Four Against Darkness Review

An Adventures in Solitaire review of the Four Against Darkness solitaire pen and paper dungeon delve.
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[@JB-js4xi]

Best most comprehensive review I've seen on this. I ordered it and THEN started watching videos...lol. I'm really looking forward to it!

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hi JB! Thank you so very much for the kind words. I have been there myself. I am really glad you enjoyed the video. I always wonder if I cover too much, or too little. Your comment lets me know I am on the right track :)

[@sauronguitar]

4AD is so practical and fun. It is easy to setup and it has the same feeling of any of those big KS dungeon crawls out there

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hi there Sauronguitar, Thank you for the question. I can certainly see where you are coming from. I think it can provide a lot of those bigger game's concepts while adding a more approachable and minimalistic gameplay.

[@sauronguitar]

@@adventuresinsolitaire exactly! It is a minimalist dungeon crawl

[@tekay44]

a fun little game that can be very easily ramped up as much as you want. very fun.

[@NigelKitchens]

Looks like a fun game!

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Absolutely

[@pitac8340]

+1 on recommending

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Thank you for the comment Pitac :)

[@sandman6088]

I'd love it if you took a look at Micro Chapbook RPG and compared the two! :D

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hi Sand Man, I was going to reply and let you know that I would look at it and give it a shot. But I didn't want you to feel that I was saying that in passing. I went a head and did some looking and I will absolutely put this on my list to review. I have a facebook group dedicated to the channel and had a vote for content that those in the group might want to see. Thought this was not on the list I can definitely get to it. I do have a few videos that need to release before I can do a proper playthrough and review but I did have an open slot shortly after I do my review of STARFORGED. I am not sure if I can do it right after but I am getting a note up to remember so I dont forget.

[@patrickgaron1728]

I just started to look at game books recently. Back in the days, I had played/read the series lone wolf and grail quest. I read the classic by Ian Livingstone (even met him once!) and Steve J.... Yesterday, I got interested in game books again. I bought and read the rules for four against the darkness to play this week-end. I added extra books from the designer (he had to fled Ukraine...) to support him. I was also doing researches on Legendary Kingdoms' books and downloaded the trial version. It looked well done and will look at your review next. Also, on reddit in the gamebook channel, I learned about Fabled Land which looks super interesting to play with my son. Will check your review too! I just bought a copy on my ipad to try it out (3$). I think your channel is in sync with my current interest! In my researches, I added Destiny Quest, got the pdf of 1st book of Middle-Earth Quest (from 1986). And there is also a new project that I'm curious about: Storm Weaver. I'm looking to find a modern/well written game book (serious/grim) for me and another new book to play with my kids (Fabled Land seems a good start).

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

The fact that you were able to meet Ian Livingstone is incredible. I am so very glad you have that to look back on. That is amazing. All of the others you have mentioned, besides storm weaver, I have read myself. They are all good in their own right. Even though my roots are in the Lone Wolf series, my favorites have shifted towards Fabled Lands and Legendary Kingdoms. I wasn't able to get my kiddos interested any any of the game book series but its never to late to hope ;) I also added storm weaver to my board game geek wanted list to remind myself to check it out. I am also working on editing another series on game-books and solo role playing that I should have up in less than a week. I will do my best to keep them coming. I hope you enjoy those books. Would love to know how they turned out for you. Thank you for taking the time to write in. Made my day :)

[@patrickgaron1728]

@@adventuresinsolitaire I remember that I was to shy and didn't interact with mr. Livingstone. He was on the creative board at Eidos (game studio) and he came to meet the core dev team for the new studio I was working at (eidos montreal). That day, I got a copy a 'firetop mountain' but I was to shy to interact with him and get it signed. He introduces himself to the whole studio, told stories and it's background on is work (warhammer, UK publishing, UK lobbying to help game developper). Later, I wrote him an email to thank him for it's visit and that the game book genre was an inspiration to program an interactive book for the iOS! That was at the beginning of the iphone - I don't know if they was any gamebook on it yet. I worked on that for a few weeks and had fun programming it. It was a simple tech demo and required more time that I didn't want to invest because I already had a full time job. Both your review for Fabled Lands and LKingdoms got me super interested. I will probably start with FL as it doesn't look heavy on rules. For my eldest son (8y) is into The Hobbit. It's not a game book, but at least he is on the right path to like game book! We have a rule at home to have reading time and no screen time (just Friday+Saturday night)... game book may be the next thing for him 🙂! If you are not on reddit, go check it out in gamebook and solo roleplaying, their is small community of gamers that will be interested in your youtube channel.

