Please allow me to introduce my first OSE gamebook!

Betrayed by kin and cast from your rightful hall, you are Bjorn Ironthorn, dispossessed Jarl of Yskalden. With only a dagger and your father’s honour to guide you, you must survive a land torn by treachery, drakr, and mercenary steel.
Will you slay the dragon that darkens the skies, seek the counsel of a witch whose truths are shrouded in mist, or rally the outcasts to your banner?

- 132 sections.
- Interactive hyperlinked index and text.
- Color and printer-friendly versions.

GET YOUR COPY HERE! 👉 https://www.drivethrurpg.com/it/product/530787/hearts-of-steel?affiliate_id=412340

I have just decided to purchase the Vulcanverse full 5 book set. The most massive completed open world gamebook set with around a million words. It's like more than twice as big in comparison to the 5 book Blood Sword series by the same author. I think at this point the only other thing that could perhaps dwarf it in size is Legendary Kingdoms when it's completed. However, it's been stuck at 3 books. I don't like the idea of purchasing an incomplete open world gamebook set. Is there any plans that the gamebook will ever get made?

Hey gang, I'm wondering if the community has any recommendations for gamebooks or adventures (maybe. SoloRPG) that would be friendly for kids aged 5-8 years old. My kiddo is 5 years old and thinks some of the game books I have are too scary. Any advice would be awesome.

Edit to add: I have Destiny Quest, Fabled Lands, Arkham Horror books, Blood Sword.

We also have Amazing Tales ttrpg that's kid friendly but I'm terrible at GM ing which is why I'm leaning towards gamebooks. I can read to them and they can make decisions and roll dice .

I need gamebook recommendations for adults. I will list gamebooks I already played so that you guys can give me other gamebooks that I haven't played yet.

Played gamebooks:

Blood Sword Series(1-5), Critical IF series (1-4), Into the Tower, Ronin 47, Dracula Curse of the Vampire, In the Abyss, Legacy of Dragon holt and Legend of Okiri.

I am preferably looking for a gamebook where I can be an anti hero like in my favorite gamebook, Legend of Okiri. Thank you.

After leaving the inn, the street leads us towards the market, but after approaching a few people, our path is interrupted by the arrival of Giant Hornets chasing a man named Sylas. The danger before us forces us to flee for our lives, but fortunately, the hornets do not stay for long, and we resume our journey.

Our search for the market is marked by our arrival at the Great Library, but fortunately, our visit does not distract us from our objective. There is shopping to be done, and who knows whether, among the various curios on sale, we might find items that will be vital to our mission.

I've had a completely crazy summer and start to term this year. So crazy, I forgot to ask if there are any new "How to write a gamebook" articles or videos produced in the last year that deserve to be on my annnual how to write a gamebook post.

EDIT: I forgot last year too! So anything appeared in the last 2 years?

https://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2024/09/want-to-write-gamebook-then-heres.html

Damdael, who backed the Kickstarter and has played around sixty gamebooks, reviewed Ahu's First Patrol on RPGGeek and rated it 9/10. The part I keep rereading is about Ahu's mount:

> "Your mount feels like a second main character... I don't think there have been any gamebooks among the sixty or so that I've played where there has been such a connection with the main character and his mount."

These reviews are what make the whole effort worthwhile for me.

Full review: https://rpggeek.com/thread/3781415/ahus-first-patrol-review

Try the free prologue, or get the book (PDF, softcover, hardcover): https://www.marteloschwarz.com/uoru

I very much prefer the older versions. Why do they even change it, is it a copyright issue?

I'm curious! I know there are things I'd like to see more of -- but I'm also still getting back into them. So much out there to discover still! I've found so many on the Internet Archive with different systems I've never encountered before that I'm excited to try.

I'm inspired to make my own now, especially one that feels a bit more open in options and especially one that gives the player some more agency in their actions and abilities and what sorts of characters you can construct along the adventure.

So for inspiration sake, what sorts of things do you wish you encountered more often in gamebooks?

Hi everyone. FYI and AMA! On 2026/6/6 I published a new solo adventure gamebook set during the 1980s “Satanic Panic”. The adventure is played from the perspective of devils and demons who want to create the panic.

