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31 Days of Gamebooks - July 2025 Full List (Updated)
Gamebooks Solo RPGs Month of RPG Generators

31 Days of Gamebooks - July 2025 Full List (Updated)

Duncan Thomson

For July posting daily with gamebooks and gamebook series at r/gamebooks subreddit (list of posts). Building on previous Generator Months.

Disclaimer: Rand Roll is an affiliate for DriveThru RPG and DM's Guild.

All the 31 Days of Solo RPGs with links

Day 1 - Isle of Torment

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First up is The Isle of Torment by Dean Moodie (kickstarted in 2021). You play a pirate captain seeking the fabled Isle of Torment (and the treasure there of course!). You get a ship, crew, first mate and surgeon.

It's a huge gamebook at 2222 sections (746 pages), and a mixture of open-world and traditional gamebook. You are free to sail between the different islands, but with a time limit before you must seek out the isle.

There are several Pirate Captains to choose from or you can create your own. You also get to choose your ship and outfit it. There is quite a bit to keep track of, and it's important as you don't want your crew to run out of provisions, water or rum!

You'll explore either on your ship or going on shore with crew (including possibly your first mate and surgeon). A lot of your time will be spent exploring islands and ports around the Sea of Resentment and Tranquil Bay.

One on one fights are fairly simple, but the ship battles are set pieces, with narrative options during the battle and many things to keep track of. I found the ship battle narratives enjoyable, but not the tracking part of them.

There are many encounters that are random, depending on location and how far into your trip you are. Others depend on what day it is when you arrive (or remain) at a location.

There's a lot here, it's well-written and complex (in a good way). You get to play a pirate with their ship. It's got different modes, different starting difficulties and lots of replayability. I've yet to complete it but have lost a couple of ships and crews.

Day 2 - The Way of the Tiger

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The Way of the Tiger by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson is a series where you play a ninja. Originally written in the 1980s, it was republished more recently (my Book 3 says 2014) so is easier to get than some earlier gamebooks. It even has a wikipedia entry.

There are six books in the original series, plus book 7 (2015, with David Walters) and book 0 (2014, by David Walters). You progress from avenging ninja in the first book to looking after a city and armies in later books. The setting is medieval fantasy in the world of Orb, and sometimes that fantasy is a bit mushed together with dwarves and hobgoblins alongside the grandmasters, monks and ninjas.

You get many skills and tools to play with as a ninja, such as garottes, flash powder, poison, shuriken, arrow cutting, feigning death and escapology. These progress as you advance through the books, if you play the same character from Avenger into later titles.

The fights are more involved (in a good way) than many gamebooks. Against each foe you'll get a choice of attacking with throws, kicks or punches, with different options winning out against ogres, priests or slimes.

The writing is good, art is solid and there's a big variety in the sort of adventure you undertake, problems you face and foes to fight.

They are also available in digital format at DriveThruRPG.

Day 3 - Gamebooks with Horror and Spooky Themes 

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Playing a gamebook by yourself (especially a physical one), is a good way to experience the horror genre.

Some horror / spooky gamebooks include...

  • In Nightshift by Victoria Hancox you're stuck at night in a hospital, caught up in a nightmare and trying to get out. It has sequels in the Cluster of Echoes Series (The Alchemist's Folly, the Phantom Self, Behind the Weeping Wells, Shopping Maul)
  • The Ghosts of Craven Manor by Joseph Daniels is a time-travelling gamebook with puzzles and multiple paths. It starts with you moving into a haunted house and trying to banish a spirit using a time-travelling amulet. The adventures are continued in the Legacy of Craven Manor and the Ingram Chronicles.
  • Fighting Fantasy is possibly the best known gamebook series, with a few spooky options. House of Hell (modern, Steve Jackson), Night of the Necromancer (Jonathan Green), Blood of Zombies (modern, Ian Livingstone). Dead of Night (Jim Bambra, Stephen Hand) and Beneath Nightmare Castle (Peter Darvill-Evans) would also fit if you can find them.
  • Valentino Sergi has written Edgar Allan Poe - The Horror Gamebook (also an Italian version). Explore puzzles and mysteries and stave off madness in a realm based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.
  • Jonathan Green has written many gamebooks, and in the ACE Gamebook series are some spooky titles. Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu and 'Twas the Krampus Night Before Christmas all qualify.
  • David Lowrie writes gamebooks that are darker in tone. In Straight to Hell you are a crusader knight in the depths of hell with a lot of ways to come to a grisly end. In Psycho Killer you are trying to stop a mass murderer and avoid a gruesome fate yourself.
  • Call of Cthulhu is the best-known horror roleplaying game, and you can experience it in Alone Against Nyarlathotep by Lee Wade. Lots of North Yorkshire and creepy seaside towns and villages to explore. It's available as a PDF from drivethrurpg. There's also a book option. A similar option is Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Carcosa by Heinrich D. Moore (more of a solo rpg).
  • What Dreams May Come is a Savage Realms gamebook by TroyAnthony Schermer. A nightmarish journey through a realm of dreams.
  • Simon Birks has a few gamebooks. Horror ones would include Innsmouth: The Stolen Child and Curse of Cthulhu - These Strange and Deadly Shores.

Day 4 - Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

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For many these are the quintessential gamebooks. Started by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson in 1982 with the Warlock of Firetop Mountain, they have kept coming with the most recent book in 2024.

Roll up your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK, keep your sword (or other weapon) ready and use your wits, fortune to navigate the fantasy or sci-fi challenges that await. Hopefully you reach section 400.

Some books to try include....

  • Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Deathtrap Dungeon or City of Thieves for the classic experience
  • House of Hell, Freeway Fighter, Appointment with F.E.A.R. or Blood of the Zombies for a more modern setting
  • Scorpion Swamp or The Citadel of Chaos to use some magic
  • Starship Traveller, Robot Commando or Rebel Planet for a sci-fi experience
  • Sword of the Samurai or Demons of the Deep for a different fantasy setting
  • Crystal of Storms for a lighter tone.
  • Creature of Havoc for something completely different
  • Night of the Necromancer to play as someone dead

Also worth mentioning is the Roleplaying Games Advanced Fighting Fantasy, which had a 2nd Edition in print from Arion Games.

