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Post by CharlesX on May 25, 2022 20:45:52 GMT
Some of my favourite gamebooks:
CYOA: Anything by Edward Packard (he's the talent out of him and the other king of CYOA, R.A. Montgomery), The Cave of Time books, Deadwood City
SF CYOA sometimes.
Endless Quest: Circus of Fear, Light On Quests Mountain, Spell of The Winter Wizard
I'm pretty sure there's other really good EQs but those are the three which I read and touched me growing up.
Virtual Reality: Heart Of Ice, Down Among The Dead Men (I like myths which DATDM has in spades)
Favourite short-lived gamebook series: Golden Dragon, Knightmare
Interesting one-off gamebooks: Life's Lottery, It's not even close to being the best gamebook you'll read, it's got dated references, and other failings, but it's ambitious if not always successful. It's the best of the very few adult gamebooks around, including Can You Brexit? by Dave Morris (my criticism which I'm sure you don't care about is CYBWBB is boring, superficial and Tory-orientated).
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Post by terrysalt on May 26, 2022 3:14:15 GMT
Blood Sword is amazing and easily my favourite non-FF gamebook series.
I'm curious about but haven't read the Brexit one. I know next to nothing about UK politics so I think it'd mostly go over my head. Does it come across as preachy and heavy-handed (as the name suggests it would)?
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Post by CharlesX on May 26, 2022 4:24:38 GMT
Blood Sword is amazing and easily my favourite non-FF gamebook series. I'm curious about but haven't read the Brexit one. I know next to nothing about UK politics so I think it'd mostly go over my head. Does it come across as preachy and heavy-handed (as the name suggests it would)? The Brexit gamebook is both complicated and superficial, and has establishment humour in the vein of Yes, Prime Minister. If you're a very big fan of British humour and Dave Morris you might enjoy it, personally I'm not, though. |
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,460
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 26, 2022 9:57:01 GMT
Does it come across as preachy and heavy-handed (as the name suggests it would)? Eh, not overly, it goes for more of a slightly humorous take. Since you're playing as a caricature of Theresa May, it's written in a way that kinda mirrors how she might view the world. Those who share her pro-EU neoliberal views are depicted as thoughtful, noble, straight-talking and in one case even physically attractive. Those who sit outside that category are depicted in less flattering terms - the Boris Johnson equivalent is a buffoonish Etonian, the Nigel Farage spoof is a conniving slimeball, the Jeremy Corbyn spoof is a scruffy idealist etc If you're not well versed in UK politics, you probably won't overly enjoy it tbh - most of the fun is in recognising the caricatures. As an actual gamebook it's pretty poor - only a handful of decisions are actually meaningful, the bulk of them are just choosing what order to receive your briefings in. The briefings are generally amusingly delivered but it does feel a bit like an educational gamebook at times albeit the education is delivered by characters with obvious biases and influenced by the authors' more subtle biases. And if you really want to understand the EU and Brexit, you're probably better reading something with more substance. |
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Post by terrysalt on May 26, 2022 10:28:28 GMT
Does it come across as preachy and heavy-handed (as the name suggests it would)? Eh, not overly, it goes for more of a slightly humorous take. Since you're playing as a caricature of Theresa May, it's written in a way that kinda mirrors how she might view the world. Those who share her pro-EU neoliberal views are depicted as thoughtful, noble, straight-talking and in one case even physically attractive. Those who sit outside that category are depicted in less flattering terms - the Boris Johnson equivalent is a buffoonish Etonian, the Nigel Farage spoof is a conniving slimeball, the Jeremy Corbyn spoof is a scruffy idealist etc If you're not well versed in UK politics, you probably won't overly enjoy it tbh - most of the fun is in recognising the caricatures. As an actual gamebook it's pretty poor - only a handful of decisions are actually meaningful, the bulk of them are just choosing what order to receive your briefings in. The briefings are generally amusingly delivered but it does feel a bit like an educational gamebook at times albeit the education is delivered by characters with obvious biases and influenced by the authors' more subtle biases. And if you really want to understand the EU and Brexit, you're probably better reading something with more substance. Your prediction proved accurate. I found a free copy online and got bored pretty quickly. As for wanting to understand the EU and Brexit, not really. I was more intrigued by the idea of such a blatantly political gamebook and how well they pulled it off. Definitely not for me but I'm pretty far outside the target audience so that makes sense. |
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on May 27, 2022 7:29:11 GMT
Of the Golden Dragon books my favourites are Eye of the Dragon and Temple of Flame.
Click Your Poison is a series worth looking into and one that doesn't get much of a mention round here apart from by me. I like all the books for various reasons and a lot of thought goes into them.
We've got Fabled Lands (hard to pick a favourite out of such a series because all the books tie in together, but Court of Hidden Faces I really did enjoy) and the Steampunked recent version of this style of book the Steam Highwayman series, up to book 3 now.