This scripted solitaire adventure uses the Monsters! Monsters! role playing game rules and is compatible with other game systems e.g., Tunnels & Trolls. Included in the game book is a 6 pg. summary of game rules, 6 pre-generated infernal Player Characters (such as Kesivere the Writhing and Ariel the Traitor), a Spotify playlist, and more. Playtime estimate is ~ 30 – 45 minutes. It’s available on DTRPG (digital) & Amazon (physical).

… It’s 1985 and there’s a problem. Well, there are lots of them, but first things first. A cavern stinks of sulphur as fiends chatter. The sound of cloven hooves heralds the arrival of the Archdemon Baal-Mot Angel-hunter. “Quiet!” The restless infernal crowd falls still. “I don’t want to waste time with you scum! We have a new plan for our problem …” For millennia, your hellish horde thrived in a time of rampant ignorance. A golden age of deviltry, when fear of the infernal often exceeded heavenly devotion. But ever since the Enlightenment, ignorance is way down.

“Our plan is for another Moral Panic! The last one worked well, remember? Jazz and rock music lead to dancing and dancing leads to moral corruption!” <big laughs & cheers> “You each get a different town. Those who do well get a promotion! Average performers keep their jobs. But the worst? Fired!” A promotion! This could be your big break! This Satanic Panic is your chance to move on up! Your parents will be so proud.

Baal-Mot yells, “Now let’s make this the most wonderful Satanic Panic ever!” The crowd roars, “Hell Yeah !” as the Archdemon vanishes in a puff of flaming smoke. He’s such a show-off.

Now go and get your fiendish gear (p. 4)! ..."

After a difficult battle against the pirates and their captain, our quest finally begins as we board the Barracuda and set sail for the lands of southwestern Allansia. But first, Nicodemus gives us some advice about the items we will need to obtain in order to face Valmorka, including a Dragonblade, the only weapon capable of defeating the Spider-Demon.

Upon arriving in Kaynlesh-Ma, our path immediately leads us to three men who have magical rings for sale and to an inn where we can obtain information about the items we are looking for. But is this place safe? Will we survive the first trials, or will we perish in this exotic city?

This is all meant in a light-hearted manner since I do love Fighting Fantasy books. I do wish these books were less reliant on pure luck and had more variety in combat. After a while it does just come down to luck of the roll and/or circumstances.

So, in the last image you can see my stats came all the way down to:

Skill: 7

Stamina: 12

Luck: 0 (lol)

At 127 this gamebook wants you to test your luck. But, of course, I used all of my luck. So I always fail. But then the passage it takes me to (361) when I fail and just tells me I failed lol and then brings me back to 127 where it just wants me to test my luck again! So, of course, there is no escape and I just eventually die. So I just had no choice but to either cheat and "be lucky" or "lose a life" and proceed onward. Just a funny find from when I was playing the other night haha but it got me thinking about how often Fighting Fantasy relies on pure chance.

And then of course when I continued on I ended up dying to the Crystal Warrior anyways due to our vast Skill difference, which again just came down to an inescapable vastness in our Skill scores and luck of the roll.

I'm wondering what sorts of house rules I could add to the Fighting Fantasy books to add some variety in combat that avoids these situations where you just lose due to inescapable circumstances.

I've been a writer and game dev for quite a while and recently came up with an idea that felt like a good fit for a gamebook.

The game takes place in a distant future of an alternate history Earth. It's fantasy but based on paleontology rather than mythology; the different races are sentient versions of some of the more intelligent animals (octopus, dolphin, hornets,) the deities are extremely large organisms (quaking aspen, honey fungus, coral reef,) and the monsters are things like megalodons and pterosaurs.

After my frustration with the "one true route" design of most Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, I've decided to have the game loop work very differently; your goal is to get as many Prestige points as possible in a 360 day period by hunting monsters, with traveling and hunting taking time, and retreating to town to restock supplies being costly. The idea here is that you can try and figure out the optimal route through multiple playthroughs, deciding to hunt lots of small game, a smaller amount of legendary monsters, playing as a different race with different stats, mapping out different routes so that the right monsters are in season at the right time, etc. And I'm writing the rules to support multiplayer!

(Combat mechanics are going to be relatively similar to FF; the biggest changes are no penalty for a failed luck check in battle and LOTS of gear will raise your stats above their initial values.)

I'm planning to play Scorpion Swamp as research for this project but I'm also wondering if there are other gamebooks that have a similar design philosophy that I might find useful.

Where can I find some good art of video game books?

I've bought plenty and lost plenty so I am not encouraging blah blah but hey I'm broke and I love books