Day 5 - Fabled Lands

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In 1995 Fabled Lands began with The War-Torn Kingdom by Jamie Thomson and Cities of Gold and Glory by Dave Morris. Fabled lands was the first series of open-world gamebooks, where you could take the same character between books and then back again. Free to roam at will and choose how you wanted to experience the world.

There are 6 Professions, each specialised in one Ability. Priest (Santity), Mage (Magic), Rogue (Thievery), Troubadour (Charisma), Warrior (Combat) and Wayfarer (Scouting). There were some unique quests for each class throughout the books so the experience was different for each. Skill rolls were done through 2d6 and add your score in the relevant Ability against a target number. You could increase your success rate for tests with blessings bought at temples. Your Abilities would also increase as you completed quests and increased in Rank.

You keep track of the changes through keywords (starting with a different letter for each book), titles, equipment and gold. There are quite a lot of fights, a frustrating number of insta-deaths and some pretty weird (or varied) quests. I would try to max out available blessings at every point. With enough money there was also a resurrection deal with various temples to escape death, and this was also a priority to have when I played.

At times locations are sparse in things to do and some elements a little odd. But the magic of Fabled Lands was playing it the way you wanted. You could swear loyalty to various gods, focus on exploring, captain a ship on the seas, venture into politics, make foolish investments, live life as a trader buying and selling goods. There were chances to become a noble, get a keep, be an ambassador and buy houses that people might break into.

The first six books in 1995 and 1996 by Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris were War-Torn Kingdom (medieval fantasy), Cities of Gold (medieval fantasy), Over the Blood-Dark Sea (islands and ships), The Plains of Howling Darkness (nomad steppes, ruins and a samurai city), The Court of Hidden Faces (a tiered society with cutthroat politics), Lords of the Rising Sun (samurai nation). Each book is a little harder than the last.

In 2018 Book 7, Serpent King's Domain, arrived written by Paul Gresty. It's loosely based on old south-american cultures. There are rumours that book 8 will one day arrive but don't hold your breath. There is also Keep of the Lich Lord (I just saw a copy on Amazon UK for £8), a stand-alone quest which you can use to start or supplement your Fabled Lands adventures.

As well as the physical books Fabled Lands are available on Kindle, as a digital game on steam and as pdfs on DriveThruRPG (for pretty cheap).

Day 6 - The Clockwork City

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The Clockwork City is the first book of Endless Destinies (and so far only one) . Written by Corinna Keefe, game design by Joe Harris and Illustrated by Paula Zorite. It's a gamebook that often gets recommended for a younger audience.

The gamebook comes in a box with a deck of custom playing cards that are used for combat. It has some tactical depth but isn't too complex. You have a deck for your hero, which you can add to as you learn more techniques in time. The monsters get their own deck, with a different combination of cards (and actions) for each monster, making each fight quite different.

Your character is trying to fix the ills that are besetting the Clockwork City. You choose locations on the various maps to go to and investigate, rest or shop. New locations open up and some get closed off as the story progresses. The game is fun but you'll end up exploring nearly all of the locations in a full playthrough.

It's a pretty gamebook, with a distinctive art style. There's no permanent death to worry about (unless you run out of money to pay the boatman) and the storytelling is engaging.

Day 7 - The Sword of the Bastard Elf

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The Sword of the Bastard Elf from "Herman S. Skull" and Two-Fisted Fantasy is illustrated by S. Jacob. Available in softback (826 pages, amazon UK had it at £25) and also a digital version (drivethrurpg)

It's a sprawling standalone epic that is not quite like any other gamebook. It's 1825 sections plus an equipment appendix and my version also has a short RPG.

In most games your an adventurer or hero or just the wrong person in the wrong situation. In this gamebook you're a young half-elf scumbag kicked from their home by their step-dad. You'll lie, cheat, avoid, steal, shag and maybe even fight your way through a variety of situations with lots of freedom.

Challenges and fights are known as Hassles and there's often a way of weaselling out of facing them. There is a lot of options to choose and those choice can take you all over the place in unexpected ways. There are multiple different endings (as opposed to deaths), some satisfying and some less so (from your character's viewpoint).

It's fantasy but a it's part weird, part funny (depending on your humour), part mundane and part bizarre. It's not for children. There's lots of items and pets to pick up and an interesting crafting system (certain items can combine into a more powerful item).

From the same author is also Star Bastards, a sci-fi gamebook in the same vein.

Day 8 - Science Fiction Gamebooks

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Second genre post is Science Fiction Gamebooks. (Cyberpunk / Post-apocalytic another day. Horror was Day 3)

  • The Altimer from Samuel Isaacson is the first in horror sci-fi trilogy the Entram Epic (with New Gaia and Solar War). New extra-terrestrial life has been discovered and everyone lives in harmony things go wrong. You get to be an astronaut leading (or not in my case) a team to New Gaia. Well written with meaningful choices.
  • Fighting Fantasy has Starship Traveller (Star-Trek like), Robot Commando (mechs and dinosaurs), Rebel Planet (an alien empire), Space Assassin (play as a bounty hunter), Rings of Kether (some love it, I hate it), Sky Lord and Star Strider.
  • Star Smuggler by Dennis Sustare is from 1982, playing as a starship-era soldier of fortune. It looks like the author has okayed digital versions.
  • Star Bastards is by the same publisher as Sword of the Bastard Elf from Day 7. You're racing, sleazing, gambling and fighting your way across the galaxy, dealing with bounty hunters that come your way.
  • The Fall of District-U by Matt Beighton is a Pick Your Path book set in a mining district of the distant future. Investigate the dark alleyways, get tech upgrades and battle all manner of foes in a cyberpunk-feeling setting.
  • Heavy Metal Thunder by Kyle Stiff has you as a human soldier resisting extra-terrestrial invaders. First of a trilogy. Could only find in e-book/kindle format
  • The Renegade Lord by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith is the first in the Falcon Series, where you play a time-travelling special agent. You get all sorts of equipment to start with and get missions / sub-plots in different eras of time. Picked up first book easily but others look like hard to get hold of.
  • Space Brigade is a gamebook in graphic novel format split over chapters with puzzles and space soldiers. I found a Canadian site selling it.
  • The Be An Interplanetary Spy books by Seth McEvoy books have been recommended for kids. But some of the more modern reprints appear to be of a far lower quality book.

