Fair Poll Results

[a moderator]

The randomiser has been consulted, and has determined the order of the list. Here it is, with notes on the voting.

1. Black Vein Prophecy (1 vote in preliminaries)

2. Starship Traveller (1 vote in preliminaries)

3. Crypt of the Sorcerer (1 vote in preliminaries)

4. Secrets of Salamonis (1 vote in preliminaries)

5. Battleblade Warrior (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

6. Magehunter (1 vote in preliminaries)

7. The Crown of Kings (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

8. The Seven Serpents (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

9. The Crimson Tide (1 vote in preliminaries)

10. The Rings of Kether (1 vote in preliminaries)

11. Phantoms of Fear (2 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

12. Legend of Zagor (1 vote in preliminaries)

13. Armies of Death (2 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Best’ decider)

14. Knights of Doom (1 vote in preliminaries)

15. Assassins of Allansia (0 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Worst’ decider)

16. Seas of Blood (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

17. Vault of the Vampire (1 vote in preliminaries)

18. The Shamutanti Hills (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

19. Deathtrap Dungeon (0 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Worst’ decider)

20. Stealer of Souls (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

21. Master of Chaos (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

22. Crystal of Storms (0 votes in preliminaries, omitted from ‘Worst’ decider. "When are people going to learn? Democracy doesn't work!" (Homer Simpson))

23. Return to Firetop Mountain (1 vote in preliminaries)

24. Midnight Rogue (1 vote in preliminaries)

25. Curse of the Mummy (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

26. Keep of the Lich Lord (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

27. Scorpion Swamp (1 vote in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Best’ decider)

28. Chasms of Malice (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

29. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

30. Demons of the Deep (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

31. Stormslayer (0 votes in preliminaries, 3 votes in ‘Worst’ decider. Officially the worst Fighting Fantasy gamebook of them all.)

32. Deathmoor (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

33. Robot Commando (1 vote in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Best’ decider)

34. Rebel Planet (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

35. Night Dragon (0 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Worst’ decider)

36. Creature of Havoc (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

37. Temple of Terror (1 vote in preliminaries, 2 votes in ‘Best’ decider. Officially the best Fighting Fantasy gamebook of them all.)

38. Trial of Champions (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

39. Dead of Night (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

40. Island of the Lizard King (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

41. The Eye of the Dragon (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

42. Revenge of the Vampire (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

43. Sky Lord (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

44. Siege of Sardath (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

45. Kharé - Cityport of Traps (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

46. Talisman of Death (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

47. Space Assassin (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

48. Beneath Nightmare Castle (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

49. The Citadel of Chaos (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

50. Spectral Stalkers (1 vote in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Best’ decider)

51. Slaves of the Abyss (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

52. Shadow of the Giants (0 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Worst’ decider)

53. City of Thieves (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

54. Caverns of the Snow Witch (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

55. Howl of the Werewolf (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

56. Appointment with F.E.A.R. (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

57. Fangs of Fury (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

58. Legend of the Shadow Warriors (1 vote in preliminaries)

59. Spellbreaker (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

60. Tower of Destruction (1 vote in preliminaries)

61. The Gates of Death (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

62. The Forest of Doom (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

63. The Port of Peril (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

64. Sword of the Samurai (0 votes in preliminaries, 2 votes in ‘Worst’ decider. Narrowly avoided the wooden katana.)

65. Blood of the Zombies (1 vote in preliminaries)

66. Daggers of Darkness (1 vote in preliminaries)

67. Island of the Undead (0 votes in preliminaries, 1 vote in ‘Worst’ decider)

68. Star Strider (1 vote in preliminaries)

69. Night of the Necromancer (2 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Best’ decider)

70. Bloodbones (1 vote in preliminaries)

71. House of Hell (1 vote in preliminaries)

72. Masks of Mayhem (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

73. Moonrunner (1 vote in preliminaries)

74. Freeway Fighter (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

75. Portal of Evil (0 votes in preliminaries, 0 votes in ‘Worst’ decider)

Previous poll winners such as Howl of the Werewolf, Slaves of the Abyss and Siege of Sardath get no support here, while past whipping boys Starship Traveller, Blood of the Zombies and Chasms of Malice are all shown some appreciation. Just goes to show.

[CharlesX]

I like the way most of the top 30 FFs are heavily divisive, and often not in a good way.

   Black Vein Prophecy is our number one choice, with Starship Traveller number two. Breathtaking. And apparently Portal Of Evil is the FF we hate the most, with Moonrunner close behind. Beginning to think this poll went as badly as one would expect.

