'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas

The QVC shopping channel is selling Christmas pajamas, and mince pies are already on sale in the supermarkets, so it seemed like a good time to remind you that 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas is available to buy from DriveThruRPG and is the perfect festive RPG for your family or gaming group.

Simply click on the images below to find out more.

Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 Merch

It may be two weeks since Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 took place in London, but you can still pick up your FFF5 merch here.

Also, if you were unable to attend the event - or you did attend, but you would like another one - you can currently pick up this bundle on Ebay.

It includes a copy of the collectible programme and autograph book, the Deathtrap Dungeon lanyard, and two 'greenspine' dice featuring the Fighting Fantasy Fest logo in place of the 6 spot.

Cthulhu Wednesday: La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham

Available now from Minotauro is La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham, the Spanish language edition of The Darkness Over Arkham. 

If you are an Iberophile, or you have a Spanish-speaking friend who you think might enjoy trying to solve a murder mystery in Lovecraft's Arkham, you will find links to buy the book here.

And of course, you can pick up the English language version via Aconyte Books.

Gamebook Friday: Magic Realms - The Art of Fighting Fantasy

Now available from all good book retailers*, is the long awaited Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, by Sir Ian Livingstone and Yours Truly. The official launch party was held at the Barnes Bookshop on 5th September, attended by Sir Ian, while plenty of people picked up a copy last weekend at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

I was on BBC Radio Somerset on 5th September, talking about the new book and the Fighting Fantasy series in general. You can listen to the 12 minute interview with Vicki Clark for the next 22 days here. (The bit you want begins at the 2hr 16min mark.)

Vicki Clark of BBC Radio Somerset and Yours Truly.

Sir Ian and I will be signing copies of Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy tomorrow, Saturday 14th September 2024, at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London, from 2:00-3:00pm. So, maybe I'll see you there.

* I am aware that those people who backed the book through Unbound have yet to receive their signed copies and I am very sorry about this. Unfortunately Sir Ian and I have no control over when the rewards are sent out, but we have expressed our disappointment to the publisher.

Gamebook Wednesday: Upcoming Livestreams

Ken Boyter will be conducting a live playthrough of The Darkness Over Arkham this evening, Wednesday 28th August 2024, at 6:30pm BST on the EdraTales Twitch channel.

And tomorrow night, Thursday 29th August 2024, at 9:30pm BST, Julian Sparrow will be playing through Secrets of Salamonis, the 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy gamebook I co-wrote with Steve Jackson, on the Babel_17 Twitch channel.

Gamebook Friday: Interview med Jonathan Green

Following the release of Varulvens hyl, I was interviewed by Morten Gottschalck for the Danish gamebook community.

In case you speak Danish, or you fancy giving Google Translate a workout, you will find the interview here.

Gamebook Thursday: The Secrets of Salamonis Livestream

Join Julian Sparrow on his Twitch channel at 9:30pm BST tonight, Thursday 22nd August 2024, as he plays through Secrets of Salamonis live!

 

Gamebook Friday: The Terror at the End of Time

Out now from Dark Horse Comics and Fantasy Flight Games is the first Arkham Horror Comic, The Terror at the End of Time.

Written by Eisner-nominated master of horror Cullen Bunn - with art by Andrea Mutti, colours by Valerio Alloro, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and wrapped in a cover by Rafael Albuquerque - The Terror at the End of Time tells the story of adventuring socialite Jenny Barnes and her search for her missing sister Izzie. She is aided in this task by private investigator Joe Diamond, but eldritch horrors await them in the town of Arkham, Massachusetts.

The reason I mention this is because printed in the back of the comic are Character Sheets for the two Investigators featured in the strip. This means you can now play through my Arkham Horror gamebook, The Darkness Over Arkham, as either Jenny Barnes or Joe Diamond, bringing the total number of Investigators available to date to eight!

Gamebook Friday: Varulvens hyl

Today sees the publication of Howl of the Werewolf in Danish.

This is the second Fighting Fantasy gamebook of mine that has been published in Denmark, after Secrets of Salamonis was released last year.

Here's hoping that one day Faraos Cigarer will publish a translation of one (or more) of my ACE Gamebooks. Beowulf Beastslayer perhaps?

YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks is published today by Snowbooks, featuring brand new cover art by none other than Iain McCaig.

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks – the publishing phenomenon of the 1980s – has sold over 20 million books worldwide, in over 30 languages. But when Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone sat down to write the original Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, they could not have predicted that this one, simple adventure would go on to spawn over 100 titles, let alone begin to guess at the impact it would have on a generation of children growing up in the 80s.