Day 9 - DestinyQuest

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DestinyQuest by Michael J. Ward takes the videogame format of battle, loot, power-up, repeat and puts it into gamebooks. Your character can become a Warrior, Mage or Rogue but will be doing lots of fighting in any case. These are large books (939 sections in book 1, 895 in book 2) with lots of narrative, story and choices to make.

You pick the quests you want to try from a map, picking easy to hard quests, settlements where you can pick up gear and rumours, legendary monsters and the boss fight that lets you move to the next map. (books 1 and 2 both have 3 maps). There's no permadeath in this game. If you fail a quest you just start again or pick another location on the map.

Much of the gameplay is combat, with a few puzzles too. While most of the combat revolves around who has the higher Speed, there's lots of variety in the fights. Multiple foes, carts to stop escaping, a golem that throws mud pies at you, snipers and a foe that absorbs your abilities and throws them back at you.

At the end of most fights, you get to loot one or more items. These fit a slot (head, boots, main hand etc) and boost Magic, Speed, Brawn and Armour. Many also have one or more abilities such as rerolls, boosts, hindrances to foes and healing. There are MANY abilities and a lot of the gameplay revolves around deciding what items to take and leave as the game progresses. You also get 5 backpack slots that are filled with various limited use items to help (mostly in combat).

The first three gamebooks are The Legion of Shadow, The Heart of Fire and The Eye of Winter's Fury. The Raiders of Dune Sea and Wrath of Ragnarok are the first two books of the Sands of Time trilogy. Tides of Terror came out in 2024 and is a little different. It uses a new diceless combat system and you play 2-4 heroes.

It's often recommended to start with the second one (The Heart of Fire), as there are some balance issues with the first book. Each book you start with a new character (I don't know if that's true for Wrath of Ragnarok) and there are Team Battles in Book 2 (and possibly others) where you can team up with a character from another book.

Day 10 - Lost in the City

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Lost in the City is written and illustrated by Joseph Fry and came out this year. I've got the Noir edition which is black and white illustrations only.

It's set in modern day and as the title says, Lost in the City with a bit of mystery! You'll use clues, coin flips and symbols (that look like fruit machine icons) to navigate the city and figure out what's going on.

The gamebook has a very cohesive style, the layout and design matching the feel of the book. It's narrative driven with some puzzles, not overly long (~200 sections, most pages are 1 section but some split into two)

There's minimal rules, no ability checks, and the coin flips are mostly to determine random events (does the security guard stop you, what do you find in the crates). There are multiple endings and an achievement list at the back.

Also the writer is a regular on the r/gamebooks subreddit so easy to ask any questions too!

Day 11 - Heart of Ice

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Heart of Ice by Dave Morris is one of the most recommended gamebooks when people are looking for new ones. It's set in a futuristic ice age and you race to find the Heart of Volent, making allies and foes as you go. It's the first in the Critical IF Books, well-written with lots of hard choices and a non-fantasy setting.

It and the other Critical IF Books don't have any dice or other random elements, They instead use the skills chosen at character creation (four of a possible ten), the equipment you pick up and the keywords you pick up from your choices.

There are three other three Critical IF gamebooks, updated from the older Virtual Reality series. Down Among the Dead Men is pirate themed, Necklace of Skulls is based in Mayan myth and Once Upon a Time in Arabia has ghouls, palaces, deserts, bandits and assassins.

Heart of Ice and other Critical IF gamebooks are also in digital format at DriveThruRPG.

Day 12 - Nightshift and Cluster of Echoes

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Nightshift by Victoria Hancox (author site) is an atmospheric spooky gamebook set in the nighttime of a modern hospital with just you, a murderer and a variety of supernatural, shifty and unfortunate characters.

It's diceless so you're using the choices you make along with a few code words and puzzles to solve. It's also modern, written in 2019.

It's the first of a Cluster of Echoes, a series of 6+ horror gamebooks. In the Alchemist's Folly, you're tampering with medicine you probably shouldn't. In the Phantom Self you are investigating paranormal activity on the coast. Behind the Weeping Walls has you investigating a cult at a health retreat. Shopping Maul has you in a treasure hunt in a creepy shopping maul where it all goes wrong.

Nightshift was one of the titles from Day 3 - Spooky & Horror Gamebooks.

Day 13 - Steam Highwayman

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Steam Highwayman by Martin Barnabas Noutch is a series of open-world gamebooks set in steam industrial England and Cornwall, with Wales set to join in book 5. The steam elements are there but not overwhelming or fantastical. I'm biased as this is one of my favourite gamebook series (I prefer open-world gamebooks).

There are three books currently with Smog and Ambuscade (1022 passages) covering rural towns and villages around Marlow and the Thames. Highways and Holloways (1516 passages) expanding further up the Thames with lots of woods and the mighty towns of Oxford and Reading. The third book, The Reeking Metropolis (1515 passages) brings the series to London, with a very different feel. The fourth, Princes of the West, is currently in Kickstarter and will bring an independent Cornwall and Imperial Devon to the lands of pasties and cream teas with lots of coast to explore.

