The Reign of Game Books

What were gamebooks and why were they so successful?
Overview of the phenomenon for a whole generation of children growing up in the 1980s:
“Fighting Fantasy”, “Sorcery”,“Lone Wolf”... With a comparison between international editions.
Thanks to Richard Travale for the voice over

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

@6:00 my uncle had a full bookcase of CYOA books in the late 1980s... made me a fan. Looking at those was amazing, but I couldn't open them until I had my own. Being too sensitive, the books could not be handled by a kid in my uncle's will to keep them pristine. He started gifting me Lone Wolf books for birthday and chritmas. Got them to this day. 1-20, 21,22,26. Just bought 29 yesterday. Have 30-32 on the way, and once the reprints of those in the 20s i'm missing are out my libraire will let me know!

[@WolfShadowwhisper]

I am 50 and I can proudly say I still have all my Lone WOlf books and some of my Fighting Fantasy books. Great nostalgic video.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing and glad you still have then. Keep them well

[@WolfShadowwhisper]

@@AgeofInk I keep them well perserved. Old friends like that you treat like gods.

[@aidenb1304]

I'm 20, and I've got plenty of fond memories of game books like these, especially the Sorcery series, and the way of the tiger series from knight books. My dad had a small collection of game books, and my brother and I used to sit around on rainy days playing them. Good times.

[@AgeofInk]

Glad to see that younger generations are also into these!

[@seradin8029]

I'm only 18 but I've picked a few up recently as a sort of solo ttrpg fix in between d&d games. Must say I'm surprised these aren't more popular today I've been having a great time!

[@AgeofInk]

Glad to hear that my friend!

[@ihbuib]

I'm just 26 and I love game books. I first played it in India when I was reading Goosebumps.

[@sinerequie5022]

I'm 24 and I've been writing one for two years! It's the biggest gamebook ever made.

[@AgeofInk]

Wow, that's interesting indeed!

[@TheMegaRedHead]

Can you comment here when you finish it?

[@kosterix123]

Link to a preview?

[@johnedwards4337]

Awesome!

[@sinerequie5022]

@@TheMegaRedHead It's finished, but it's going to take a while to edit things, playtest it and complete the illustrations.

[@adam872]

This takes me back. Now I need to get some and even better get some on my iPad.

[@Christian_from_Copenhagen]

I got curious recently when Ian Livingstone was set to visit the biggest game store in town, but flipping through the new editions of Fighting Fantasy made me think the new publisher thought I was too old to give them another read. The new illustrations are a real shame, and I don't think I'm the only one who's had that kind of reaction to them. A recent KZbin rabbithole reminded me of the charm of the original illustrations, though, so I finally decided to find a set of the first eight Wizard reprints, which I'm really looking forward to try for the first time since the early 2000s. If that goes well, I'd be very curious to try the Sorcery saga, Lone Wolf and the newer Legendary Kingdoms books. Videos like these really help to bring this cool genre to new audiences, cheers to that!

[@AgeofInk]

Cheers! Glad it opens old books to new audiences. There are good and bad things to say when it comes to new editions, but none of them are the focus on this channel. Nostalgia comes first :)

[@jameswoodard4304]

I have had to deal with people telling me "hippopotamuses," and "cactuses," and "octopuses" are correct usage now, but I absolutely *will not* accept "dices!"

[@AgeofInk]

ok noted ;)

[@RasmusRasmussen]

I nearly clicked off the video, as soon as I heard that. Oof.

[@babylonsburning1]

My brothers had the Fighting Fantasy series in the early 80's. 30 years later, I bought them again for my nephews to play. They loved them too.

[@CrusaderFilmsPL]

I played them, I loved them and I still have them on my shelf. :)

[@AgeofInk]

Awesome memories of great books

[@doriandaykin2747]

You know what I want? A Pokémon gamebook. Or, some kind of Monster Tamer gamebook. The Pokémon could function as a combination of combat and items. "If you have an electric Pokémon, turn to page 45"

[@ColasTeam]

I've seen a few "Roll & Write" games inspired by Pokemon, but I doubt there will ever be an official one.

[@midnightgreen8319]

I have 18 of the 20 Lone Wolf books released in the USA. Absolutely started my love of gaming!!

[@AgeofInk]

That's great, thanks for sharing!

