April A to Z - E is for Education in gamebooks

Before gamebooks, there were Tutortexts, books that used the gamebook format with the aim of education.  Now, gamebooks have come back to the realm of education.  Marcos Benevides uses Choose Your Own Adventure books for the purposes of education.  you can read all about it at his blog, www.cyoateacher.com. 

Name: Marcos Benevides

I'm a Canadian expat teaching English at a university in Tokyo, and also the series editor for McGraw-Hill's new Choose Your Own Adventure graded readers. I got into gamebooks at the age of eleven, when my family moved to Canada from Brazil. I have always tended to lean more towards the "book" side of the "game/book" spectrum, which is why I tend to prefer CYOA-style stories over titles with more involved game mechanics. However, I'm also a big fan of traditional pen-and-paper D&D, as well as the computer-based Civilization series.

These past couple of years I have spent most of my time overseeing the CYOA adaptations, and therefore thinking a lot about how gamebooks can be useful in education. Even outside of my area of interest, English language education, it seems to me that gamebooks have a great potential for developing critical thinking skills. My impression is that kids who are into gaming are generally more creative, and do better and stay longer in school.

I think the future of gamebooks involves a yet-unpredictable convergence of different media, from video games, to eReaders, to voice recognition and emerging tech like Google Glass. In fact, it may be that the term "gamebook" itself will become somewhat obsolete--though the fundamentals of the genre will continue in a dozen slightly different formats. It's an exciting time to be involved in creating content, and I hope to launch some exciting new projects in coming years.

You can find Marcos's blog at www.cyoateacher.com.  

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April A to Z - D is for Densley. Wayne Densley.

Wayne Densley is the creative genius behind the Chronicles of Arborell and the mastermind behind the Windhammer Competition for short gamebook fiction.  I interviewed Wayne about Windhammer last year and both the competition and the website have gone from strength to strength.

So without any ado, here is Wayne to tell us about his last year...

Gamebooks have been a part of my life for more than twenty-five years.  I remember the excitement that CYOA books and the first gamebook series created in the eighties and when I found my own children enjoying them in the nineties it made me look closer at what they were, and the storytelling possibilities they might provide to a writer like myself.  It was in 1993 that I started drafting my first gamebook, Windhammer, and from that beginning has come a further twenty-six titles so far, encompassing gamebooks, novels, novellas, fantasy languages, maps, mythologies, journals, micro-gamebooks, table-top wargames and other RPG supplements.  My name is Wayne Densley and I am the author of the Chronicles of Arborell interactive gamebook series and organiser of the Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction.  I can say that my year since Stuart's last April A to Z has been a busy one and I am pleased to have the opportunity to give an account of all that has happened since.

 

For both the Chronicles of Arborell and the Windhammer Prize the past twelve months have been very busy.  The Chronicles of Arborell has seen a number of additions to the title catalogue and an ongoing progression of upgrades and revisions to existing titles.  Of most note was the release of the Well of Shadows gamebook and the publication of six micro-gamebook adventures including The Watchtower, Alwen's Run, Assault on Nem'haleen, The Gaelwch, The Ghosts of Allan'duril and the Secret of Clavette's Keep.

 

In regards to the upgrading of existing titles three should be mentioned here.  The first being the review and re-release of the Song of the Dromannion.  The second the updating and reformatting of Blood and Iron as a PDF download and thirdly, the updating and re-publication of the Mythology of the Oera'dim, both in its compilation form and its individual myths and legends.

 

For the Windhammer Prize 2012 was an outstanding success.  With 22 entrants and a wide-ranging selection of original gamebooks last year's competition was certainly the largest and hardest fought.  Congratulations must go to everyone who participated.

 

When looking to the future I can say that 2013 will be just as busy.  At this time I am continuing development of the second Jotun of the West gamebook, A Murder of Crows, and are looking at releasing at least four additional micro-gamebook adventures this year.   The Windhammer Prize continues in 2013 with an increased cash prize pool, the continuation of commercial publication of winning entries by Tin Man Games and a new tier of Commendation Awards for entrants.  I have the sense that it is going to be another great competition this year.

 

For gamebooks in general I believe the future is looking very healthy indeed.  Both paper and digital gamebooks are finding publishers willing to put them out there and readers are rediscovering interactive adventures in a widening range of formats and genres.  There have been a number of successful Kickstarter projects as well that have shown an increasing level of commitment to the genre and a willingness to try new ways to present interactive stories.  Of course there has also been the expansion in the internet presence of gamebooks especially in blogs, forums and other gamebook-related websites.  It is great to see the amount of discourse being created by these sites which ultimately leads to an increase in the awareness of gamebooks in general.  I have been writing gamebooks for a long time and I don't think I have ever seen the level of interest that is now being generated.  Kudos must go out to everyone who has been willing to put their time and money into giving the gamebook genre the energy and the exposure it deserves. 

Visit the Chronicles of Arborell website here.

For the 2013 Windhammer guidelines, go here.

For the Chronicles of Arborell Yahoo group, go here.

To go to the Facebook group, click here.