You'll spend your time stealing from the rich (and possibly anyone who happens along), driving along country roads, getting rumours from pubs, upgrading your volosteam, avoid the constables and performing mighty deeds. You might also get involved in guild politics, show solidarity with the common folk and simmering revolution, attend parties with the rich, trade on a riverboat in the Thames, build a workshop, become a Member of Parliament, pilot an Airship, spend time in prison or get executed for your crimes.

Mechanically the series is an open-world based on the chassis of Fabled Lands, but with deeper quests and a far stronger sense of setting. There's more done with titles, including being Wanted by various factions and Friends with all kinds of people. There are few permadeaths (normally things like being executed for your crimes). Your Wounds can normally be healed up with Scars, prompting retirement if you have too many scars. You can bleed to death if you lose all your wounds, but the right friends can save you. There's also a score sheet in the epilogue if you want to track how memorable a Steam Highwayman you were.

Day 14 - Gamebooks Set in Modern Era

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Most gamebooks are fantasy or sci-fi, but a few are set in the modern day (or were when they were written)

  • Citadel of Bureaucracy by J. D. Mitchell. has you trying to survive a day in the office using the Fighting Fantasy ruleset. Dealing with inept co-workers, a demanding boss, vending machines, presentations, acronyms, processed food and Canadian geese. Friends who work in an office were horrified by the idea of a gamebook about it.
  • Click Your Poison by James Schannep is a series with several set in modern era. They're diceless gamebooks with some puzzles. Spied has you as a secret agent, Haunted spending three nights in a haunted house, Murdered is a murder mystery in Brazil and Superpowered gives you one of three superhero powers
  • Lost in the City by James Fry was featured in Day 10. You lost in a modern urban setting.
  • Possibly the strangest is Can You Brexit? by veteran gamebook authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson. Trying to make Brexit work as the Prime Minister of the UK and stay in power at the same time.
  • A few of the titles from Day 3: Horror Gamebooks are set in the modern day. Nightshift and other Cluster of Echoes books by Victorian Hancox, Psycho Killer by David Lowrie and The Ghosts of Craven Manor by Joseph Daniels (but also time-travel!).
  • Fighting Fantasy has a few ones set in modern day (-ish). Appointment with F.E.A.R. by Steve Jackson is superheroes. House of Hell by Steve Jackson and Blood of Zombies by Ian Livingstone are also modern day, but horror for sure.
  • Operation Dead Dawn by Tom Perrett has you as a soldier infiltrating a military base with zombies. It's a very short gamebook with only a few choices to make.

Many Choose Your Own Adventure and similar books are set in modern day, but not anything I know about. There's quite a few others that have been written in modern (80's - now) times but are hard to get hold of.

Day 15 - Lone Wolf

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Lone Wolf by Joe Dever is a series of over 30 gamebooks, starting with Flight from the Dark in 1984. It has spawned over 30 books, and many of the books have been modernised and re-released. Later writers include Ben Dever, Vincent Lazzari and Jonathan Stark.

It's one of the two best-known series in the gamebooks world (along with Fighting Fantasy). The books are available from Holmgard Press (no idea about international shipping), including the more recent Huntress Trilogy (Starting with Marked for Death in 2024) by Jonathan Stark. The Lone Wolf (and Freeway Warrior) books are available for free at Project Aon.

In the original series You play the last of the Kai, fleeing the forces of darkness that destroyed your people. In later books the struggle leads you all over the world, eventually taking the fight into the heart of enemy lands.

The fight rules are simple, you get a shopping list of special abilities and you get to keep the same character between books.

Day 16 - What Lesser Known Gamebooks Would You Highlight?

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(Original post here with more recommendations in the comments)

Today is for your recommendations for lesser known, obscure, passed over or unpopular gamebooks (basically anything outside of Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, CYOA and Fabled Lands!)

Leave a comment with a gamebook or series you'd like to highlight, for whatever reason. I'll update this post with some of the suggestions.

Some so far from comments are...

  • The Falcon series by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith...The player is a sort of cross between 007 and a Time Lord and is tasked with handling threats throughout the past and future. (u/Bark-Filler)
  • I think Warp Your Own Way is absolutely brilliant (u/atticdoor) [Star Trek Lower Decks interactive graphic novel by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio]
  • Rider of the Black Sun (u/misomiso82)
  • ...Grailquest, especially book 2. The books are admittedly written for slightly younger readers than Fighting Fantasy and are pretty whimsical but book 2 is genius (u/johnber007)
  • Duel Master Challenge of the Magi, A mini Fabled Lands(Open World) type gamebook which can be played by 1 or 2 players. If it's 2 player then you have to fight each other. Written by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith. (u/meownys)
  • ...some of the 5e solo adventures are excellent... 'The Death Knight's Squire' by Paul Bimler...The Wolves of Langston is supposed to be good. (u/misomiso86)
  • What Lies Beneath (escape from a dungeon; really clever dice mechanics; Plus a review (review and suggestion by u/YnasMidgard)

Day 17 - Legendary Kingdoms

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An open-world series, in Legendary Kingdoms by Oliver Hulme you play a party of to 4 characters at once (4 is the recommended number). The first three books are The Valley of Bones, Crown & Tower and Pirates of the Splinted Isles. There are three more planned but no current roadmap to publish them.

Physical copies of the books are hard to get, and the third Kickstarter had problems before fulfilling (I wasn't a backer so don't know the details). But the first two books are available digitally on DriveThruRPG (in English, Hungarian and Spanish). I've don't have the books but played using the digital versions. Using hyperlinked entries was a novelty after being used to physical gamebooks.

Each book covers a separate realm and has a different feel to them. The books also get harder as you progress. There's a lot to do and explore in Legendary Kingdoms. As well as standard gamebook quests, there's army battles (which you control one side), politics, dungeons, secrets and shenanigans.

Tests are made using a d6 dice pool looking for a certain number of successes, and for group checks this can mean you're rolling a lot of dice (maxes out at 20). So a Stealth check might need 3 successes, looking for 5s or better. If your character rolls 7 dice and gets 1,1,2,4,4,5,6 that's 2 successes so that's a miss.

