International Gamebook Day 2025

Gamebook Friday: International Gamebook Day 2022

It's been a while coming, but here, just in time for International Gamebook Day 2022 on Saturday 27th August. 

Thanks to Olly Mc for organising the interviews, to Julian Sparrow for his special Twitch stream, and to James Spearing for arranging the virtual Beer-o. You can even purchase your official International Gamebook merchandise here. Enjoy, everyone!

Gamebook Friday: The Storymaster's Tales

I have just sat through another live play-through of The Storymaster's Tales: The Weirding Woods. I say sat through, I should have said 'enjoyed'. What Olly Mc has done with these live Facebook events is truly astounding. But let me explain...

For anyone who doesn't already know, The Storymaster's Tales is a hybrid RPG designed by Oliver McNeil, that combines elements of fantasy role-playing, a board game, a card game, and an adventure gamebook*. It is set in a dark fairy-tale world that is instantly recognisable, and is designed for 1-5 players, aged 6 to adult.

Passing over the fact that it is a game that can be enjoyed by anyone from 6 upwards, which is an achievement in itself, the coronavirus lockdown has brought a new dimension to the game**. In The Storymaster's Tales, randomly selected cards reveal new locations, and Olly Mc has created bespoke video clips and photographic images - using fantastic costumes, masks, and even puppets - to transport players to these locations, meeting all manner of grotesque and intriguing characters along the way. In the game, these people and places are vivdly brought to life my Nick Vuimin's wonderful woodblock-esque artwork. But in the live online version they are brought to life by Olly Mc himself***!

The physical game is a thing of beauty, but the live version is also a feast for the eyes. If you have yet to experience this wonder for yourself, the next live show is scheduled to take place at 6:00pm BST on Friday 1st May, here.

But in the meantime, you can pick up The Storymaster's Tales: The Weirding Woods, as well as the Deeper into the Woods expansion, here.

And you may also like to know that the latest version of the game, The Storymaster's Tales: Dracodeep Dungeon, has just over a week left to run on Kickstarter, which is already 1,839% funded and a great way to grab the original edition of the game if you don't already own it.

* And theatre, the way Olly does it!

** As they say, every cloud...

*** And others!

Gamebook Friday: Beowulf Beastslayer and the Night of the Kraken

A glowing review of Beowulf Beastslayer was posted on GamebookNews.com this week. It's very scholarly, and quite long, but this summary should tell you what you need to know.

This evening at 6:00pm BST (Friday 10 April) Olly McNeil of The Storymaster's Tales, will be giving a live readthrough of my second Doctor Who gamebook Night of the Kraken only on the Doctor Who Infinity Facebook group.

Lastly, for this Gamebook Friday, if you missed the Kickstarter for my latest ACE Gamebook, DRACULA - Curse of the Vampire, you can still place a Late Pledge here.

Remember, stay home, stay safe, and keep well, and I'll see you next week,

Tie-in Tuesday: Night of the Kraken Readthrough

Are you a fan of Doctor Who, specifically the Twelfth Doctor? And are you a fan of interactive fiction?

Well, if you answered 'Yes' to both those questions, then you should join Olly Mc on Facebook, on Friday evening at 6:00pm for a readthrough of my Doctor Who Choose The Future adventure Night of the Kraken.

Here's the blurb from the book's back cover:

When one choice can lead to triumph or failure, life or death, glory or destruction . . . which will you choose? With Choose the Future, YOU decide how, when, where and with whom the Doctor will fight to save the world!

In this brand new adventure, Night of the Kraken, the Twelfth Doctor meets a roguish time-smuggler and faces a terrifying creature from the deep with a plan to destroy the Earth.

The fate of the Doctor and the universe he protects are in your hands...

Basically it's Doctor Who meets Poldark meets H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. What more do you need to know?

Gamebook Friday: Legend Quests Live!

Imagine playing through your favourite adventure gamebook. Awesome, isn't it?

Now imagine being able to enter the adventure yourself, braving the dungeon and all its attend perils. Well, if a certain Kickstarter project achieves funding, you won't have to imagine any longer...

Launching soon is a brand new Kickstarter project that I am quietly confident many of you will be keen to back. Legend Quests, the "Live" Fantasy Dungeon Adventure Game, is the brain child of Oliver McNeil, the man behind Legend Photography. Those of you who were able to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest last year will know him as the goblin who was strolling around the Double Tree Hilton, and some of you even had your photographs taken by him, which probably ended up looking rather like the one below.

Legend Quests, the "Live" Fantasy Dungeon Adventure Game, is a unique team theatre experience. As the curtains open on the show, any number of dungeon environments will have been created by the crew. Members of the audience will be invited to enter the stage area and take part in encounter scenes, interacting with actors. As the adventure unfolds, new scenes will be created in this versatile space for audience members to enter and enjoy. The audience are therefore the players in a thrilling, interactive 2 hour adventure.

Fighting Fantasy co-creator Ian Livingstone is on board as project advisor, and it also features Tom Baker as the Voice of the Dungeon! Oh, and I might have a little something to do with it too, as does my fellow gamebook author Jamie Thomson.

To find out more, and to sign up to be notified when the project goes live, click this link.