamebooks — Kickstarter

The small becomes large as the large becomes small. What you would normally squash in the palm of your hand, now stands equal to you. The shock of the sudden change in perspective is nothing compared to the dangers you now face. A pin becomes a weapon that could save your life! The beat of a fly's wings now deafens you! A spider's web is the deadliest of traps! To birds, you are food, but to the Murina People, you are an imposter in their realm and imposters are unwelcome in the black eyes and outlook of the Rat Emperor himself.  

The underground miniverse of Subterranea and its denizens await you...

This Kickstarter is funded, but you can still follow it.

Fantastic Fights gamebook podcast awesomeness

Hello all! Here is a post from Hieronymous J Doom, host of the awesome gamebook podcast Fantastic Fights. His podcast involves playthroughs of the Fighting Fantasy books and other books along with his thoughts and some design lessons he has taken from them. 

Hieronymous releases two podcasts per month. One is about a Fighting Fantasy book (at the time of writing, he is on Daggers of Darkness) and a bonus playthrough with a gamebook from a different series. These gamebooks have included Destiny Quest, Grailquest, Transformers books and many more. The podcast is always entertaining and informative.

Hierronymous also releases his own gamebooks. However, these are only available to people who back him on Patreon. However, Hieronymous only requires as little as £1 per month, and since you get a lot of awesome gamebooks in return, it is a bargain!

You also get posts about Hieronymous's design process. Hieronymous has kindly let me copy one of his design posts to share here as a taster of the value you get for as little as £1 per month.

I do a lot of my design in my head before I even start sketching out basic ideas. I like to turn ideas over and over, looking at them from different angles and considering what potential ramifications different decisions might have for the design of a game or a book. It’s not something I’d recommend to everyone, I’ve always had a good memory for this kind of thing. When I was a teenager I would regularly run roleplaying games with zero preparation and took very few notes. Instead I’d spend the intervals between sessions turning the characters and situations over in my head and thinking about possible directions that I could take events. I do the same thing in the early stages of designing a gamebook. I audition a bunch of ideas in my head and then turn them round, mentally sketch out different possible iterations and then try something else to see if that feels better. There’s a lot of instinct at this stage of design, I tend to wind up settling on something that just feels right. The important thing for me at this point is to start with something concrete that I can use to orient my thoughts. I think of this part of the process as being like improvising a musical solo, a guitarist needs to know what the basic chords of the song are in order to be able to improvise successfully. Quite often I’ll decide that I can’t come up with enough to do the premise justice. That’s when I move onto another premise and start turning that around to see what I can do with it.

These aren’t failed ideas, I quite often find myself coming back to them months or even years later and I’m always careful to make a note of what I had when I let the idea go so that it can act as a memory aid for future development. They just didn’t feel right for me at the time and that’s fine. Thinking about those ideas helps me sharpen my critical faculties. There’s nothing worse than starting a large project like a gamebook and finding out halfway through it doesn’t actually work.

I thought I would share some of the ideas that I tossed around in my head before abandoning and the reasons why I abandoned them. Then in the next development diary I’ll talk about the idea that made it past the mental stage. I think the majority of these are things I’ve mentioned at least in passing on the podcast.

The first idea that I auditioned was an idea for a science fiction book. I’ve always wanted to do a sci-fi one and this one would have involved the player trying to regain control of a spaceship that had been captured by space pirates. You’d be trying to free crew mates, take control of key sections of the ship before a final showdown with the space pirate chief. There’s definitely the kernel of a good idea here, I’d be riffing on Star Trek, a show I love, and big spaceship would lend itself well to gamebook design being a nice constrained space. I abandoned it only after reluctantly concluding that I couldn’t think of quite enough memorable encounters to get a full book out of it. The premise was great but I couldn’t see a way to avoid a certain amount of repetition without watering it down.