Because you've got 4 characters, combat becomes a bit more tactical. You get to choose who gets attacked by foes so a lot of it is about spreading the damage around and making the best use of your spells. Spells can be used in battle or in the game when given the option, but each spell is used up until you get a chance to charge them (by spending money).

There are 6 characters you can use, each with their own narratives and plotlines (and romances) in the books. Each book highlights a particular character although you don't need the character to play the book. You can also make your own characters but they'll be less narrative options in that case (I usually play with 3 pregens and 1 I've created)

Day 18 - Post-Apocalyptic and Zombie Gamebooks

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Today's theme is Post-Apocalypse gamebooks, with the subtheme of Zombies. Other themed days have been Science Fiction (day 8), Horror (day 3) and Modern Era (Day 14)

  • Freeway Warrior by Joe Dever is a set of 5 gamebooks set in post-apocalyptic Texas and California,, with cars and bikes and guns. I've got book 2 which is solid with combat rules similar to Lone Wolf. Can be played for free from Project Aon. Physical books also available with Mophidious in the UK stocking some.
  • Heart of Ice by Dave Morris is a diceless gamebook set in the frozen future. Featured on Day 11.
  • Fighting Fantasy has Freeway Fighter by Ian Livingstone, where you're driving the armour-plated Interceptor, trying to collect a petrol tanker for the settlement of New Hope.
  • Random Solo Adventure: Post Apocalypse from PenguinComics is another option on DriveThruRPG, as a pdf or book. Haven't played it so unsure how much it is a Gamebook and how much it is a Solo RPG

And then there are Zombies, which are associated with a certain type of apocalypse.

  • Infected and Pathogens: both have the subtitle Who Will Survive the Zombie Apocalypse. They are Click Your Poison Gamebooks by James Schannep. They happen simultaneously but are played totally independently.
  • Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? is by Max Bralliler and along with Highway to Hell are set in zombiefied America. Pick your own path in book format and kindle.
  • Fighting Fantasy has Blood of Zombies by Ian Livingstone. You're trying to save the world from an apocalypse this time, in a castle of zombies.
  • Operation Dead Dawn by Tom Perrett has you as a soldier infiltrating a military base with zombies. It's a very short gamebook with only a few choices to make.

Day 19 -Rider of the Black Sun

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Rider of the Black Sun by Swen Harder is the English name of the German gamebook Reiter der schwarzen Sonne.

It's a huge masterpiece of gamebook design, spread across several chapters and appendices. Dragons and dragon riding make up an important part of it.

You progress chapter by chapter, starting with a murder and knowing very few game rules. You're introduced to more rules as the chapters progress, and you grow in power and knowledge (about the world).

Each section has hidden bonuses you can look for, but aren't needed to complete that section. There are puzzles, special equipment rules, hidden mini quests and a solid central storyline.

Sven has also written Metal Heroes - and the Fate of Rock, a rockstar comedy gamebook. (Have yet to get a copy so no more info!)

Day 20 - ACE Gamebooks - Twists on Familiar Tales

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ACE Gamebooks are a series by Jonathan Green (also author of several Fighting Fantasy and many other gamebooks and novels). They include Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, The Wicked Wizard of Oz, Neverland, Beowulf Beastslayer, 'Twas the Krampus Night Before Christmas, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, Ronin 47 and Shakespeare vs Cthulhu.

Each of the series takes a familiar story or character, add some twists and turn them into a gamebook with a twist. Good gamebooks with stats, items, puzzles, tests, dilemmas and compelling stories. The series is named after three of the stats used in the books, Agility, Combat and Endurance.

The biggest strength is that these are stories people know already. For you when you're playing and others when you're explaining (or gifting) them. It's easier for friends, family and co-workers to relate to Alice, Dracula, Christmas and Cthulhu over than Balthus Dire, the Kai, the Bastard Elf or the Steam Highwayman.

Another mention here is You Are the Hero, an interactive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks that Jonathan also wrote.

Day 21 -Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

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Sorcery! by Steve Jackson (the UK one) pushed what Fighting Fantasy could do. You played through a 4-book epic, either as a Warrior, or a Wizard using the new spell system. There were recurring characters, a few puzzles and most fights could be avoided. It also added a whole continent to the world of Titan. A few things you did in one book would affect ones in future books.

The books start gently with the Shamutanti Hills and a tough end fight. Continues with an urban setting of Khare: Cityport of Traps. Then you hunt the Seven Serpents across the Baklands and the Forest of the Snatta. Finally you climb the mountains to enter Mampang Fortress to find the Crown of Kings.

The magic system uses your Stamina to power it, and has 40ish spells. Each is known by a 3-letter word, costs 1-4 stamina (except the ZED spell) and the premise is that you can't look at the spellbook once you've started. As many of the spells have unusual components such as a green-haired wig, goblin teeth or a pair of nose plugs, this could be a big challenge. The spells would be presented as 5 options in situations such as combat or other stressful times. So HOT (a fireball) and DUD (fool's gold) might be offered, alongside KID (which is no use at that time) and RIS (which isn't actually a spell).

Playing as a Warrior you have 2 more Skill (like regular FF) and there's still lots of options to choose from. The art is atmospheric, all by John Blanche. It's challenging at times but perfectly doable (I found book 4 always dragged)

For younger me it was the pinnacle of Gamebooks, taking Fighting Fantasy to a new level. It had a continuing plot, interesting magic system, good storytelling and many challenges.

Day 22 - In the Ashes

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Published in 2023, In the Ashes by Pablo Aguilera is a unique gamebook set over four acts. With a dedicated website. It's a dark-ish fantasy facing a variety of foes. The rules are introduced bit by bit over the intro and first act. It has vibrant art and is well laid out with lots of attention paid to the design. Devir print it in Spanish as "En Las Cenizas". And looks like in Brasilian Portuguese in 2025.