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

@@patrickgaron1728 I can definitely understand the shyness or uncertainty in approaching someone. Been there more times than I would care to admit. Eidos was an EXCELLENT game dev company. What would the world of gaming be like without Deus Ex ;) It would be nice to have Eidos and Looking Glass studios (Thief) back at it again. Fabled lands is definitely lighter on the rules. I really hope that works out for you. Don't forget that Fabled Lands is available on Steam if digital content interests you. Our Kiddos read every night and I try to get them into a board game when I can. It tends to be of the "Candy Land" variety however. I can't quite convince them to play some of the more rules heavy titles ;) Thank you for the feedback on the videos. I have a Unboxing I have to get some extra footage for and will hopefully have that wrapped up and uploaded tonight or tomorrow. I will soon wrap up with an introduction to solo Role Playing as well. Video is shot for that, but, I still have more footage and editing for that upload to be complete. As far as Reddit goes, feel free to pass the word. I will absolutely take a look as well. Thank you so very much again!

[@AlasdairMacKinnon]

Any recommendations on what books to pick up after the first one?

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hi Alasdair, What would you like to see added to the first book that it does not have? We can start with that, if thats ok?

[@AlasdairMacKinnon]

@@adventuresinsolitaire I recently bought the first book but haven't played it yet. I saw your review and the amount of content and it just started me thinking ahead. For reference, I like dungeon crawls (Eye of the Beholder and Icewind Dale on the PC) and I'm playing through Legendary Kingdoms at the moment (I found this video through your review of that game). Thanks!

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Legendary Kingdoms is wonderful. I also loved those old PC titles. I was thinking about it and really there is one must have for me, Four Against the Abyss. That is the only book so far that lets you advance beyond the lower character levels. It also introduces skills as a new system among other things. It is also a prerequisite for some many of the other books. I hope this helps, and you are very welcome. Thank you Alasdair!

[@AlasdairMacKinnon]

Thanks!

[@chevalierdulys]

Can I ask what books beside the first of course, would you recommend to get? Thank you for the review. The first tI 've heard of this was Four Against the Great Old Ones because I love cthulhu stuff. But now looking at the beginning I Was thinking of getting a couple of different types. So far I've want to buy Alone Against Fear (love horror); Basic Fantasy & White Box (I've recently bought the first novel in fabel lands) But it seems four against darkness is even better and so I am tented to buy that one as well plus a couple of other books related. Which ones do you think it will enhance the experience?

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

The first one I would recommend is "Four Against the Abyss" as it opens you up for many of the other books. A lot of the books require you to have higher level characters that you cannot get without the Four Against the Abyss book. From there it gets harder. It depends on what you want added to your games. If you were to add something to your game what would you want to see more of? Classes, maps, campaigns, game mechanics? Let me know and I can go through what I have. I am starting to fall behind as my budget only allows for so much and there are so many games I have to cover. I will be getting more, and I already have a good number but I did want to be open on that point. I have alone against fear and it is pretty cool, definitely a love note to many horror tropes. I dont have Four Against Mars. Given my penchant, and love for sci-fi, I really would like to get that one too. Let me know what you are looking for in regards to my question above and I will do my best to direct. Also you can get a community consensus from the Facebook group if you wanted to look there ( please no pressure there ). Thank you so very much Paulo for reaching out :)

[@chevalierdulys]

@@adventuresinsolitaire thank you for answering my question. Really appreciate. Gonna buy this first and then get others. I've seen some other talking about books that deal with dungeon generator & encounters and so on, that enhance those books. I've seen most of your videos and a couple of others from other people and it seems a pretty "Easy" to enter but then there are always X or Y stuff than enhances and makes the world you are creating a better more quests, encounters, different dungeons and so on... this could be a rabbit hole. I've seen a guy playing and he had like ten different books to get information, plus random pages lying around. It sure looked confusing. Well time will tell. :) I Will continue seeing your videos. Enjoying the content, deep analysis and opinion. thank you again

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hey Paulo, you are so VERY welcome. I thank you too for the conversation. It really can be a rabbit hole. The books can certainly add up. It, might actually be worth while to get the pdfs as well so that you can print what you want ( or need ) from each of the books to assemble your own "tome" of info so you are not juggling your library. When I play I have to have more than a dozen books out. This can be frustrating and time consuming. Sometimes you can even forget where certain info is located. I would love to hear about your first experiences with the book once you get it. Best of luck and thank you so very much again.

[@philipvanover35]

I’d be interested to hear you thoughts on D100 Dungeon!

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

Hi Philip! I definitely have thoughts on it and would love to share them. It is already on my list of games to review. Luckily I have the main book along with 3 of the main supplements ( not the interactive fiction books Martin made ). It is a good system, though there are some things I would like to see improved. I am glad it is in my library. I actually plan on using the world builder from d100 dungeons in my upcoming Solo DnD video(s).

[@philipvanover35]

I recently purchased the core rules and world builder. I hope it scratches the itch of a solo rpg with a persistent world, random events, questing, and such. I look forward to watching your video

[@philipvanover35]

Another game I’ve been looking into is the updated advanced fighting fantasy. Are you familiar with the new rules and system?

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

The World Builder changed a lot for me. It was a big change up. Again, I think that there are things that I can get hung up about but it was a wonderful addition.

[@adventuresinsolitaire]

I have seen and heard about the RPG but I have not looked at the system in any realy detail. I do not own it either of course. Thats not to say that it wouldn't be worth looking into.