The second idea was a werewolf book where the player would take the role of a human afflicted with lycanthropy. The key thing I wanted to explore was phases of the moon, I loved the idea of the character’s stats and options changing depending on where the moon was in its cycle. I also liked the idea of the character being hunted by professional werewolf hunters. It would have been a great opportunity to bring in some gothic horror in the vein of Hammer horror. I mentally sketched a simple system for tracking phases of the moon but in the end it was clear that it would add a great deal of complexity to the book-keeping and complicate every single encounter design to an outrageous degree. Tracking time is also not something easy to do in a gamebook format where paragraph descriptions are set in stone. The simple answer is to move the phases of the moon from a system approach to a narrative approach, so that early sections of the book take place during the new moon and the climax takes place at the full moon. This a pretty good premise and would allow the finale to be the moment where the hero finally goes full werewolf but it wasn’t the book I wanted to write so I let it go.

This second idea failed partly because it was a mechanics led idea rather than a narrative led idea. I’m a sucker for a simple clever mechanic but I find that whenever I start from the mechanics the final idea is never quite as strong because I’m looking for a reason to justify my mechanics not a narrative hook. In general I believe starting from a mechanical approach is putting the cart before the horse for gamebooks and RPGs. The systems should always be in service to the fantasy not the other way round because you end up designing a board game with some narrative features. Board games with narrative features are a fine thing but it’s not something I think works all that well in a gamebook.

In the next installment I’ll explain what idea has wound up winning the audition process, why it doesn’t resemble my initial idea all that closely, why I think it has legs and what my next steps are.

Cheers,

HJDoom

So, to listen to HJ Doom's awesome podcast, you can get it here - Fantastic Fights — Haunted Phonograph

To back HJ Doom on Patron, starting at a mere £1 a month (you can also give him more!) and get his gamebooks and access to his design posts, go here - HJDoom | creating podcasts and writing/journalism | Patreon

Results announcement to the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum competition

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize for short gamebook fiction is Niall Turner with Phoenix.

Merit awards go to Thomas Betsworth with Milly and Joe Cheal with the Endless Asylum.

Commendation awards go to Jeremy Johnson with Awakening Aboard the Anastasia, David Donachie with Escape from the Tower of the Stars, Paul Partington with Ghost in the Shadows, Andrew Greene with Hollywood Noir and Sean Loftiss with The Horn of Blaat. This is due to a tie between three books.

I would like to thank everybody who participated, the authors and those dedicated readers who took the time to evaluate all the entries, and also a further thanks to those readers who provided feedback and comment to the authors.

If you intend to write feedback in a public place, please email me the address and I will link to it.

It is no small thing to as entrants to write original gamebooks. To write a gamebook (even one that must be limited to 100 sections) requires considerable time and creative effort. It is the type of writing project that can take months to accomplish and I appreciate greatly the work done by all the authors who entered this year's competition.

Many thanks for helping make this year's competition such an excellent competition with a wide variety of gamebook genres and styles. This was the second year I ran the competition and you continued to help me make it as brilliant as it was.

I would also like to extend thanks to Peter Agapov who sponsored the competition, Tammy Badowski who donated her time and talent to the competition and Crumbly Head Games who has donated free subscriptions to GBAT for the top 3 entrants.

The entries can be found here: Lloyd of Gamebooks: Voting is now open for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize!

Voting closed for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum competition

 Hello all!

Voting has closed for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum competition.

This year's competition has been very exciting with many high quality entries.

If you would like to leave feedback to any of the entrants, you may do so by emailing lindenbaumprize@gmail.com.

The results will be announced on the 30th April 2023.

2 days left to vote!

  Hello all!

This is just a quick reminder that the Lindenbaum entries are out  

The voting period lasts until 11:59:59pm (GMT) on April 18th 2023.

In order to vote, you need to email your 3 choices to Lindenbaumprize@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Voting for Lindenbaum!

 Hello all!