There are choices to make and plenty of narrative, but, like DestinyQuest, this gamebook's main strength is the combat. Each combat has a double-page spread, and is played on a tactical hex grid on one of the pages. Each combat lasts up to three rounds and you have a grid of 9-15 actions to choose from (you'll choose 9 in most fights). Each round you choose three actions, but can't choose two from the same row or column. Your foe(s) have their actions pre-planned, or chosen between a couple of actions by a die roll. There's lots going on and lots of small decisions to make.

You play three different characters (one at a time) over three acts (Act IV is different). For each character you'll choose a specialisation and later an epic class . Vespar is a sailor skilled in close combat, using d6 to determine the strength of attacks. The 2nd character is an alchemist who uses runes to power his magic and summons mushrooms. The 3rd is a hunter skilled in ranged combat, who uses a dice picker like Lone Wolf.

Each character feels different to play. The books are dice-light, used to determine the action some foes take and the damage modifier of some attacks.

Day 23 - Gamebooks for Younger Readers

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Some gamebooks suitable for younger readers (anything up to young adult) include...

  • The Usborne Adventure Gamebooks by Simon Tudhope is a series of well-written books with some picture puzzles and simple dice mechanics. They are Shadow Chaser, Curse Breaker, League of Thieves and The Goblin's Revenge.
  • Storymaster Tales by Oliver McNeil are map-based gamebooks that can be played solo or with someone narrating to a group. They are set in fantasy realms such as dungeons, woods, towns and islands. There are free samples at the storymaster tales site.
  • The Clockwork City is a modern gamebook, tackling the dangers facing the city across several location maps, using custom cards for combat . Covered in Day 6.
  • You're a Wizard from gamebook veteran Samuel Isaacson has a schoolchild as the protagonist. It's the first (and only so far) in the IFG sequence.
  • Lone Wolf Gamebooks by Joe Dever et al. The classic series was re-released in recent years to allow for any protagonist. Covered on Day 15.
  • Trident Gamebooks is a series of gamebooks from Trident Gamebooks with female protagonists, for tween and teen girls.
  • First Year at High School by James A Hirons is about a boy's first day at high school and helping him negotiate the trials and tribulations encountered there.
  • The Beast Quest books by Adam Blade are simple gamebooks targeted at younger readers.
  • Going back a bit are the Grail Quest books by J H Brenan, starting with The Castle of Darkness. You play Pip, the apprentice of Merlin at the court of King Arthur.
  • The Choose Your Own Adventure books are beloved by many as their entry into gamebooks. There are no game mechanics and many titles to choose from.

Day 24 - Resources for Gamebooks

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Today's is different, being a list of resources about gamebooks.

About Gamebooks

Gamebook Communities

Writing Gamebooks

Day 25 - VulcanVerse

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VulcanVerse by Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris is a series of open-world gamebooks steeped in ancient Greek myth and legend. The books are The Houses of the Dead (Hades), The Hammer of the Sun (desert of Notus), The Wild Woods (gardens of Arcadia), The Pillars of the Sky (mountains of Boreas) and Workshop of the Gods (City of Vulcan). So far it's also the only complete open-world gamebook series (there aren't many of them). All 5 are available in digital format at drivethrurpg.

As with other open-world books, you can wander freely between the books. In this one you are playing a hero seeking glory. The books aren't progressively harder (such as Fabled Lands or Legendary Kingdoms are), although although each has it's peculiarities. Each of the first four books has 3 great tasks to complete, with a climax in the 5th book once all 12 tasks have been completed. The fifth book is the one that caps the series, lying at the centre of the land and giving clues to other books.

There's no perma-death (except in a few specific cases), but you'll get Scars each time you die, affecting how others might treat you. Tests are made on 2d6 against a target number using one of 4 stats, with blessings giving you a re-roll. Your stats can be boosted by items and experience. Combat is just another skill check, becoming Wounded on a failure, Usually you'll die if you get wounded again.

But the game isn't really about combat. It's really a large puzzle (or several smaller puzzles) trying to complete the great trials laid in front of you. And dealing with the demands of your patron God, wrestling monsters, facing horrors, talking with ghosts, restoring gardens, winning contests, racing chariots and anything else you'd find in a story of Ancient Greece.

It's also a big undertaking, as the books are large with lots of locations. It can also be quite frustrating to start with (in a similar way to Fabled Lands), with lots of keywords, tickboxes and notes to track as you progress. But I think it's a series worth tackling if you like open-world series.

Day 26 - The Citadel of Bureaucracy

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Citadel of Bureaucracy by J. D. Mitchell is set in modern day in an office block. You work in the civil service trying to survive a harrowing day of difficult bosses, aggressive coworkers, workplace politics, last-minute presentations, emails, meetings, clueless directors, acronyms and packaged food. And possibly Canadian Geese. On a bad day you might not even make it to the office.

It uses the Fighting Fantasy system, it's well-written and (to me) funny. It's one of my favourite gamebooks for no particular reason. It's probably easier to enjoy if you no longer work in an office, as otherwise it might cut too close to the bone.

If you make it to the end you can get a Performance Review to see how your future prospects look.

Day 27 - The Shadow Thief Trilogy

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The Shadow Thief books are a trilogy by David Lowrie where you play a thief name Shadow escaping from prison and then trying to end a great evil in a fantasy city. The books are Jailbreak, Hunted and Heroes, taking the same character from one to the next. It looks like all three are also available together as Shadows Under Laeveni.

It's a grimy, dirty, horrifying world, illustrated by the author. As you're in a jail and sewer for much of the first book it's appropriate. I found the books fun to play (only first two so far), easy to read and with lots of ways to die. The books are tightly focused and strongly themed.

You get a few statistics rolled on 1d6+6 (like Fighting Fantasy's Skill), as well as Endurance which is your health. Fortune acts like Luck from FF and the fights are are FF inspired. You also start with 5 out of 10 thieving skills, which open up options or make tests easier.

