Druidus
Keeper of the Grove
Has anyone here played/read any (good) gamebooks, especially ones available for iOS/Android?
Gamebooks are like the old "Choose Your Own Adventure!" books, except most gamebooks are more complex, with more detailed story lines and choice paths, and they often incorporate various dice rules to enable a sort of combat. I find them to be great fun, so long as they've got some length to them. The replayability brings a lot to the table, too, as a single playthroughs won't show you all plot possibilities. They can be from various genres, including fantasy and science fiction. Recently, some gamebook companies have been re-releasing gamebooks from the 80s, after some updates, allowing for people to take their gamebooks with them and also providing an easier way to play them than with actual paper.
I'll list a few that I found worthwhile, with my rating for each (1/5 is hardly worth playing, 2/5 is ok, nothing special, 3/5 is all-around decent with moderate enjoy-ability, 4/5 is excellent and recommended, 5/5 is nearly flawless, suberb, and highly recommended.)
Infinite Universe - 4/5 Stars - (This one is a fun sci-fi gamebook with an interesting plot and "choice-tree". It's long enough to offer a lot of playtime, and it's got an engaging style of writing. Recommended.)
Fighting Fantasy: Starship Traveller - 3/5 Stars - (another sci-fi gamebook, this one lets you control a starship and travel the stars with a crew - it even lets you send ground teams to planets - it's got some strong similarities to Star Trek, but I still liked Infinite Universe better in terms of plot)
Judge Dredd - 2/5 Stars - (fun but relatively short gamebook. It is standalone, and requires no familiarity with the Judge Dredd fictional universe. It was adequate, but by no means was it amazing.)
And finally, my two favourites:
Sorcery! - 5/5 Stars - (Sorcery is a fantasy gamebook, lovingly rebuilt for iOS from the original 80s gamebook. Beautiful artwork throughout, with a map of the explorable world and hand drawn pictures of characters and events. The plot is interesting, complex, and quite detailed. There is a lot of content to explore, and Sorcery! also has some unique features not common to most gamebooks, including the combat system and the dice game (Swindlestones) which you can play to earn money. The choice-tree is wide and well fleshed-out, so you get several playthroughs before you experience all possibilities. It is a four part gamebook, but only parts 1&2 are released so far; they're working on part three for later this year (*crosses fingers*). Each part connects to the next, so the character you made in part one keeps his items, stats, knowledge, and previous choices (and their consequences) once you start part two. My only problem with Sorcery! is that part one is somewhat short to playthrough (I guess it was like a proof of concept), but part two more than makes up for it, and part three is supposed to be several times longer and larger than part two, so all in all it's not a huge failing. Really, this gamebook series is top-notch, and I highly recommend it!)
Trial of the Clone - 5/5 Stars - (Fantastic gamebook! This gamebook is unique in that it is not a remake but a completely new gamebook. It was written by the author of the award winning web comic "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal". There is an option to have Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek fame) narrate the whole story, if you wish, though I turned it off because he reads too slow for my taste. With this gamebook, it is the hilarious sense of humour that causes me to favour it so highly. This is my absolute favourite gamebook so far, and I really can't provide a description that does it due justice. You will laugh throughout, on most every page; I know I did! It's a sci-fi gamebook, with a great plot, tongue-in-cheek writing from a gifted humorist, a wide choice-tree, and a twist ending. I cannot recommend Trial of the Clone highly enough, seriously, try it out!)
If anyone else likes gamebooks, I'd love to know which ones you enjoyed. I need to get some new ones to tide me over until Sorcery! part 3, lol. If you haven't played one before, but you're interested, I'll try to answer any questions you might have. Really, anything gamebook related is welcome in this thread!
Gamebooks are like the old "Choose Your Own Adventure!" books, except most gamebooks are more complex, with more detailed story lines and choice paths, and they often incorporate various dice rules to enable a sort of combat. I find them to be great fun, so long as they've got some length to them. The replayability brings a lot to the table, too, as a single playthroughs won't show you all plot possibilities. They can be from various genres, including fantasy and science fiction. Recently, some gamebook companies have been re-releasing gamebooks from the 80s, after some updates, allowing for people to take their gamebooks with them and also providing an easier way to play them than with actual paper.
I'll list a few that I found worthwhile, with my rating for each (1/5 is hardly worth playing, 2/5 is ok, nothing special, 3/5 is all-around decent with moderate enjoy-ability, 4/5 is excellent and recommended, 5/5 is nearly flawless, suberb, and highly recommended.)
Infinite Universe - 4/5 Stars - (This one is a fun sci-fi gamebook with an interesting plot and "choice-tree". It's long enough to offer a lot of playtime, and it's got an engaging style of writing. Recommended.)
Fighting Fantasy: Starship Traveller - 3/5 Stars - (another sci-fi gamebook, this one lets you control a starship and travel the stars with a crew - it even lets you send ground teams to planets - it's got some strong similarities to Star Trek, but I still liked Infinite Universe better in terms of plot)
Judge Dredd - 2/5 Stars - (fun but relatively short gamebook. It is standalone, and requires no familiarity with the Judge Dredd fictional universe. It was adequate, but by no means was it amazing.)
And finally, my two favourites:
Sorcery! - 5/5 Stars - (Sorcery is a fantasy gamebook, lovingly rebuilt for iOS from the original 80s gamebook. Beautiful artwork throughout, with a map of the explorable world and hand drawn pictures of characters and events. The plot is interesting, complex, and quite detailed. There is a lot of content to explore, and Sorcery! also has some unique features not common to most gamebooks, including the combat system and the dice game (Swindlestones) which you can play to earn money. The choice-tree is wide and well fleshed-out, so you get several playthroughs before you experience all possibilities. It is a four part gamebook, but only parts 1&2 are released so far; they're working on part three for later this year (*crosses fingers*). Each part connects to the next, so the character you made in part one keeps his items, stats, knowledge, and previous choices (and their consequences) once you start part two. My only problem with Sorcery! is that part one is somewhat short to playthrough (I guess it was like a proof of concept), but part two more than makes up for it, and part three is supposed to be several times longer and larger than part two, so all in all it's not a huge failing. Really, this gamebook series is top-notch, and I highly recommend it!)
Trial of the Clone - 5/5 Stars - (Fantastic gamebook! This gamebook is unique in that it is not a remake but a completely new gamebook. It was written by the author of the award winning web comic "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal". There is an option to have Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek fame) narrate the whole story, if you wish, though I turned it off because he reads too slow for my taste. With this gamebook, it is the hilarious sense of humour that causes me to favour it so highly. This is my absolute favourite gamebook so far, and I really can't provide a description that does it due justice. You will laugh throughout, on most every page; I know I did! It's a sci-fi gamebook, with a great plot, tongue-in-cheek writing from a gifted humorist, a wide choice-tree, and a twist ending. I cannot recommend Trial of the Clone highly enough, seriously, try it out!)
If anyone else likes gamebooks, I'd love to know which ones you enjoyed. I need to get some new ones to tide me over until Sorcery! part 3, lol. If you haven't played one before, but you're interested, I'll try to answer any questions you might have. Really, anything gamebook related is welcome in this thread!