This is just a quick reminder that the Lindenbaum entries are out  

The voting period lasts until 11:59:59pm (GMT) on April 18th 2023.

In order to vote, you need to email your 3 choices to Lindenbaumprize@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Update to the gamebook reading list

Hello all! Back in 2017, I collected a list of blog posts that would help any gamebook writer to improve their trade and published them. 

Dave Morris tweeted about it which reminded me about it, so I decided to ask people if there were any updates in the last 6 years. Someone reminded me that Victoria Hancox had been writing since I wrote the post and now and that she had also made many blog posts about writing gamebooks. So here is Victoria Hancox's posts. 

In future, I will make the list an annual event. I will release it at the beginning of September so that future Lindenbaum entrants can read it to help them with their entries.

Enjoy!

(also, read the Lindenbaum entries and vote for them)

Victoria Hancox

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #1 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #2 (victoriahancox.com)

Marketing Your Gamebook: Insider Tips (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #3 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy Tip #4 (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy - Tip #5 (victoriahancox.com)

What's that they say about old dogs and new tricks? (victoriahancox.com)

Behind the Scenes on the NIGHTSHIFT (victoriahancox.com)

Choosing the right route? Interactive fiction vs gamebooks The Wandering - a (kind of) review. (victoriahancox.com)

Paulson’s Peak — A Masterclass in Gamebook Writing! (victoriahancox.com)

Choose Your Own Writing Strategy Tip #6: Putting It All Together AKA Where Do I Even Start? (victoriahancox.com)

Adam C. Mitchell

All About Newsletters (victoriahancox.com)

February news and upcoming March news

 Hello all! I'm sorry the news is late again. Here are some of the latest things going on:

Lindenbaum

The competition is going with 13 entries! Vote for your 3 favourite books. Closing date is 18th April 11:59:59pm GMT.

Lloyd of Gamebooks: Voting is now open for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize!

New releases

Computer games

Colossal Cave on Steam

Colossal Cave is one of the first interactive fiction games and I used to love trying to work out what was in the author's head. It is now on Steam with graphics.

Colossal Cave on Steam (steampowered.com)

Deathtrap Dungeon

Deathtrap Dungeon is coming to Switch!

Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Video Adventure heading to Switch (nintendoeverything.com)

Crowdfunding

Destiny's Role: Dimensions 1

Mark Lain has taken his old school style gamebooks into sci-fi territory. The Kickstarter is running and is already funded.

DIMENSIONS 1 is the first gamebook in the new science fiction spin-off series from DESTINY'S ROLE adventure gamebooks. 

The book will feature a colour cover by Krystyna Nowek (who recently created the colour cover for the Scorpio Falls add-on module which was an exclusive to the Destiny's Role #4: Kaleidoscope Frenzy Kickstarter campaign and you can see more of her work HERE) and 20 black and white internal illustrations by Nick Spender (Fighting Fantasy #15: The Rings of Kether, Destiny's Role #3: Red Monsoon, Destiny's Role #4: Kaleidoscope Frenzy).

Destiny's Role: Dimensions 1 by Mark Lain — Kickstarter

Dungeon of Whatever

This one isn't out yet, but you can get notified.

A Gamebook of Unheard-Of DUNGEON CRAWLING MAYHEM intended for young readers of age 6+

Tales From Ane Moni: THE DUNGEON OF WHATEVER by Panagiotis Vlamis — Kickstarter

The Millenium Bomb

This is an interactive comic by Ricky Lima. It is already funded. 9 days to go!

 The Millennium Bomb is a graphic novel that I developed between 2019 and 2021. It's about a group of bodiless Millennials who find themselves stuck inside an art gallery after the world has ended. The art gallery is monitored by an A.I. called the Multi-Operational Mega Intelligence or M.O.M.I. for short. As the Millennials learn more about the gallery and how they got there it becomes clear that they must get out any way they can! 