There are also standalone Shadow Thief Caper books if you want more, in A Parliament of Rooks and An Unkindness of Ravens. My copies of Jailbreak and Hunted also have a bonus adventure in the back, the Labyrinths of Laevani 1 & 2. Another bonus book is Where Shadows Fail (also by David Lowrie), where Shadow enters the Savage Realms universe (as in What Dreams May Come and other gamebooks by TroyAnthony Shermer). David Lowrie has also written Hellscape, Psycho Killer and other gamebooks.

Day 28 - Craven Manor - Time Travelling Ghost Mysteries

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The Ghosts of Craven Manor and the Legacy of Craven Manor by Joseph Daniels are something unique. Horror-themed puzzles set in modern day (and other time periods).

In both books you're dealing with ghosts and mysteries, and have the ability to time-travel (often by going back one or more passages in the gamebook). This includes Slowing Time, Future Knowledge, Changes Made in the Past, Story Altering Events and Time Jumping. As you learn new bits of information new paths open up so that you can change some of the events you experience in the story (and then reverse). It's a fascinating way to play a gamebook.

In Ghosts of Craven Manor (535 passages) your fiancée is possessed once you move into Craven Manor. You have to use a newly-discovered time-travelling amulet to try to solve a mystery and rid the house of the ghosts. You'll exploring the town and manor in the present and late 1800s. There's some fighting in the book, but it's not a major part of it (and an option for ignoring it). There's also some dice rolling, but you often have some power to modify this with your time travelling powers.

Legacy of Craven Manor (1000 passages) follows on from Ghosts (so it helps to have played that first), and you're now a ghost hunter. In this one you're trying to solve three murder mysteries so you can start a new life. But someone else is paying attention to you and your powers. There's time travel between several different periods (1800s to present) and a few extra rules (Gun Fights, Item Secrets). Lots of clues to find and tangles to unravel.

There are further sequels with The Ingram Chronicles. The Ghosts of Corpus Creek and The Girl I Knew Before follow on from Legacy of Craven Manor (have them but haven't tried playing yet).

In addition, Joseph has written other gamebooks, including Victorian setting Grim Dickensian, medieval era King's Judgement and survival horror Bite the Hand.

Day 29 - Solo Games Similar to Gamebook Experience

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Looking at a few solo games that give a similar experience to gamebooks.

Solo RPGs (not the videogame kind) are tabletop roleplaying games that can be played on your own. Gamebooks are a type of these. Some require you to add ideas or write stories, including journalling games (like Apothecaria), solo-specific RPGs (like Ironsworn) or ways to play rpgs such as D&D solo.

But here are solo games more like gamebook, where you follow the path / rules / procedures and make choices from the options without writing a story. They include

  • Dungeon crawlers, games where you take one or more characters through a generated dungeon, battling monsters and finding treasure.
    • In 2d6 Dungeon by Toby Lancaster you take your Adventurer through ten levels of dungeons.
    • Ker-Nethalas: Into the Midnight Throne by Alex T is another solo character, with various builds and a dark fantasy setting exploring a random dungeon, using a d100 system
    • Four Against Darkness by Andrea Sfiligoi gives you 4 adventurers and a simple game loop for exploring the dungeon. The basic game is fine, but it really comes alive when you add from the many expansions made for the game.
  • Delve by Anna Blackwell is a tactical map-drawing game, in control of a dwarven hold as they dig deep (maybe too deep!) into the world. It uses a deck of standard playing cards for resolution.
  • In Notorious by Jason Price, you're playing a spacefaring bounty hunter fulfilling contracts. "bring the target back, dead or alive - no disintegrations". You follow leads, track down your quarry, recruit help and take them down. There's Arcade Mode, simply tracking attributes and using dice to resolve combat and events (like a gamebook). Or Story Mode where you're writing a short story around it.
  • The next one, The Broken Cask by Derek Kamal, is you looking after a tavern, improving it over time and dealing with the many challenges that patrons and your staff bring. It's one you can play with a bit of journalling or just as a straight up game.
  • Both 5 Parsecs from Home (space) and 5 Leagues from the Borderlands (fantasy) by Ivan Sorenson are solo miniatures games (you could play with just a grid or a virtual tabletop too). Your warband of 6 (or a few more) faces off against many different types of foes, but all driven by a procedural framework using many random tables. I've played co-op with a friend, each controlling 3 heroes and that also worked.

If you're more interested in the solo rpgs where you're writing a story, check out 31 Days of Solo RPGs from January.

Day 30 - Diceless Gamebooks

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While some people love randomness in their gamebooks (including me), many prefer them without.

It's a different way to experience a gamebook without the varied outcomes of dice, card draws or coin flips (or random number picking such as Lone Wolf).

Some diceless gamebooks include

  • Some gamebooks by Samuel Isaacson are diceless but with puzzles and mysteries to solve. Including the fantasy murder-mystery The Bradfell Conspiracy and getting lost in the faerie forest in Escape From Portsrood Forest.
  • Medusa's Gold is a recent (2024) gamebook by David Chandler. A whimsical adventure accepting quests at the Role Inn. Fights are resolved by choosing the correct combination of moves.
  • The Cluster of Echoes series by Victoria Hancox, including Nightshift. Horror-themed gamebooks set in the modern era with puzzles and grisly things. Covered in Day 12.
  • Click Your Poison by James Schannep is a series with several set in modern era, with some puzzles. Spied has you as a secret agent, Haunted spending three nights in a haunted house, Murdered is a murder mystery in Brazil and Superpowered gives you one of three superhero powers
  • The Critical IF Gamebooks by gamebook veteran Dave Morris. Each time options are different depending on the skills you choose. Books are Heart of Ice, Down Among the Dead Men, Necklace of Skulls and Once Upon a Time in Arabia. Covered in Day 11.
  • Valentino Sergi has written Edgar Allan Poe - The Horror Gamebook (also an Italian version). Explore puzzles and mysteries and stave off madness in a realm based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. By the same author are three Necronomicon Gamebooks: - Dagon, Carcosa and Kadath.
  • Can You Brexit? by Jamie Thomson and David Morris is diceless. That's not a recommendation as it's niche. Trying to make Brexit work as the Prime Minister of the UK and stay in power at the same time.
  • The Choose Your Own Adventure books, Beast Quest series and other similar interactive fiction. Choose your path but there are generally no game elements. The r/interactivefiction subreddit might have more recommendations.