[@currentseer8919]

I’m 33. We had game books and they were popular. Growing up in the 90s, we had video games as well, however, most were not engrossing unless you played a lot of RPGs. Since I played RPGs, I fell in love with these after looking at the front covers and seeing lizard men, orcs, wizards, and warriors. I was an avid reader of Tolkien and later on would read Malazan, Stormlight, and Wheel of Time series. These books, helped shape what later on, I decided was an integral part of my personality. So, that being said, I would say under 30 years old and you probably haven’t read/played a game book. I met Steve Jackson at a gaming convention and we talked for probably 45 minutes while we played a copy of his newest game he was releasing in 2002. Sure, the craze has died down, but there are still those of us who collect these and hold them dear to our hearts.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing! Wonderful covers indeed

[@familydavies3640]

I am 9 and my biggest interest is fighting fantasy (I love Creature of Havoc)

[@ALiteralCooler]

As a kid I read Give Yourself Goosebumps and I read the hell out of them!

[@forsomereason3713]

As a French dude I have to thank you because I never understood before why on the internet they were all looking from different editors... because it was the case! haha

[@AgeofInk]

Exactly ,) And French dude here as well ;)

[@Rombizio]

Ah...I remember my 80s. I miss those books and those times. They were amazing.

[@TheDysartes]

Both myself and brother were obsessed with game books, especially Fighting Fantasy. We would each buy a copy from a second hand store, and swap when we'd finish playing. I remember there was a monthly magazine called Warlock as well.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your experience

[@Tabletop_Epics]

I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, and when I found my first copy of a Fighting Fantasy book (Warlock of Firetop Mountain), in an amazing little used book shop, I thought I had found something truly magical. Seriously, I remember feeling like, in that moment, I was in one of the 80's fantasy films I grew up watching. I had been playing D&D for a while at that point, but this book was something different, something perfect for when I couldn't make it to the game store or was away from my hometown. It was MY adventure and MY journey into a magical land. That felt amazing.

[@AgeofInk]

I experienced something like that too! There was something really special with these books.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

Beautiful short video. I am a 90´s kid that first inherited FF books from my older brother. I guess i was very lucky, being in that exact time before videogames became really big. Thanks to that i was able to fully enjoy such amazing books and to this day they have shaped my taste in fantasy, writing and art.

[@AgeofInk]

Absolutely right. And thank you for your interest and your feedback!

[@vassdeniss634]

Im just 20 and collecting lone wolf and fighting fantasy books both as a collection and to experience them. Theyre great fun and im sure there more people in my gen to share these thoughts

[@AgeofInk]

Good to know! Thank you for sharing

[@MichaelJPartyka]

My first gamebook was "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain", but I had to return it because the book was misprinted, giving the first half of the book twice. So I finished "The Citadel of Chaos" first. I continued buying the books up through "Trial of Champions" (#21). I played many other such book lines: Steve Jackson's "Sorcery!", The "Lone Wolf" series (and its "Grey Star" spinoff), some Ninja series (was that "Way of the Tiger"?), one set of books that was supposed to let two players dogfight (but also had single-player stories), "Be an Interplanetary Spy", and others. I still have a bunch of those books, I think.

[@AgeofInk]

Yes, that was Way of the Tiger. And what about Golden Dragon? That's my latest video study here.

[@MichaelJPartyka]

@@AgeofInk I don't think I had those, though they look a little bit familiar.

[@Steve-ik5yc]

I had all of the Fighting Fantasy books back in the day. We used to photocopy the adventure sheets so we didn't ruin the book.

[@rustedbeetle]

I grew up with the Lone Wolf books. I had a copy of The Magnamund Companion which I poured over like it was a real encyclopedia.

[@AgeofInk]

The very best.

[@wonderoushistoryofclassicf9193]

Man i loved these sorts of books dearly. They were cheap and easy to find (most were in my local library). This was my gateway into Fantasy and Superhero RPGs and I dearly love them.

[@greggriffiths9053]

I always enjoyed the randomness of the dice life or death at each roll .

[@AgeofInk]

It's thrilling indeed

[@CragScrambler]

45 here, I loved SJ and IL FF books, used to rent them from the local library's, got me into D&D ...oh and mad max thanks to freeway fighter.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@leehague6218]

I played them in the 80s and have loved them ever since. I have them all from fighting fantasy, lonewolf, greystar, bloodsword, way of the tiger, golden dragon fantasy gamebooks, cretan chronicles and more.

[@AgeofInk]

Wow, the whole lot?! Awesome 😀 I think many of them are underrated, for instance Grey Star the Wizard.

[@leehague6218]

Yes, greystar the wizard is a great series. My favourite series is bloodsword where you can play solo or a solo team. Each character is unique especially the sage. I still read gamebooks now.