The Millennium Bomb Gamebook by Ricky Lima — Kickstarter

Talamander Fantasy gamebook magazine issue 1

This is a kickstarter for a gamebook zine. It is already funded.

Fighting Fantasy green spines, Steve Jackson's Sorcery, Grailquest and The Way of the Tiger. That's where it all started for me back in the '80s.

I've always loved gamebooks and I've always wanted to write one, but the years ticked by and I never quite got around to it. Instead I published many fantasy small press comics and of course the terror and fantasy trumps, right here on Kickstarter with Rik and Chatri.

It was the Fantasy Trumps set that really convinced me to go for it. I've had ideas for an ongoing gamebook series for such a long time and I finally realised if I wanted to do it, I should just do it!

Talamander Fantasy gamebook magazine issue 1 by Tim Brown — Kickstarter

@MongoosePublishingLtd Shield Maidens - First look at the books for the new Cyberpunk Viking RPG - YouTube

Social

Dragon Warriors meet up

Simon Barns of Red Ruin publishing is planning a meet up in the summer for Dragon Warriors fans. If you would like to join in, fill in the survey below.

https://forms.gle/BBMHGVZoTaooY81B6

Blogs

Here is another playthrough blog I have recently discovered.

ALL THINGS FIGHTING FANTASTICAL : 2023

Podcasts

Fantastic flights has covered a couple of Transformers books and Sky Lord.

Fantastic Fights — Haunted Phonograph

Voting is now open for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize!

 Hello all! 

I am pleased to announce that you can download the 12 Lindenbaum entries from the link below. Enjoy!

Lloyd of Gamebooks: Voting is now open for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize!

Entries have closed for the Lindenbaum competition

 Entries have closed for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum competition. We have 12 excellent entries this year.

The entries will be made available on the 21st February when voting begins.

Voting will close on the 18th April.

More details for the Lindenbaum competition can be found here:

Lloyd of Gamebooks: 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize announcement

January news and upcoming February news

 Hello all! Late again. Really sorry.

Here's what is going on so far...

Releases

Betrayal in Neo Sybaris: A gamebook from Samuel Isaacson

Neo Sybaris, the hedonistic city made possible by the Cybernetic Regime of Liberty and Justice, is a living hell for the Dust, the underclass that barely survive on scraps. But some are determined to bring change.

One small group of Insurgents, with connections into the privileged Veblen Stratum, sets off on a mission where a mysterious stranger approaches.

The Insurgent he approaches is you.

Immerse yourself in this dystopian web of lies in which no-one is to be trusted.

Betrayal in Neo Sybaris: A gamebook from Samuel Isaacson : Isaacson, Sam: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Zines

Warlock Returns

The Warlock Returns is an Advanced Fighting Fantasy Zine. Issue 8 is out now as a pdf and physical version. 

The Warlock Returns Issue #08 - Arion Games | Advanced Fighting Fantasy | DriveThruRPG.com

Blogs

Andrew Wright

Andrew Wright, who has written many, many Advanced Fighting Fantasy supplements is making an AFF dungeon for the Dungeon 23 challenge.

Fantasy Game Book: #Dungeon23 Inspires Dead Blog Resurrection!

Deathtraps and Dungeons

They have done Appointment with Fear.

Deathtraps and Dungeons : Appointment with F.E.A.R

Adventure Gameblog

Various gamebooks from this blog.

Adventure Gameblog (myadventuresendhere.blogspot.com)

Gamebook Odyssey

More gamebook reviews. The latest is Proteus 8.

Gamebook Odyssey (gamebookreviews.blogspot.com)

Nicholas Andriani

I think I found this on Facebook. It is a great post about interactive Midsummer Night's Dream.

A Midsummer Night’s Maze: Interactive Fiction and Narrative Design – Nicholas Andriani Rankin

Films

There's an interactive Deathtrap Dungeon film in the works!

