Gamebook

A gamebook is a book with a branching storyline that serves as a medium for gameplay.

The reader plays the game by choosing which of the branches of the storyline to follow. This usually occurs at the end of any given page; the reader will then be prompted to choose between one of several possible courses of action for the plot to follow, and to turn to the appropriate page or section. Most gamebooks have multiple possible endings, at least one of which is a "win" with most or all of the rest being "losses"; the added replay value of gamebooks is one of the primary reasons for their popularity.

Most gamebooks are written as though the reader were the protagonist, and are written in second person narration. Some gamebooks borrow game mechanics from role-playing games, containing combat and requiring the reader to keep track of the main character's statistics and equipment, upon which certain branches of the storyline may be dependent.

Popular gamebook series include Choose Your Own Adventure and the role-playing gamebook series Lone Wolf and Fighting Fantasy. Author Harry Harrison has written You can be the Stainless Steel Rat, a gamebook spoof on his series of Stainless Steel Rat novels. Several less successful attempts (from an economic point of view) at the genre, such as the Legends of Skyfall series were also released.

Gamebooks are often produced for franchises, like Star Wars and Transformers. A famous gamebook from the latter franchise features Windcharger accidentally ripping apart the Dinobots with his magnets. When the Alternator/Binaltech version of Windcharger (called Overdrive in Japan) came out in 2005, the situation became a meme on Transformer sites.

The term "gamebook" is also used in reference to sourcebooks for other games, such as role-playing games.

First published in 1976, Buffalo Castle (using the Tunnels and Trolls role-playing system) may well have been the first gamebook ever published [link].

List of notable gamebook series

Blood Sword, written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson
Dragontales, written by Rhondi Vilott
Endless Quest, written by Rose Estes and others
Fabled Lands, written by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson
Fighting Fantasy, written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone
Forbidden Gateway, written by Ian and Clive Bailey
Freeway Warrior, written by Joe Dever
Give Yourself Goosebumps, written by R.L. Stine
Golden Dragon, written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson
GrailQuest, written by J.H. Brennan
Legends of Skyfall, written by David Tant
Lone Wolf, written by Joe Dever
Sagard the Barbarian, written by Gary Gygax and Flint Dille
Way of the Tiger, written by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith
Wizards Warriors & You, written by R. L. Stine and others

External links

[Gamebooks.org]

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