[@HeroQuestFans]

the ones I remember were Choose your Own Adventure (the most popular name everybody remembers) but also twist a plot, find your fate, which way, and some licensed franchise spinoffs from these (star trek, doctor who, indiana jones, etc) and many one-offs using similar mechanics of choices sending you to different pages and endings. time machine was kind of unique in that it had only one true path through the rest getting the reader caught in a "loop." the more "gamey" ones were Space Ace (which featured points), Wizards Warriors and You (choosing your equipment or spells at the start of your chosen role), and of course the others like Narnia, Lone Wolf/World of Lone Wolf aka Greystar the Wizard (and Highway Warrior which I only heard about but never read), Way of the Tiger, etc. which wanted you to write stuff down on a character sheet (photocopied or in the book itself) and occasionally roll dice, to HeroQuest (there were only three of these but all three featured a standard narrative and then a full gamey section as well as in the 2nd and 3rd books at least --- a whole quest you could import into your heroquest board game). Then there were the star wars books that came out much later, which were pure CYOA and a couple of more gamey West End Games books that weren't based directly on the movies. there are surely many more I'm missing especially those that were released outside the US. wasn't Goosebumps also a game book? I'm sure they continued after their heydey in the 80's and 90's in other forms. I wonder if a Kindle edition of these types of games would work? They can be re-done in the form of a website, but to me nothing beats holding the physical book in your hands (though it can be easier to cheat in this way). I think generally these books were aimed at 10-12 year olds though some of them (like Way of the Tiger) were a little more gruesome and targeted for "YA", teens. CYOA had some simpler books aimed at little kids but these can even be more frustrating because they're so short there isn't much story from a single run through.

[@AgeofInk]

Again, many thanks for sharing, it's really appreciated!

[@Rebel1972x]

Cool story bro

[@MJN_SEIFER]

"Give Yourself Goosebumps" was the Goosebumps take on Gamebooks.

[@MrWorf35]

I was a teen in the 1980s living in France (still am!) and I have vivid memories of these magical books; I still have a bunch of the ones translated and published by Gallimard and even French creations (by Hachette Editions) such as the medieval fantasy "La Saga du Prêtre Jean" (feat. Prester John!), or the super-heroic slapstick "Superpouvoirs". I believe they can still be given as gifts to children of all ages, especially the minors. Thank you for giving me the kickstart to read them again in my 50s!

[@AgeofInk]

You're welcome sir! Toute notre jeunesse...

[@MrWorf35]

Eh oui! 😀 @@AgeofInk

[@n2bfw884]

I really enjoyed the history of these. I had a great time playing and collecting them when I was younger.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing and glad you enjoyed!

[@rorysmith2415]

I loved the fighting fantasy books.

[@deanwilson7262]

I still remember like it was yesterday playing hooky and telling my parents I was sick just to stay home and play Freeway Fighter ! Those are some great memories. I’m 46 now with two girls and no one to pass on the torch 😂 but still have all my books on the shelf 👍 great video thanks for that !

[@AgeofInk]

Almost same story here... Same age, but boys instead of girls ;) Trying to interest them with the books...

[@pkspadoosh5275]

I'm 21 and I played all the Blood Sword game books when I was in elementary and middle school They were amazing, the setting, characters, feel of the world, and combat were amazing, and I have really fond memories of them

[@AgeofInk]

Very good books. Thanks for your feedback!

[@TheRetroEngine]

I fondly remember Forest Of Doom, probably around 1983 or so. Then I got a ZX Spectrum, and all FF books were forgotten - I played text adventures on there from then on.

[@erusean8492]

I'm 22. When I was much younger my dad was going through some boxes of old stuff, he found an old copy of Warlock of Firestop Mountain. He gave it to me and I don't think I've ever beaten it without cheating because I remember no matter what I did the book would just send me back to a paragraph at the start of the loop. Maybe if I went to play it nowadays I'd have no issue. Some years later I picked up Trial of Champions, Return to Firetop Mountain and Crypt of the Sorcerer (I'm convinced you can't beat Razaak without cheating at this point). I went on to play Inkle's digital adaptation of Sorcery! and then the original books, and they remain my favorite to date. So much so that I've turned the Sorcery! series into a DnD adventure to run for my players, with my own twist in it too. They've completed Sorcery and we've decided to continue that campaign in the world of Titan. It's been going for two years and I've ran them several other gamebook encounters and enemies and villains from the series.

[@AgeofInk]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! Adapting Sorcery to DnD was the right thing to do for sure :) You're right this series is very good.

[@FreePigeon]

Early 30s here, and I managed to collect most of the Fighting Fantasy books. They were awesome, and I'm stoked to see the genre hasn't died out. My wallet isn't so happy however.

[@AgeofInk]

Not all FF are worth it, but in general it's a good investment for sure!

[@markwheatley2]

What a beautiful video. I have fond memories of all the Fighting Fantasy books and Sorcery! series and games. In fact I'm staring at them all on top of my computer desk as I type 🙂 Thanks for the effort in creating this 👍

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for your interest! Next in line, the Golden Dragon series...