Deathtrap Dungeon: The Golden Room | Wales Interactive

Crowdfunding

Destiny Quest

Destiny Quest book 5 is coming soon!

DestinyQuest: The Wrath of Ragnarok by Michael J Ward — Kickstarter

Box of Delights

The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game (Make 100) by Jonathan Green — Kickstarter

The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game is an adaptation of John Masefield's Christmas children's classic, written by Jonathan Green and illustrated by Tony Hough - the creators of 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas - and licensed through The Society of Authors, the Literary Representative of the Estate of John Masefield. 

The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game is a rules-lite RPG, designed to be picked up and played with minimal preparation. Players take on the roles of Kay Harker and the Jones children as they experience the events of the book first-hand, encountering the mysterious Punch-and-Judy Man and becoming embroiled in the sinister plot being perpetrated by the wizard Abner Brown and his coven of wolf-worshipping witches around the Winter Solstice in the run up to Christmas.

The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game (Make 100) by Jonathan Green — Kickstarter

The Temple of Shadows

In this gamebook you'll take on the role of a young ranger who wants to protect his home village Brinthal. On your way you'll have to explore an underground temple, fight against shadow creatures, discuss with troll spirits, solve puzzles, survive traps and face a sinister threat from ancient times.

The Temple of Shadows stands within the tradition of gamebooks like Lone Wolf and Fighting Fantasy, which I've always liked. This interactive book uses modern game mechanics to create the most varied and enjoyable game experience possible. The rules of the game are intentionally kept simple. All you need for playing is two six-sided dice (2d6) and a pencil.

The Temple of Shadows - A Fantasy Gamebook by Christopher Bünte — Kickstarter

Quick and Dirties #4: The Priory of Red Peitor

That's an embarrassing thing to explain, innit? I kid. Don't worry, I'll explain the ins and outs of it, if you know what I mean.

Marching Order quick and dirties is a new type of delve. They're no nonsense adventures meant to be played in a single sitting. Each one comes on a  twelve panel fold out brochure that fits real nice in your Marching Order box. If you're lucky, you'll survive your trip to the Priory and can spend some loot back in Rotbottom. But ya probably want to know who Red Pietor is, huh?

Read on, Rogue.  

Quick and Dirties #4: The Priory of Red Peitor by Crumbling Keep — Kickstarter

Interactive Fiction and Gamebook Discussion group

February's book is Rulers of the NOW, by yours truly! Discuss it over at the group!

Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Discussion Group (Book Club) | Facebook

Lindenbaum!

Entries to the Lindenbaum Compeitition close on Feb 14th!

You can see the requirements here - Lloyd of Gamebooks: 2022/2023 Lindenbaum Prize announcement

The Lindennbaum Prize is sponsored by Peter Agaopv, contributor to Lloyd of Gamebooks and owner of  Augmented Reality Adventure Games who is very generously providing the first prize.

The Lindenbaum Prize is also sponsored by Crumbly Head Games who is providing free licenses to The Gamebook Authoring Tool as prizes and also has a free version of the Gamebook Authoring Tool that goes up to 100 sections.

Many thanks to Tammy Badowski for donating her time to the Lindenbaum Prize.

Adventures in social media

I found this on the Reddit gamebooks group.

Someone called Jay is mapping out the optimal paths for the Fighting Fantasy books. Have a butchers.

Graphing Fighting Fantasy

The Lindenbaum competition is way underway

Hello all! Here's a reminder that the Lindenbaum competition is underway. The deadline is 5pm GMT on the 14th February. Get writing!

Entry requirements for the 2022/2023 Lindenbaum competition

All entries must be in English.

All entries must be original works incorporating unique characters and world settings. This can include real world settings, people and events as long as they aren't the property of someone.

All entries must be previously unpublished works.

All entrants must state clearly on the first page of their entries that they are the authors of the work submitted.

