Following on from gamebook learning in Learning From Better Gamebooks. (Sorcery!, Steam Highwayman, VulcanVerse, Night of the Necromancer)
Playing Other Gamebooks
For me, part of writing a gamebook is seeing what the best gamebooks out there are. Either from story, mechanics, narrative flow or a mixture of these.
I recently completed posting for 31 Days of Gamebooks, so I've tried lots in the last few months.
Four more gamebooks I'd recommend to look at if you're interested in writing gamebooks follow!
Isle of Torment
In the Isle of Torment by Dean Moodie (kickstarted in 2021) you play a pirate captain seeking the fabled Isle of Torment. You get a ship, crew, first mate and surgeon. It's a huge gamebook (2222 sections), mixing open-world with traditional gamebook.
You're free to explore the seas, islands and settlements, but if you take too long you'll never find the Island. There's a lot here, it's well-written and complex (in a good way) and there are different modes for playing the gamebook.
Takeaways
- Having a time limit for an open-world section adds urgency to everything you do. And make each decision more important.
- It's great to add features such as Crew, extra characters and ship stats, but these have a cost in playability and bookkeeping needed. Such as tracking rum, water and provisions for the crew
- You can do open-world light in a single book
- There are many ways to do random encounters. Many in Isle of Torment are keyed to where you are on the map and also When in the story you are (how many days since the start)
- The scoring system, different difficulty levels, various ship captains and making your own ship captains add to the replayability.
Clockwork City
The Clockwork City is written by Corinna Keefe, game design by Joe Harris and Illustrated by Paula Zorite. It's in box with custom cards used for combat, giving a deck (that improves with experience) for the character and another for foes (different set of cards per foe)
Your character is trying to fix the ills that are besetting the Clockwork City. New locations open up and some get closed off as the story progresses. It's often recommended for younger readers with engaging storytelling
Takeaways
- Chapters with different maps are great ways to navigate between locations in an area. DestinyQuest and a couple other gamebooks also do this.
- The deck of custom playing cards add a unique combat for the game and a unique selling point. They add tactical depth but aren't too complex. It also makes each foe play and feel a little different.
- It's got a distinctive art style and a very modern one showing a diverse cast of protagonists and foes.
- It's easy to write in no permanent death. Here you're free to continue if you can pay a couple of coins to the boatman when you die.
Ghosts of Craven Manor
The Ghosts of Craven Manor and the Legacy of Craven Manor are horror-themed puzzles by Joseph Daniels. Set in the modern day and other time periods, they are unique in giving you the chance to time-travel between passages in the books.
They deal with ghosts and mysteries. In one you're trying to rescue your possessed fiancée in the manor. And the 2nd you're solving murder mysteries as a ghost hunter. Your time travelling opens up new futures and lets you learn about events and circle back round. It's a fascinating way to play a gamebook.
Takeaways
- Time travel the way it's done in Craven Manor is uniquely suited to gamebooks. It's a strong example of theme and mechanics intertwined.
- Being able to go between different time periods adds a new dimension for mysteries and seeing the same location with different eyes.
- Being able to go back a passage or two and choose another way forward is the way many people play gamebooks such as Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf anyway. Now you're making it the normal gameplay loop
- One ability is changing a dice roll after you've rolled it, using your time-altering power. Another example of fiction and gameplay working together.
Sword of the Bastard Elf
The Sword of the Bastard Elf from "Herman S. Skull" and Two-Fisted Fantasy is illustrated by S. Jacob coming in at 1825 sections. A sprawling standalone epic not like any other gamebook. You're a young half-elf kicked from their home by their step-dad.
It's fantasy but a it's part weird, part funny (depending on your humour), part mundane and part bizarre. But there's a lot of options to choose and those choice can take you all over the place in unexpected ways
Takeaways
- Your character is a scumbag. You'll lie, cheat, avoid, steal, shag and maybe even fight your way through a variety of situations with lots of freedom. It reinforces that your gamebook character can be anything.
- An equipment appendix where some bits of equipment can be combined to make a more powerful item. It's a basic crafting system without having an actual ruleset
- There are multiple different endings (as opposed to deaths), some satisfying and some less so (from your character's viewpoint). This gamebook is one that respects the choices you make and accommodates, instead of two paths that both lead to the same place.
- It includes a roleplaying game based on the game rules. In theory you could play through the gamebook with a friend or two. (I've never looked in detail to see if it's any good as an RPG). It's an interesting thing to include in a gamebook.
Honourable Mentions
Adding to the Honourable mentions of last time (and possibly covered in the future) are....
- Legendary Kingdoms. An openworlder where you play four characters. With plotlines tied to the six included characters, mass battles and rechargeable spells.
- DestinyQuest. Several large related gamebooks concentrating on combat.
- In the Ashes. A very different gamebook where you play 3 different characters (one at a time). It uses a tactical map for the combats which are more in-depth than most.
- Nightshift. Has no mechanics but very atmospheric with puzzles. And part of a series