[@fluxcapacitor007]

I wish this video was 10 times longer. Wonderful stuff!

[@AgeofInk]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Kibbitz]

I grew up on these. Most of my collection was Fighting Fantasy, with volume 3 of Blood Sword, volume 5 of Lone Wolf and volumes 3 to 5 of Way of the Tiger. And the funky Eternal Champions one based on the videogame. Loved them a lot, though Fighting Fantasy was pretty hit and miss at times. My cousins had the interesting Duelmaster vs series of gamebooks. Wish I owned copies of those, loved the setting and character archetypes.

[@AgeofInk]

Only one from Lone Wolf?

[@Kibbitz]

@@AgeofInk Yeah, it was a hand me down. While I liked it, it was a long saga and I didn't feel like I'd have any chance collecting the full set so I only ever bought Fighting Fantasy instead thanks to their more standalone nature.

[@Kibbitz]

Oh and Way of the Tiger was my brother's, he has no interest anymore so I kept the books.

[@ClassicRollPlayer]

This is AWESOME!!! (subbed!) I have been making several FF and AFF videos lately as I have just discovered them... your video was excellent and taught me a ton! Now I'm off to find some LONE WOLF books!

[@AgeofInk]

Glad to hear that! Lone Wolf is planned next after Tolkien

[@trashyardonline]

19 years old , father introduced me to these and i still have a massive collection

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@christopherchristianvanlan1809]

It would be cool to have an ordinary RBG boardgame with additional books for each participant. Maybe more like a cartoon with numbers where each book shows the proceedings from the player's perspective sort of....

[@AgeofInk]

Interesting idea!

[@iwanfishz9]

Played my first gamebook "The Forest of Doom" by Ian living stone when I was 11 back in 2005. I didn't know the rules for the game but would still read through it multiple times.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your experience

[@wiseavatar3996]

In the Uk we had a television series called The book tower. This series dramatized parts of books as a way of enticing children into reading more. One such book was FF1 The Warlock of Firetop Mountain where they dramatized the early encounter of the Guards gambling. Do you sneak past or attack.... I was hooked.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing :)

[@LeShark75]

I've just started playing Forest Of Doom again for the first time in nearly 40 years. Nice video, thank you.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@earlofdrumer1851]

These were my childhood. Forest of Doom was my first gamebook. Only missing the last few of the og set. Love these books and I'll never sell them. My faves are House of Hell and the underrated Master of Chaos, which I always wished was double the size; really enjoyed MoC.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing. I too began with Forest of Doom.

[@holydiver73]

My dad bought me my first Fighting Fantasy gamebook back in 1984 when I was 11 and over the years I collected all of the original 50. I only have a handful left now and wholeheartedly regret divesting my collection as they can be worth a small fortune now depending on the title. Growing up in an English inner City in the 1980’s was pretty grim, but thanks to Sir Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (where’s HIS knighthood?), I had somewhere to escape to and spent more time in Port Blacksand and the other areas of Allansia than I did anywhere else. Sadly, Other people my age found their escape from reality by sniffing glue or stealing things, mine was a more healthy, less risky and enjoyable pursuit. Fighting Fantasy game books were simply wonderful.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your experience of that time! I also began reading them in 1984. And yes, for sure this was a healthy occupation of the mind. Even if my dad would prefer me reading "real" books :)

[@madquest8]

I played these to death! Bought many many FF books, still have a shelf packed with them. Sorcery was the best by miles! Can't believe FF never did another 4 book series, Lone Wolf wasn't quite the same, but good. The best two I ever played were the 6 book "Car Wars" gamebook series and the 6 book "Falcon" gamebook series.. Both 10/10 :)

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ZamWeazle]

Still play today, with a group of friends, socially. Like every few months. Im 42 btw.

[@AgeofInk]

So cool! Thanks for sharing

[@mcdoogle_robotman]

Oh these are the Choose your own adventure books, i remember these.

[@tnh723]

the quality of your presentation is top notch! subbed. yes, this was my era. here in the Philippines, my younger brother, cousins, and friends enjoyed Grailquest, FF, Choose, Wizards Warriors & You, Sagard, Way of the Tiger, and much more. cheers

[@AgeofInk]

Wow, good to know! Thank you for your feedback and your interest

[@Bot101101]

This is truly a rabbit hole of wonders. A few years back, I stumbled upon a torn copy of Crown of Kings in a used bookstore. I played Sorcery! in the 80:s, but never the last part. I had to buy it. Then I decided I couldn’t play it without having played the other three first, so I looked them up. And I started to think about Lonewolf. And Way of the Tiger. And Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries. Pretty soon I was branching to things I did get around to back then, like Blood Sword and Grey Star the Wizard. Apparently there were also new worlds to explore like Heart of Ice, Dracula and Legendary Kingdoms. Wonderful! The bookshelves grew. Now I even look for interesting projects yet to be released, like Expeditionary Company. It feels good to be back!