All entries must be provided in rich text format (rtf) and sent as an email attachment All entries must be in any format that I can edit and turn into a pdf and sent as an attachment and link to lindenbaumprize@gmail.com.

Formats I know I can do this with are: RTF, doc, docx, Google docs, pdf, - leave a comment if there is a format that you want to know about.

All character or status sheets provided with entries must be presented in a simple layout that does not include complex table formats.

All entries must be spell-checked and thoroughly tested prior to submission.

The total length of the entry does not exceed 100 sections and a word count of 25,000 words.

Illustrations will not be accepted as a part of an entry except in two specific circumstances. 

Exception 1: Maps that are integral to navigation within the gamebook.

Exception 2: Graphics necessary as a part of puzzles or clues integral to the entry's narrative.

Graphics provided for these purposes must be in either BMP or JPG format and be included as a part of the RTF entry forwarded. 

Graphics purely of an illustrative nature will not be accepted.

The entry may either be a complete stand-alone story or a self-contained excerpt from a larger gamebook adventure of your own creation.

The entry can be of any genre except erotica.

There is no entry fee.

All rights remain with the author and the author can withdraw their entry at any time during the course of the competition.

An entrant can submit one entry only.

All participants must have a valid PayPal account at the time of submission. For reasons given below you must have a valid PayPal account if you wish to receive a cash prize. Account information is not required by the organisers of this competition unless you are one of the winning entrants. Only at the time of winning a prize will you be asked for your PayPal details.

Hyperlinking

Last year, I hyperlinked most of the entries. Response was lukewarm with one entrant specifically asking not to hyperlink. It seems that for a short gamebook, hyperlinks aren't completely necessary, so I won't do it this year.

Competition deadlines for 2022/2023

16th October 2022: Competition guidelines released

6th December 2022: Entry submissions begin

14th February 2023: Entry submissions close.

21st February 2023: Voting begins.*

18th April 2023: Voting closes.*

30th April 2023: Winners announced.*

* If there are more than 14 entries, these dates will be extended.

Voting

The prize is awarded to the entrant who receives the greatest number of reader votes. This prize relies on votes provided by readers who have read enough of the entries to make a considered choice as to the relative merits of the gamebooks submitted. It is expected by the sponsor of this competition that votes will be provided on this basis. For 2022/2023 the voting system applies as follows:

A valid vote must be forwarded by email to lindenbaumprize@gmail.com. A valid vote must nominate the three gamebooks most favoured by the voter from the competition entrants. A vote with less than three nominations cannot be accepted. A vote forwarded with more than three nominations will only have the first three accounted for in the voting tabulation.

Only one voter email is allowed per reader. All votes will be checked for duplication of email addresses.

Feedback to the authors may be forwarded to the competition sponsors at lindenbaumprize@gmail.com. All feedback given will be provided to authors at the end of competition as a part of the email notification of results.

Prizes

Winning entrant

A cash prize of £100 GBP (Great British Pounds) to be paid within 48 hours into a PayPal account of the winner's choosing. If you do not have access to a valid PayPal account the cash prize cannot be paid.

A desktop licence to the Gamebook Authoring Tool which lasts for 1 year.

A First Prize certificate memorialising their success in the competition.

Merit awards

Two entries are chosen for Merit awards. These entrants receive:

A cash prize of £30 GBP (Great British Pounds) to be paid within 48 hours into a PayPal account of the Merit Award winner's choosing.

A Merit Award certificate memorialising their success in the competition,

Commendation awards

If there are 10 or more entries, there will be 3 commendation awards. The entrants receive:

A Commendation Certificate memorialising their success in the competition.

Gamebook writing help

If you haven't written a gamebook before, you might think that arranging and randomising the sections might be a problem. However, there are now good gaembook writing programs out there. One is The Gamebook Authoring Tool, which has a free version specifically designed to write a 100 section gamebook and export it to Rich Text Format. You can try it here: About The GameBook Authoring Tool – Crumbly Head Games