Day 31 - All the Rest

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Gamebooks that didn't get highlighted in other days. In no particular order...

One of a Kind

  • Expeditionary Company by Riq Sol and David Velasco is one huge gamebook of 3000+ sections, spread over 3 books (Travel Guide, Contract Ledger, Zekainar Manual). Most of the gameplay is around guiding and guarding trade expeditions in a dying fantasy world, through raids, terrain events, the Mists, faction-specific events and bad things happening to passengers, wagons, animals or guards. You'll also go on individual adventures, deal with resistance leaders, smuggle books, upgrade wagons & beasts, have realm events and more. The downside is that you'll have to do masses of bookkeeping and wade through many pages of dense rules and procedures to figure out what is happening. There are examples to help, and underneath is a deep system unlike any other gamebook.

Some Modern Gamebooks

  • The Pick Your Path Adventures of Matt Beighton. The Fall of District-U was mentioned in Day 8 and I look forward to trying other gamebooks in the series. It's sci-fi, with interesting gamebook mechanics for fighting, allies and tech upgrades. There's a lot going on in this gamebook and it's easy to read.
  • Mistress of Sorrows and other Destiny's Role gamebooks by Mark Lain. In Mistress of Sorrows you're hunting down a witch in a dark fantasy world using a system similar to Fighting Fantasy. Mark is a prolific gamebook author, (I've only tried one so far) with gamebooks in other genres and also the Gamebook Collector's Check List and Price Guide 2025.
  • The Weirding Woods and other Storymaster's Tales by Oliver McNeil. These gamebooks are pretty unique, as they are map-based gamebooks that are designed to be read out loud. In the Weirding Woods you create your character, choose your scenario and explore. Witches, trolls, outlaws, chapels, graveyards, inns, wolves, old castles and wizards await. There's lots of replayability as there are different scenario maps that mix up how the encounters are positioned.
  • The Seeker of Valenreath by M. D. Makin has you battling goblins, lizardmen, golems and other familiar creatures as you investigate ruins and seek a relic. It's big (1000 sections), lets you play as one of three specialisations, has more involved combat than most gamebooks, has a system for cues & puzzles and lots to explore. There's also a sequel that follows on in Betrayal at Blackmarket. (The author is also the only Aussie gamebook author I know of!)
  • Cult of the Pajoli and other gamebooks by Simon Birks. In Cult of the Pajoli (700 passages) you play Derilion, a heroic lightbringer entering a deadly cave system to rescue her ward. Combat is straigtforward and you have a weight limit to the amount you can carry. There's a good chance you'll die several times in your quest. Simon also has other gamebooks including the Curse of Cthulhu, Innsmouth: The Stolen Child and Monuments.
  • What Dreams May Come and other Savage Realms Gamebooks by TroyAnthony Schermer. What Dreams May Come is a shortish gamebook in a modern-day horrifying dream-world. You get to assign your stats (Strength, Agility, Luck) in this one instead of rolling for them. There are several other books in the Savage Realms series, including a few written by other prominent gamebook authors.
  • The Island of Doctor Moreau by KJ Shadmand is a reimagining of the work by H.G. Well. After being shipwrecked, you're investigating this island of strange creatures in the late 19th century.
  • Heroes of Urowen by David Velasco lets you play as a few different races and classes, adventuring in a detailed fantasy world. You get up to all sorts of things in this gamebook and it packs a lot into the 400 sectionss
  • The D&D Solo Adventures from 5E Solo Gamebooks, such as the Death Knight's Squire. You play a Dungeons and Dragons character (of your creation) through one of several gamebooks. Highly rated, but haven't yet got to play them and a different type of experience to most of the other gamebooks.

A Few Classic Gamebooks

A few gamebooks from the 80s to mention are...

  • The Bloodsword gamebooks by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson are 5 highly-rated books with modern(-ish) reprints. You played 1-4 characters (possibly with other people), choosing from one of four classes (Warrior, Trickster, Enchanter, Sage), each of which had different options in the gamebooks and plays very differently. Battles are played out on a tactical grid (different map given for each battle), although the grid can mostly be ignored (after working out the marching order of your characters.
  • The Cretan Chronicles were a trilogy set in Ancient Greece, where you had (IIRC) a patron god and sought glory. You quested through various lands to Crete (book 1), entered the Labyrinth (book 2) and journeyed back (book 3). It had a mechanic where you could try your luck by adding 20 to the current passage for a variant passage, sometimes with great results and often not. Book 1 was great, book 2 was ok and never played book 3.
  • The Tunnels and Trolls Gamebooks. I honestly don't remember much about these, apart from they were quite random (in content, not game wise), you could play any Tunnels & Trolls character from the roleplaying game, and one of them was set in an arena.
  • The many other gamebooks of Dave Morris. Several have been mentioned in other days, but Dave is possibly the most prolific gamebook author. As well as days for VulcanVerse, Fabled Lands, Critical IF / Virtual Reality and Bloodsword above, he's written Transformers gamebooks, Heroquest gamebooks, Crypt of the Vampire, Castle of Lost Souls and Temple of Flame. And probably others I've missed
  • And many others including Asterix Series (personal favourites), Duel Master, Freeway Warrior and the Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries

I hope you've found one or two new gamebooks to play during the series. I certainly have

Finishing Up

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Go and play a gamebook!

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