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this wonderful world!

[@collapsiblechair9112]

I own all the Fighting Fantasy game books up to 53? and many others including the Lone Wolf series. I occasionally dust them off an playthrough them, as such they're in a pretty rough shape. This video is a great review or introduction. My favourites are any featuring Russ Nicholson's art.

[@AgeofInk]

Great :) Thanks for your feedback. It's good to know that people still play those legends.

[@greggriffiths9053]

Currently playing forest of doom and recently creature of havoc lot's of fun for solo play reminds me of D &D so much.

[@ogreboy8843]

Citadel of Chaos still haunts my dreams. You have a lovely collection. ...Also, Russ Nicholson hype!

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for your interest!

[@MoeMonkey78]

You did an amazing job covering this topic

[@AgeofInk]

Many thanks Mohammed

[@brettsimpson1505]

Wonderfully informative and beautifully filmed.

[@AgeofInk]

Glad you enjoyed, thanks for your interest!

[@gamebookcollector]

Fantastic overview. Thanks for uploading Age! 👍

[@AgeofInk]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@codingrules]

I wish fewer of the books suffered from "one true path". Ian Livingstone was particularly notorious for this. In that vein death from going left or something equivalent with no basis for a decision sucked. However, when it worked it was really great. The sorcery books were a fantastic example of that.

[@AgeofInk]

That means that Steve Jackson was another notorious for this, since he wrote the series

[@garthfairfield8043]

I discovered warlock of firetop mountain on my own as a 12 or 13 year old in the mid nineties. It was the only one in my small town library in South Africa such a great memories though

[@AgeofInk]

Good to know you could still come across one at this time!

[@HeroQuestFans]

I loved these as a kid. most of them however I read at the library, rather than owning (had a few CYOA I got as a gift and some Twist a Plot I remember ordering from our elementary school book order catalog). I grabbed lone wolf and way of the tiger before knowing what they even were (based mostly on the cover, I know, kid's don't judge the book by the cover, right!). later in life I have been looking out for them and have gotten some cheap lots of some I remember fondly and some I never knew existed. good fun, albeit some of them were absolute nonsense with purely random good and bad endings, they filled the childhood desire for thrills and scares... some of them were really frustrating teasing you as far as the "big theme" (you never find what you're looking for, get trapped in time, etc). they were a good way to encourage reading while passing the time productively... even the kids who "cheated" by using bookmarks and skipping to the "good" endings still got their practice in!

[@AgeofInk]

Exactly! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, really great analysis. Yes kids judge by cover, yes they crave for thrill and scare, and yes this certainly contributed to making kids more literate.

[@houndofvalinor8188]

Great video mate! I really liked the documentary style you used. Entertaining and informative

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks a lot mate, appreciated!

[@sophiethesloth]

These books also started my life journey into rpg games and gaming in general

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

"If you are under 35" would be more accurate. Being 41, it literally was my introduction to fantasy RPG, LONE WOLF!!!

[@ontaka5997]

I was hooked on those books in my early teens back in the 80s after a friend introduced me to those books. He also introduced me later to "Dungeons & Dragons", which I also got hooked. I wished that I had the first 15 titles ( I have 8), and I regret not having bought them when they were very cheap.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing! They are still cheap for some of them.

[@FrilledMayfly_AmberlyFerrule]

I've only learned about these now and wow!! I kinda wanna figure out how to make a popup book one with a paper doll and a set of actions possible per page that can lead to some other outcome. Or.... something, I only just found out about this but how awesome it would be to create new possibilities!

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ruhalfoyls]

Good video, i really liked the info. The last part was so cliché i wondered when a mime would walk by with a actual Brigitte and a bottle of wine. No need to get all sappy and philosophical just to get a ending.

[@AgeofInk]

the world should know about French version gamebooks

[@astramieri]

Lone Wolf was my first gamebook more than twenty years ago, before the advent (in my case) of RPG video games like Final Fantasy. Today I am a father and a software engineer by profession. I was wondering: it might make sense to create an app/website to give new life to this genre of books. Something that allows you to have the experience of pen and paper, but with the possibility of sharing the gaming/reading experience with other people? I'm familiar with the AON project, but I'd like something more gamified.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing! As for me, pen and paper only :)

[@sophiethesloth]

These are my childhood massive memory's going to get a book from saved money & many a time tried to write my own ,recently at 44 just bought deathtrap dungeon again,and whilst looking at titles came across the ninja game books that I'd totally forgotten about which I then ordered 3 straight away

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing your personal experience!

