Gamebooks

[Crymson]

I hope this is the right forum to post this.

Does anyone here still play the old gamebooks like Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf? As a youngster these games kept me, a young boy with not many friends, basically from going insane. They were my gateway into role-playing in general, starting with the Fighting Fantasy books them moving on to my favourite series, Lone Wolf.

Gamebooks seem to be undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Fighting Fantasy has been republished, Lone Wolf is in the process of being republished, and so are the Choose Your Own Adventure books.

There has also been the release of new gamebooks, firstly in the Fighting Fantays series (three brand new adventures to date) and also a new series (which I had a hand at playtesting): Epic Adventure Gamebooks. I am also writing some gamebooks that I may release as well.

So did any of you grow up with these and do any of you still play? What are/were your favourites?

[Runestar]

I recently just played through book 1-18 of the lone wolf saga on the Aon website, as well as replaying the few gamebooks I owned. Was a huge fan of this genre many years back, but sold many of my books to free up space when I moved house back then.

My favourites then was the Night dragon, Knights of Doom, Trial of Champions, Deathtrap Dungeon and the Sorcery series. Hated deathmoor (just plain confusing) and Crimson Tide (impossible to solve unless you caught on to a certain trick). Legend of Zagor was interesting (playing through it now with the fighter), to say the least. There was really no reason to play the barb or the dwarf. The wizard was just plain overpowering once you got him the appropriate gear. And it was possible to accumulate enough silver daggers to kill Zagor immediately upon meeting him, which was kinda anticlimatic.

They were also crucial in inducting me into the roleplaying genre. If not for them, I would never have become interested in dnd.

What about you?

[Aus_Snow]

Yeah, before playing D&D for the first time, I was into some of the gamebooks - and before them, a few of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style things. I thought the awesomest gamebook was one called Maelstrom. Go figure.

A friend of mine has a complete collection of Fighting Fantasy books, FWIW (not sure how much that would be.)

[bagger245]

Lone Wolf is what started me... I've read the enture series til 28 and now waiting
for the 4 future ones. I couldn't afford to buy the books and I borrowed them
from my friend. Now I have a fair colection of it, all bought from 2nd hand bookstore.
I have read Freeway Warrior as well but not Greystar. I know Project Aon has em ,
but nothing beats having them books. I also have a handful of Fighting Fantasy
and Virtual Reality. But not really into them due to their one-shot stories.

[Staffan]

Been a while since I played them, but I just wanted to point out that the Lone Wolf books are available (with Joe Dever's permission) online at Project Aon.

[charonsg]

yeah i played the books you mentioned
also played others like interplantery spy, the cretan chronicles , avenger (ninja gamebook) and blood sword.
blood sword is my favorite series followed by lonewolf
i read that the new lone wolf flight from the dark is going to change the starting, lone wolf wont fall unconscious before the kai monastery massarce but instead take part in it the fight.

[Crothian]

It has been ages since I read one of these but I see them all the time at the local used book stores.