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

Ashton MacSaylor: What makes a good gamebook - Part 1: Story (ashtonsaylor.com)

Ashton MacSaylor: What makes a good gamebook - Part Two: The Game of Narrative Choices (ashtonsaylor.com)

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)