[@LionKimbro]

Hey!! So… …have you tried D100 Dungeons?!? I was a huge gamebook fan in the 1980’s - my favorite was GrailQuest by Herbie Brennan. (I don’t get why it doesn’t get more love?!?). I also played Lone Wolf. But recently, I discovered d100 Dungeon, and I am also exploring two other series- one from the 90’s - Fabled Lands, and a modern day furthering of the concept- Legendary Kingdoms, Valley of Bones. These gamebooks are DIFFERENT in the play pattern. The first I mentioned is radically different. They lean heavier into Game, while still having a “scripted” element. If you haven’t played d100 Dungeons, it has my highest recommendation. I see it as a fundamental innovation in gamebook spaces..!

[@AgeofInk]

Played Grailquest as well as Demonspawn yea. And many other "non standard" series. Don't know about d100 Dungeons but thanks for sharing!

[@rara58524]

In Bulgaria gamebooks were popularized in the 90s (right after the communist regime) by the translator of Tolkien's LOTR. There was a whole pleiad (hehe!) of Bulgarian authors who wrote unique local new gamebooks alongside the translated ones. The Bulgarian gamebooks became so popular that for a time they occupied the top positions for overall bestselling books of any category in the country. They had amazing print run numbers. In total the "first wave" of gamebooks in the 90s were over 200 different volumes. Around the economic crisis towards the end of the decade the market of gamebooks crashed and never fully recovered to its former glory. Since the 00s computer games (especially Diablo and then WoW) overtook the leadership of kid's attention. Nowadays there's a "new wave" of gamebooks and amazing new authors developing even more original mechanics, systems and settings, but it's more of a niche thing for nostalgic older people who grew up with the first wave, and not nearly as popular with the kids anymore - who are now mostly playing video games on phones, tablets, consoles and PC. Alongside the amazing Bulgarian authors of gamebooks, we also had brilliant illustrators and our local gamebooks had absolutely stunning illustrations - both color covers and ink inside page ones. I certainly believe the quality of the Bulgarian gamebooks is so high (both literary and mechanics -wise) that they deserve quality translations in any language for fans of the genre worldwide.

[@BrunoFonsecaPT]

Game books where great entertainment. Fighting Fantasy where my favorite, but I remember some others focused on D&D worlds. Such great times

[@AgeofInk]

Great times indeed, thanks for sharing!

[@septimus64]

Choose your own adventure was fun

[@axelriviere7605]

Hop un abonné en plus. Vraiment quelle epoque . J'aimerais tellement voir l'univers de Sorcery et d'autres se developper depuis des decennies ^^

[@AgeofInk]

C'est clair. A défaut de pouvoir directement développer ces univers, on peut déjà faire leur promotion en vidéo!

[@oscarsiri2763]

I give a reading workshop in some schools and I use gamebooks. They re always innovative and interesting, more than a video game, a gamebook has a better inmersive experience. animating the art you see in the pages is the best special effects ever and I have noticed that when concentrated and dealing with the multitude of problems you have in these books, they loose the notion of time and it's like retrning form other world.

[@AgeofInk]

They are quite something indeed.

[@justonky]

Loved these books and still do. Solo Journaling RPGs and Solo RPGs have, to some extent, brought back this medium (at least in print). However, this is largely because many such games are independent productions made by indie writers and designers, often published as zines or self-published books. Bigger companies are less willing to invest in the concept of game books I think, because you don't hear about any major productions out of a mainstream publisher anymore. I am working on a few solo rpg zines right now (I have two published, but they aren't anything like a gamebook, but the new upcoming ones hew much closer to the concept).

[@AgeofInk]

That's correct. Thanks for your feedback

[@PaulGirdlestone]

I am 39 and I remember borrowing these books from my local library before eventually buying a bunch of them at my annual bookfair in primary school. I would always buy a few Fighting Fantasy and Mario choose your own adventure books. I still own all of the ones I bought, which are first runs and have some value. I will never part with them though and basically hand them to my daughters when they are older and I am passing so they can sell them off or keep them for the memories. Edit: My eldest daughter, who is 9 now, already likes to read these books with me and loves fighting the monsters. She get really into them, even acting out the fights and certain scenes as we read together. I put on my old my narrative voice and she gets incredibly invested. I just wonder if it will stick once I am gone.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing, Paul! Very interesting. And you're lucky that your daughter is that much into it: my kids of the same age are not really interested. They played 2-3 books and gave up :)

[@PaulGirdlestone]

@@AgeofInk I think with my girls is they have very creative minds. They describe things in great detail and much like me, when they read or hear about things that are exceptionally descriptive, they can see and smell thibgs and places. I myself remember being able to smell the damp cave walls and the old musky wooden boathouse when reading through the Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

[@knessing7681]

I first saw these books in my elementary school's library in the 90's, before the internet, PC, and even Console got big and occupied our time.