Blood Sword is a series I'm intended to go through in a oner sooner or later. I liked the first two books then stopped - I had not yet bought the other books at that point and moved onto other things.
Way of the Tiger are good, particularly Overlord and Warbringer.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on May 27, 2022 7:55:06 GMT
Interesting one-off gamebooks: Life's Lottery, It's not even close to being the best gamebook you'll read, it's got dated references, and other failings, but it's ambitious if not always successful. I've always wanted to read this one, thanks for reminding me... it's on the list to get. And as someone who does better answering the questions from 1980s Bullseye quiz shows compared to contemporary quizzes, I think the dated references shouldn't be a problem. An advantage more likely. |
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,460
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 27, 2022 15:53:32 GMT
Some faves:
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Master of Ravenloft
Alea Jacta Est: Whole series
Chooseomatic Gamebooks: Zombocalypse Now
Endless Quest: Return to Brookmere, Spell of the Winter Wizard, Conan and the Prophecy, Tarzan and the Well of Slaves
Eternal Champions: Both books
Fabled Lands: Whole series but particularly The War Torn Kingdom and The Court of Hidden Faces
Gamebook Adventures: Slaves of Rema, The Wizard From Tarnath Tor, Temple of the Spider God
Golden Dragon: Eye of the Dragon, Castle of Lost Souls
Lone Wolf: Fire on the Water, Shadows on the Sand, Kingdoms of Terror
Marvel Super Hero Adventure Gamebooks: Captain America - Rocket's Red Glare
Sagard the Barbarian: The Crimson Sea
Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebooks: Zone Rangers
Virtual Reality: Green Blood, Necklace of Skulls, Heart of Ice
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Post by terrysalt on May 27, 2022 22:37:56 GMT
The Cretan Chronicles was something I was very excited to discover as a child because I loved Greek mythology. Going back as an adult, I don't really like the combat system but it's still great seeing all the stories represented.  I would always choose Apollo as my patron because I wanted to read all the "take a hint"s without stockpiling shame or losing all my honour.  |
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Post by CharlesX on May 27, 2022 22:57:14 GMT
The Cretan Chronicles was something I was very excited to discover as a child because I loved Greek mythology. Going back as an adult, I don't really like the combat system but it's still great seeing all the stories represented.  I would always choose Apollo as my patron because I wanted to read all the "take a hint"s without stockpiling shame or losing all my honour.  The Cretan Chronicles attracted me because I liked mythology, as well, but the gameplay was wanting, the combats were mostly unchallenging except for the minotaur which was too difficult, most of the patrons barely helped except Ares, the minotaur maze was boring, the writing was juvenile (it was written by young people, albeit well-educated ones). But yeah, in spite of some failings, I enjoyed Cretan Chronicles, it had the real, raw, bloody feel of Greek legends and many memorable set-pieces, often faithful to Greek mythology. |
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Post by petch on May 28, 2022 1:45:19 GMT
I think the writing of The Cretan Chronicles is a bit unfairly maligned. It's got a brilliantly mock-classical tone, and is frequently genuinely funny. Some of the characters pop out of the page, particularly the gods - I especially like Ares' monosyllabic grunt, Aphrodite's ditzy bimbo, and Poseidon represented as a constantly disapproving father figure. At the Court of King Minos might just be my favourite gamebook - it has layers of political intrigue that are impossible to unpack in just a single reading, and ends with the best maze in a gamebook I've come across. I'm with you on the Minotaur fight being far too tough though!
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on May 28, 2022 9:22:42 GMT
I would always choose Apollo as my patron because I wanted to read all the "take a hint"s without stockpiling shame or losing all my honour. Never have I cheated so often than when it comes to those hints. Those italicised numbers are just begging you to see what's going on in the 'secret' paragraph. oh... it says gain 2 shame points.. nope back we go. I especially like Ares' monosyllabic grunt, Yeah, he sounds to me like a no-nonsense colonel dishing out orders. Mission: cross sea. fight minotaur. Right wrongs along the way. Any questions? No? Get on with it then! I'm with you on the Minotaur fight being far too tough though! Picking up your brother's sword gives you a wound straight away, yes? And getting knocked down to seriously injured results in rolling only one dice in attack. That and the extra wound level of the minotaur does make it too hard a fight. Other than that the book is excellent. |
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Post by nathanh on May 28, 2022 11:24:49 GMT
I like the Destiny Quest series, particularly book 3. They're not really traditional gamebooks (there isn't very much narrative choice, and pretty much whatever you choose you are going to reach the end---it's more in the style of a video game rpg), but I enjoy the combat system and I enjoy the story.
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I would always choose Apollo as my patron because I wanted to read all the "take a hint"s without stockpiling shame or losing all my honour. 
I would always choose Apollo as my patron because I wanted to read all the "take a hint"s without stockpiling shame or losing all my honour. 