   "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time" Winston Churchill.

   Nice to see Chasms Of Malice one increment above The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain - clearly the two founders of FF would have thought Chasms Of Malice superior to book number one in their series .

[sylas]

Wait, so when I joked that Black Vein Prophecy was number 1, it was actually number 1?! 😆

[a moderator]

The randomiser put Prophecy at the top, and Portal at the bottom. The order of the list has nothing to do with merit or lack thereof.

If the titles were to be listed in order from best to worst according to the votes, the outcome would be something like this:

1st: Temple of Terror
2nd= Citadel of Chaos
2nd= Island of the Lizard King
2nd= Demons of the Deep
2nd= Creature of Havoc
2nd= Phantoms of Fear
2nd= Chasms of Malice
2nd= Sky Lord
2nd= Spectral Stalkers
10th= Armies of Death
10th= Night of the Necromancer
12th= Scorpion Swamp
12th= Robot Commando
14th= Starship Traveller
14th= House of Hell
14th= The Rings of Kether
14th= Crypt of the Sorcerer
14th= Star Strider
14th= Midnight Rogue
14th= Daggers of Darkness
14th= Vault of the Vampire
14th= Black Vein Prophecy
14th= Legend of the Shadow Warriors
14th= Tower of Destruction
14th= The Crimson Tide
14th= Moonrunner
14th= Return to Firetop Mountain
14th= Legend of Zagor
14th= Knights of Doom
14th= Magehunter
14th= Bloodbones
14th= Blood of the Zombies
14th= Secrets of Salamonis
34th= The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
34th= The Forest of Doom
34th= City of Thieves
34th= The Shamutanti Hills
34th= Kharé - Cityport of Traps
34th= Caverns of the Snow Witch
34th= The Seven Serpents
34th= Talisman of Death
34th= The Crown of Kings
34th= Space Assassin
34th= Freeway Fighter
34th= Seas of Blood
34th= Appointment with F.E.A.R.
34th= Rebel Planet
34th= Trial of Champions
34th= Masks of Mayhem
34th= Beneath Nightmare Castle
34th= Battleblade Warrior
34th= Slaves of the Abyss
34th= Stealer of Souls
34th= Portal of Evil
34th= Fangs of Fury
34th= Dead of Night
34th= Master of Chaos
34th= The Keep of the Lich-Lord
34th= Siege of Sardath
34th= Spellbreaker
34th= Deathmoor
34th= Revenge of the Vampire
34th= Curse of the Mummy
34th= Eye of the Dragon
34th= Howl of the Werewolf
34th= The Port of Peril
34th= Gates of Death
34th= (maybe) Crystal of Storms
69th= Deathtrap Dungeon
69th= Island of the Undead
69th= Night Dragon

69th= Assassins of Allansia
69th= Shadow of the Giants
74th: Sword of the Samurai
75th: Stormslayer

[a moderator]

Further analysis shows that, if the gamebooks are ordered alphabetically by title, Appointment with F.E.A.R. comes top, just ahead of Armies of Death and Assassins of Allansia. Titles beginning with 'The' all fare poorly, but not as badly as Tower of Destruction, Trial of Champions and, right at the bottom, Vault of the Vampire.

[petch]

I attribute the success of Temple of Terror to the Messenger of Death. I think he has been trying to get me to vote for it by leaving the number '37' strategically placed for me to see in various places: written on my bedroom wall, traced in the condensation on my car windscreen, and scrawled on the underside of my toilet seat in brown felt tip.

At least I hope that was felt tip.

[paperexplorer]

Poor Star Strider couldn't even get a lucky break here either

[CharlesX]

Apr 27, 2023 9:40:48 GMT paperexplorer said:

Poor Star Strider couldn't even get a lucky break here either

I agree Star Strider is underrated, but if you look at the results by outcome, not by order, Star Strider came 14th, which is easily in the top half.

   Again, by outcome, Deathtrap Dungeon is one of the worst FFs at 69, with Gates Of Death sailing above it at 34 (my guesses\joke weren't far out), while Chasms Of Malice and Sky Lord are both in the top two.

   Any reason for the "(maybe)" attached to Crystal Of Storms?

[a moderator]

Apr 27, 2023 10:41:37 GMT CharlesX said:

Any reason for the "(maybe)" attached to Crystal Of Storms?

'The twenty-second one on the list' should have been included among the options in the 'Fair Poll Finale - WORST' thread, but got left out owing to an imbalance of leptons. If it had been there, one or more people might have voted for it, in which case it would have come lower in the rankings.