[@NanomachinesSon5774]

Sorcery was how I got into these kinds of books, and I sure as hell ain't leavin.

[@johnm.withersiv4352]

Sorcery is cool. I keep wanting to do a series like that with a dedicated spell book. That spell book was neat. I have one in process but haven't worked on it in a while. I've written a Fighting and Fantasy style work that has been turned into the editor and hopefully will come out eventually. Good things can't be rushed, right? Most of my books are closer to Joe Dever's Lone Wolf or straight choice based books. Although I always my own spin on it.

[@H4LTHERUNNER]

In Denmark we have "Sværd og troldom" wich translate to "Swords and sorcery"

[@AgeofInk]

So Troldom is Sorcery in Danish. Interesting!

[@miguelnoriega1603]

I had the whole collection as a teenager, but stupidly got rid of them as I had too many books and moved so many times as an adult, I've regretted it ever since.

[@AgeofInk]

Same here...

[@williamwells3026]

Unfortunately for me, they were not in my area in the 80's. I definitely would have got them.

[@robertblackmore703]

I always wished Steve Jackson would publish more of Khahabad, the realm where Sorcery! took place. Loved the atmosphere and art from that series. A full rpg/campaign setting would be amazing.

[@AgeofInk]

Planning a next video about it!

[@robertblackmore703]

@@AgeofInk ❤️That’s great man. It’s weird, this is the second video I’ve seen on FF in the last few days, but they are both recent. I went looking for it because I had the itch… it’s like the Gen Xers are all waking up from the same dream at the same time. Will check it out, for sure. Best to you and yours.

[@gagecrawley6223]

I am 27 years old, and I have only ever heard of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, but ... not these! And now I really want to check them out! They look incredible and really fun! Which one should I start with and what kind of dice do I need?

[@AgeofInk]

It was an entire universe for us kids of the 80s... Glad to hear younger generations are interested. Why not begin from the beginning, with Warlock of Firetop Mountain?

[@rkcpek]

I'ld like to see an "Elder scrolls" gamebook series using a d10 and a system that's a blend of the "fabled lands" and " lone wolf" systems.

[@Correctrix]

You say of the player, ‘his adventure’ and suchlike, but almost every Fighting Fantasy book was very careful never to gender the reader or character, so that boys & girls could immerse themselves in the story equally. Virtually none give the character a name. I was just replaying _Appointment With F.E.A.R._ today, and it is one of these rare ones. But note how the hero is called the Silver Crusader (not Silver Woman or similar, oft-gendered, superhero name) and their civilian secret identity is Jean Lafayette. That French surname suggests the forename could be taken as the French equivalent of John, or you can read it as the differently-pronounced English name, Jean. Highly calculated ambiguity! In the PC and Android versions of the gamebook, by Tin Man Games, the enhanced interactivity means that you get to choose your superhero’s monicker plus also their sex and consequent selection of hairstyles & costumes. The text then becomes appropriately peppered with _ma'ams_ or _sirs_ that were deliberately missing from the original book. There are a few with slip-ups. I have _Seas of Blood_ in front of me, and it involves vying against Abdul the Butcher for the title ‘King of Pirates’. It’s otherwise scrupulously neutral. I also can’t think of any FF gamebook where it’s implied that any NPC is attracted to or by you. Other series were different. _The Way of the Tiger’s_ protagonist is a monk; Fire*Wolf is a very manly barbarian; Lone Wolf is a Kai Lord.

[@AgeofInk]

That's right, many thanks for the awesome feedback!

[@cedricmoulin]

Magnifique !

[@AgeofInk]

Je savais que tu allais apprécier :)

[@cedricmoulin]

@@AgeofInk Tu rends un bel hommage aux livres de notre tendre enfance (livres qui nous accompagnent toujours d'ailleurs, jusqu'à la mort !) 😁

[@Laurette6k]

Merci !

[@AgeofInk]

De rien :)

[@kosterix123]

I bought Destiny Quest 2. It’s fantastic. Some others too but couldn’t get through them.

