Hello all! The gamebook world is moving quickly and there is loads to report on, so grab a pencil, stick your fingers between the pages and let's get cracking...
Zines
Voidspace
Voidspace issue 2 is out!
voidspace zine: 2 – voidspace _
Warlock Returns
Warlock Returns issue 6 is out!
The Warlock Returns Issue #06 - Arion Games | Advanced Fighting Fantasy | DriveThruRPG.com
Computer Games
Fabled Lands
The computer game is getting bigger!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1299620/view/3177860631504431146
Gamebooks!
Savage Realms
Jam Hirons is writing a Savage Realms book!
https://jamsplace.co/2022/04/10/upcoming-project/
Fighting Fantasy
There will be TWO Fighting Fantasy gamebooks for the 40th anniversary - one from Steve and one from Ian. You know the ones I mean. Actually, there are two Steve Jacksons who wrote Fighting Fantasy, aren't there, so you don't necessarily know which one it is. It's the UK one.
Dragon Warriors
Paul Partington has written a Dragon Warriors gamebook from Red Ruin Publishing (which will be free!)
The Kingdom of Ereworn lies on the brink of either disaster or salvation. You have entered this benighted land, where you can either aid or oppose the forces of order. In this open world gamebook, many adventures await - explore haunted monasteries, delve into once deserted barrows or investigate cursed forests - the choice is yours!
Choose Your Own Adventure
CYOA has announced four books coming this summer - you can preorder them from COMING SOON! – Chooseco LLC (cyoa.com)
The Flight of the Unicorn
You are on a fantastic quest through medieval Scotland to find your missing pegacorn mentor, Dame Scotia. You believe she was kidnapped to steal her magic to create a pegacorn army. Can you and your newly-trained pegaorn, Liss, locate Dame Scotia in time to prevent war?
The Ghost on the Mountain
You’re on a family vacation in Haiti to learn about your heritage when you discover a ghost in your room. The ghost tells you her name is Yvette, and that the mountains are calling you. Before you can answer, you meet a little girl named TiYoyo, who wants to show you her home.
Fairy House
Bored and ignored by your busy parents, you decide to go outside and build a fairy house. Just when you’re sure nothing is going to happen, you meet Bert the Below Average: a real, live fairy. He’s not exactly what you had in mind. But he’ll do. Let the adventures begin!
The Dregg Disaster
Choose Your Own Adventure’s first math workbook is different from other workbooks: it's a gamebook! The Dregg Disaster is an original and cleverly designed interactive story for students learning Algebra 1.
Something fishy is going on at Dregg Corporation, the biggest employer in your town. You’re determined to find solutions, but in order to make your next choice, you’ll also have to find answers to algebraic equations along the way!
Each of the four chapters includes an “Adventurer’s Advice” section to help students navigate their way through the gamebook if they find themselves in need of algebraic assistance. The book also comes with a free online download, which includes many more algebra problems for students who want or need the extra practice.
Choice of Games
The juggernaut that is Choice of Games is keeping those adventures coming!
1938. A terminally-ill English aristocrat has one final wish: to locate the long-lost resting place of one of his legendary ancestors, a crusading knight said to have found a terrible secret in the East and then vanished. A cryptic, coded poem points the way, allowing a modern-day adventurer to retrace the knight’s steps. So a contest is set: five of the world’s leading treasure-hunters and archaeologists are challenged to follow the trail and track down the crusader’s tomb. And whoever gets there first stands to win an unimaginable fortune. Do you have what it takes to outwit and out-gun your villainous rivals and make it safe – and first – to the prize?
Relics 2: The Crusader’s Tomb, the sequel to Relics of the Lost Age and the second game in the Relics trilogy, is an exhilarating 400,000 word interactive adventure novel by James Shaw, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based – without graphics or sound effects – and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
As a valued appendage at a company called Gray Matter, you’ll do the thinking, speaking, and fist-fighting for clients who hire you, all from the comfort of your jar. Along the way, you’ll start riots, solve riddles, torment party clowns, escape burning buildings, find allies among your fellow brains, and commit felonies. Not a bad gig, as long as eternal servitude is your jam.
Big Brains in Little Jars is a 300,000-word interactive novel by Ashlee Sierra. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Defend your magical city from an invading army! Use swords, spells, and strategy to save your people, lead them to glory, and build a legacy for the ages.
Siege of Treboulain is a 280,000-word interactive epic fantasy novel by Jed Herne. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Embark on a deadly journey for survival. Your ordinary school life quickly turns around when an unknown outbreak turns humanity into flesh eating monsters. The hungry creatures ravage every corner of your home island, forcing you to quickly adapt to the new, hostile environment, and learn the ropes of survival if you wish to remain alive.
Crowdfunding
Michael J. Ward is doing a Kickstarter for the world companion to the awesome gamebook series. The Kickstarter will start on May 17th.
Dormus is a world riven with strife and conflict, its very fabric of reality under threat from otherworldly forces and cataclysmic events. These are dark and perilous days, where fractious tensions threaten to bring down kingdoms and empires, and demonic invaders sow seeds of chaos and destruction to hasten the fall of humanity.
This is a time when great heroes will rise – legendary men and women of fame, who will spin the web of destiny anew, changing lives and history, influencing kings and nations, and becoming beacons of hope amidst a desperate world teetering on the brink of ruin.
Destiny's Role
What is it with Kickstarters and gamebooks with the word destiny in them this month?
Kaleidoscope Frenzy by Mark Lain has 6 days left to collect pledges. It has already funded, so if you would like a copy, head over there fast!
KALEIDOSCOPE FRENZY is the fifth book in the DESTINY'S ROLE adventure gamebook series and is the long-awaited sequel to FRAGILE BEAUTY which appeared in DESTINY'S ROLE 0: ZERO TO HERO. FRAGILE BEAUTY was a modern day-set hard boiled detective adventure concerning the mysterious disappearance of a young woman.
Destiny's Role 4: Kaleidoscope Frenzy by Mark Lain — Kickstarter
Pitcrawler!
Pitcrawler! is inspired by old-school choose-your-own-adventure gamebooks, PITCRAWLER! combines nostalgic vibes with a modern heart.
It starts funding on the 25th April on Indiegogo
Gamebook News
Gamebook news continues to provide in depth coverage of the gamebook news (I mean, it's in the name).
Gamebook News – Fantasy, Sci-fi and other interactive fiction!
Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Discussion Group (Book Club)
May's book is The House on Sentinel Hill by Graham Plowman
Adventures in social media
Mrs Giggles writes several reviews about lots of different things, including gamebooks. On one of my occasional visits to her website, I realised that she has just opened up a Patreon. Minimum pledge is £1 a month and that allows you 1 request per month!