Part history, part celebration, YOU ARE THE HERO chronicles four decades of the Fighting Fantasy phenomenon. Written by Jonathan Green (author of eight Fighting Fantasy gamebooks), this mighty tome will appeal to anyone who ever whiled away a washed-out summer holiday with only two dice, a pencil, and an eraser for company.

As well as updating and revising the text from the original two volumes of YOU ARE THE HERO, there is a significant amount of new content, particularly concerning the 40th anniversary of Fighting Fantasy in 2022.

Not only that, but you can either read the book from cover to cover, or you can read it as a gamebook. Those blue boxes you can see in the sample spread above give you the option of turning to different sections (there are 400 in total) that are in some way related to the paragraphs you have just read.

If you have read the book already, please consider posting a review here.

The Darkness Over Arkham at GenCon 2024

GenCon starts in Indiannapolis today, Thursday 1 August 2024, and runs until Sunday 4 August, and Aconyte Books are there. As a result, The Darkness Over Arkham is also for sale at GenCon so, if you're going, why not check it out and say hello to the Aconyte team?

This year at GenCon, the first Arkham Horror comic will be available for the first time from Dark Horse Comics, just ahead of its official release. Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time #1 is written by Eisner-nominated master of horror Cullen Bunn and drawn by Andrea Mutti, with colours by Valerio Alloro, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and a cover by Rafael Albuquerque.

I hope to be able to share some more news about The Terror at the End of Time soon.

Christmas in July sale now on!

DriveThruRPG's Christmas in July sale is still on until the end of the month, and lots of ACE Gamebooks titles are included. Funnily enough, one of those is...

When the north winds blow,
Bringing with them ice and snow,
If Midsummer’s weather’s numbing,
Then know that Fimbulwinter’s coming.

Christmas in July is a self-contained adventure, set at the height of summer. As well as containing material that can be adapted for more conventional games of the ’TWAS RPG, this book also introduces new monsters to the game, and four new Player Characters.

A copy of ’TWAS – The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas is required to use the contents of this book.

Gamebook Friday: La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham

The paperback edition of The Darkness Over Arkham, the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, was released in the UK just last week, but it will be out in Spanish, courtesy of Ediciones Minotauro, this September.

There are some other overseas editions of The Darkness Over Arkham in the works, and I will let you know more once all the appropriate Is have been dotted, and the relevant Ts crossed.

In other news, Jambô Editora have recently released the 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy adventures Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis. They have also reprinted the Portuguese language editions of Howl of the Werewolf and Bloodbones.

So, with three ACE Gamebooks now available in Brazil as well, my takeover of the South American gamebook market is proceeding apace...

The Darkness Over Arkham released in the UK today

The Darkness Over Arkham, the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, is published as a paperback in the UK today, courtesy of Aconyte Books.

When a renowned professor is found dead, it’s up to the Investigators of Arkham to discover what occult horrors were behind his fate. Pick your path, Investigator, and collect allies along the way to hunt down his killer before they strike again. However, Arkham is full of mysteries, with many wishing to keep the truth buried, and who are hungry to usher in a new era full of death and darkness to devour the world you know it. Can you stop them before it is too late?

The book includes profiles for three Investigators - Agnes Baker the Waitress, Nathaniel Cho the Boxer, and Rex Murphy the Reporter. There are also three more Investigators available as downloads from the Aconyte Books' website - Stella Clark the Letter Carrier, Amanda Sharpe the Student, and Skids O'Toole the Ex-Con. All of them can be used to tackle the adventure contained within The Darkness Over Arkham.

When the book was launched in the US, Jordan Sorcery and I did a live readthrough of part of the adventure which can you watch below.

If you have read The Darkness Over Arkham, please do post a review on Amazon. Unfortunately, when the book was first released, it received some 1-star ratings with no accompanying reviews*, which has really skewed the book's aggregated score. We could do with some more balanced reviews, and fairer ratings, to help rectify that situation. In anticipation, thank you for your support.

* Something which I think shouldn't be allowed.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5

Eight weeks today, Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 will be taking place at the University of West London in Ealing on Saturday 7 September 2024. Featuring Guests of Honour Sir Ian Livingstone and Iain McCaig, it will be a day-long celebration of the seminal Fighting Fantasy gamebook Deathtrap Dungeon.

Other guests attending include the authors Marc Gascoigne, Paul Mason, Peter Darvill-Evans, Keith P. Phillips, Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris...

along with the artists Alan Langford, Duncan Smith, Tony Hough and Malcolm Barter.

There will be all sorts of talks and other events taking place on the day, including the launch of Steve Jackson's F.I.S.T. by Sound Realms, a live readthrough of Deathtrap Dungeon, the legendary Fighting Fantasy auction, and a special performace of John Robertson's The Dark Room.

Tickets are on sale for Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 now!