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

It's a nice highlight of the format, but it wholly misses the fact that Flying Buffalo had been doing the same thing for years with the Tunnels and Trolls "Solo Modules," which allowed you to take a character from the standard Table Top game into a professionally written adventure. "Buffalo Castle" came out in the mid 70s. (having just checked it was 1976. WOFTM was 1982) Because they used a full rules set, the T&T solos were like standard rpg mods at the time and aimed at certain classes or levels of characters. And T&T only used d6 (at higher levels you needed a LOT... and however many you are thinking... its probably more than that!) so you didn't need to find somewhere that sold polyhedron dice, you could just raid all your board games. The format was almost identical. Numbered narrative text encounters spread throughout the book in no specific order, each with either a choice, or challenge that when decided, would offer options of which page to turn to next. Some of the more complex ones for say Wizards, would have more options depending on which spell you chose to defeat an enemy, for instance; "Hellbomb Burst" (T&T's far more interesting sounding version of D&D's "Fireball"...) was not a good idea in a confined space with lots of combustibles in the room... and the solos would take that into account. They weren't as tight on the narrative and story lines as the FF or Lone Wolf books, but the actual adventures were superior. It's also worth pointing out that Ian Livingstone wrote the "Deathtrap Dungeon" Fighting Fantasy book in 1984, seven years after Flying Buffalo released their "Deathtrap Equalizer Dungeon". Both of which require you as a player to "take up the challenge" of a deadly dungeon filled with deadly traps and deadly monsters, run by some deadly lunatic or other, with no more motivation than, "Fame, riches, just make something up, cos that's the plot dude... just go with it!" (DED was also the first to account for the idea that a player might choose to come out after fighting an enemy, Heal Up, then go back in...) Quite possibly the greatest thing about them was that a novice DM could use one to get used to running a game for other players by simply reading it out loud to their group, and this was actively encouraged by the writers. The player options were limited to those within the solo, but it was a fantastic way to learn some of the soft skills of being a DM. I was pretty much the "Forever DM" of our group, regardless of what game we were playing. Sometimes one of the players would volunteer to have a go, and I often showed them how to use the T&T solo books as a way to get them into it. Knowing the rules is one thing, writing a great adventure is another, but being able to present the whole thing to a group is the most important skill a good DM can have. Many modern gamers mock T&T for its ultra slim rule-book, compared to the minimum 15 edition expansion model we now "enjoy" as a standard from those pesky Wizards. But it was way ahead of its time in many regards, and as game systems go, it was easily the most accessible. And in the "Rulebook size to Fun" ratio remains, in my opinion anyway, unparalleled.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing! Heard of T&T but never played it, and D&D neither. So not much to say about them. Played other RPGs, strategy wargames and othet boardgames.

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

@@AgeofInk T&T was a lot of fun. Like I say, the main difference was that FF were better "story telling" devices, but Flying Buffalo were better examples of a Fantasy Adventure Game. I think Lone Wolf tried to improve on FF with both narrative and in game mechanics. The group I used to play RPGs with were pretty much agreed, that after the first one, Lone Wolf would have been better just as a series of novels without the game elements, as we actually found them quite distracting from the stories. (And that was after playing T&T Solos with a full rules system behind them...) Speaking as someone who came to Fighting Fantasy after playing the Flying Buffalo solo adventures, one thing that always annoyed me about the FF books was if you got a really cool sounding spell, or magic item, and wrote it down on your character sheet, more often than not you then weren't able to use it until the one very specific situation that it was made for. Felt very much like the "Text Driven Computer Adventure Game" phenomenon of the time.

[@AgeofInk]

@@andrewtomlinson5237 Good to know :) Thanks for sharing this feedback

[@coinopanimator]

Citadel was hard.

[@stoneworkmegapup215]

There are probably more game books now than ever before.

[@Rhymester2113]

Hi. I've been drawing maps to the Fighting Fantasy books. I want to make a book with every map. I've done the first 16 books so far. I can send them to you if you're interested. I love these books. 🙂👍

[@AgeofInk]

Nice! Sure, send me the link and I'll show them when I make the videos of the related books. Tell me by what name to credit you.

[@davet2825]

Hi sir Can I ask what tune is playing at 2.58 please? Lovely tune.

[@AgeofInk]

It's called Macedon is Yours, you can find it in KZbin's free content library

[@munster1404]

Do a review of Bloodsword. It’s a classic.

[@hjk7833]

I just started the first Lone Wolf book with my son, but the reading level is a bit too difficult for him. Is there a series that you would recommend for him to try?

[@AgeofInk]

Golden Dragon. Simple and efficient.

[@alexbarrett3832]

The FF books were rereleased in the early 2000s and at least the Jackson and Livingston titles have been in print and on kids bookstore shelves ever since. New books are still being written. Lone Wolf was alsi popular with my friends right into the early 2000s. So at least in the UK, the idea that they'd be foreign to anyone who didn't grow up in the eighties is patently false!