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April A to Z - C is for Choice of Games

Choice of Games is my C post (as it was in 2012) and they have had a busy 12 months where they have gone from strength to strength.  I first came across Choice of Games when I was on holiday to Iceland and loved it.  Sicne then they have published several adventures including one where you a play a space ship captain with an insufferable computer that shares my name :).  The site also allows you to use Choicescript to make your own games.  So without further ado, here is Jason Stevan Hill to report on Choice of Games' great deeds.

Choice of Games has had a huge twelve months!  We released seven new
titles, including the blockbusters "Choice of Zombies", "Heroes Rise:
the Prodigy", and "Choice of Kung Fu"; we incorporated as an LLC; and
we have another dozen games slated for release this year.  In
particular, we have three sequels coming out, "Affairs of the Court:
Choice of Crowns", "Choice of the Vampire: the Fall of Memphis", and
"Heroes Rise: the Hero Project", as well as the new title "Slammed!",
where you get to play as a backyard wrestler trying to make your way
in the cutthroat world of professional wrestling.

We have also been thrilled with the attention that our community
label, Hosted Games, has been getting, with the release of "Zombie
Exodus IV: Cathedral", as well as "Way Walkers: University" and "Life
of a Wizard".

Choice of Games was founded in 2010, and produces high-quality
text-based multiple-choice interactive fictions for web and mobile
devices.  We see a burgeoning market for our products across a variety
of platforms, and hope to continue to maintain our quality standards
while expanding both the number and variety of titles.

You can find Choice of Games here.


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April A to Z - B is for Blogs

It is a large jolly feed.

The rise in gamebooks has also brought on a wave of new blogs where you can keep up to date with all the
latest that is happening in the gamebook world.  There are also many blogs where you can read about the adventures of the bloggers themselves.

It is for this reason that I created The Gamebook Feed in order to collate all of the news from the different blogs that have something to do with gamebooks.  Take a look at it and visit the other blogs as they will have tons of information and entertainment for you to enjoy.

Take a look at it and happy gamebooking!

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April A to Z - A is for Adventurer - The Solo Role Playing Game

Happy A to Z to you all!

As I did last year, I will be shouting about all the great gamebook stuff that is being created.  Gamebooks are alive and well and everywhere.  I will be giving you links to all the latest exciting gamebook stuff going on and
first I will talk about a project that I am involved in.

Last year, Shane Garvey put a message on Facebook asking what people thought should go into a solo RPG.  he must have liked my answer because he asked me to help with creating said RPG for gamebooks, which is what I spent my summer doing.  We now have a free pdf of the rules available and I am really excited about it.  What we intend to do with these rules is, with a selection of many wonderful gamebook authors (listed here and here), produce a series of gamebooks that use these rules.  The great thing about Adventurer is that is extremely versatile and yet quite simple.  There is a skills and magic system but the skills and spells do not make the gamebook much more complex - instead, they can provide the player with options.  There is also advancement in Adventurer, but the gamebooks are able to accommodate players of all levels.  Monsters and treasure scale up with the character's level, so you can enjoy any gamebook in any order with anything from a low level warrior to a super powerful sorcerer.

Don't take my word for it - have a look at the rule book, especially since I will be releasing some nice little adventures this April that will allow you to use it.

Also, have a look at the Adventure Games Guild site, its merchandise site  and its Facebook page.

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April A to Z 2013

I've been writing posts for the whole of April, so I feel that I'm allowed to make this one short.

The April A to Z will revisit some gamebook buddies of mine as well as highlight some projects that I am taking part in.  I'll be writing a post for the April A to Z every day except Sunday and then I'll be writing normal posts for Sunday, so I'll be writing a post every day for April.  Also, check out the many hundreds of blogs also joining in with the challenge.

If you have anything that you would like to post for the April A to Z, it is not too late.  Email at sl1605@gmail.com.

Happy gamebooking!

Gamebook terminology

This week, my post ends with a question.  I'll be happy to hear your thoughts!

So I was reading Grey Wiz's post about the problems with gamebooks  and I clicked on one of the links to find a glossary of terms for games.

This was big news to me (and I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner).  I love looking up all kinds of terms and defining them.  I don't know why, but when I was younger, I enjoyed looking up words in the dictionary that weren't even rude.  I then stumbled across the Curious and Interesting Book of Numbers where I could find out all about the numbers out there, right up to Graham's number.  Ever since I discovered   it, I am an enthusiastic TVTropes addict and I enjoy looking up words in Urban Dictionary.  I think I enjoy looking terms up so much because it is a discrete bitesize chunk of information that I can gobble up quickly.

So anyway, I am enjoying my latest dictionary of terms and it made me think.

Having common terms in any field of study is essential to move it forward.  With common terms, two people are able to have a discussion and exchange information far faster than two people who have to explain what they mean to each other first.  If we did not have common specialist terms, no one would make any progress - instead, they would just explain to each other what they mean.


So the question is, what game terminology should we use and is there any gamebook specialist terminology that we should nail down.  For example, does one play or read a gamebook?  Is a gamebook different to interactive fiction or a subset of it? Would there be a different term for a book like Destiny Quest (stat heavy) and Frankenstein (a story that you explore)