Gamebook Friday: My Most Popular ACE Gamebooks

I regularly check Amazon to see how my books are rating*. For a long time, I thought that RONIN 47 was one of my most popular ACE Gamebooks because, although it didn't have a lot of reviews, almost all of them were 5 stars. However, in my obsession with the only sci-fi ACE Gamebook to date, I had failed to notice that some of the older titles in the series were even more popular.

This prompted me to make a proper comparison. As well as looking at the average rating out of 5 on Amazon.co.uk, I considered how many ratings a title had received. So, gamebooks with the same average rating would be differentiated by how many people had rated each one.

The results may surprise you - they certainly surprised me!

ACE Gamebooks ranked by Amazon ratings:

1) NEVERLAND: Here Be Monsters! - 4.9/5 based on 46 ratings

2) 'TWAS: The Krampus Night Before Christmas - 4.9/5 based on 32 ratings

3) RONIN 47 - 4.9/5 based on 24 ratings

4) Dracula: Curse of the Vampire - 4.8/5 based on 96 ratings

5) Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come - 4.7/5 based on 5 ratings

6) Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland - 4.6/5 based on 181 ratings

7) The Wicked Wizard of Oz - 4.4/5 based on 67 ratings

8) Beowulf Beastslayer - 4.4/5 based on 60 ratings

I then wondered how ratings on Amazon compared with those on Goodreads, which gave quite a different result.

ACE Gamebooks ranked by Goodreads ratings:

1) Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come - 5/5 based on 2 ratings

2) Beowulf Beastslayer - 4.45/5 based on 11 ratings

3) Dracula: Curse of the Vampire - 4.37/5 based on 41 ratings

4) The Wicked Wizard of Oz - 4.18/5 based on 28 ratings

5) 'TWAS: The Krampus Night Before Christmas - 4.15/5 based on 27 ratings

6) Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland - 3.96/5 based on 334 ratings

7) NEVERLAND: Here Be Monsters! - 3.95/5 based on 19 ratings

8) RONIN 47 - 3.5/5 based on 6 ratings

Whenever I attend an event, people often single out one particular ACE Gamebook as being their favourite. However, what is pleasing is that each adventure is somebody's favourite. I wonder how many people will pick 100 Aker Wood as their favourite when it is published next year?

Maybe I should rank my various Fighting Fantasy gamebooks by popularity next?

* If you have read/played and enjoyed one of my ACE Gamebooks, please do post a review online, and on Amazon if you can.