TURN TO 400! - Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
- Snare spend a few minutes delving into his childhood to talk about Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks where you choose your own adventure and escape into a land of fantasy. Stay tuned for a video of Fighting Fantasy Legends on Thursday - rounding off this trip down memory lane!
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I'm only 15 and I discovered this in primary school due to my teacher who brought them in for me as I spent alot of time inside reading. Those books were awsome!!
That's an awesome story Thyrone! glad you got to experience them :) - Snare
are* awesome. They're also timeless and reached everywhere, I'm born and live in Morocco and discovered them as a kid, translated in French, enjoyed them through the 90's- early 2000.
@@zakaria_chana played them in danish. The Covers and art in general is just wonderful
Someone should tell you, these books are given by teachers to students with poor attention and reading skills.
That's great acc, I've never stopped reading since and my attention and reading skills obviously have seen much improvement to put it lightly.
I played the Steve Jackson - Sorcery! series of books when I was 13, that was 37 years ago. Two weeks ago I bought my daughter the whole series.
I recently came upon a great score of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks at my local Salvation Army charity shop. A grand total of 26 books including, "Starship Traveller", "Island of the Lizard King", "Star Strider", and "Vault of the Vampire". I even ended up getting some of the rarer finds, like "Revenge of the Vampire", and the final release of the original run, "Curse of the Mummy", which are selling for ridiculously high prices on eBay. And yet I got the set for $7.80AU. That's 30 cents a book! And you mentioned "House of Hell". I got that book amongst the set! Talk about a good score!
Wow! which state in Australia was that!?
@@danielwhyte9172 New South Wales.
Ah, this makes me really miss my childhood, back in the 80's/90's. Every first saturday of the month my dad would take me to the bookstory to pick one of those.
lovely childhood memories of leaving this world and going to another.....
Spellzard! If ya dig FF’s easy and lite mechanics, expanded to a full rpg (but not as much as AFF), then you will dig Spellzard!.
Also, as a Yank, I never had FF (some titles were brought over but the distribution was low it seems, as I never saw them until some appeared in used book stores in the 90’s).
I was exposed to some Lone Wolf stuff, even The Magnamund Companion, luckily.
So yeah.Odd dichotomy.
I had more TYRPG choices here, in the states in the 80’s but….now looking back, I’m actually jealous of all the many solid solo options you guys had in the UK! Heh
I’d have loved to have all those FF titles AND others AND Warlock magazine AND Proteus magazine every month in that era!
That would have been perfect for me here in the States!
So, now (over the last few years), I’ve been learning about all of it.
Enjoying it, but still remaining a good bit jealous of my UK fellows! lol
Cheers, everyone! Love and light to you and yours, whomsoever may read this! 🙂
Bloody hell 😍 Geek that i was, and still am, i had every single one of them!!!!!! Glad i found this channel, cheers 😉
The amount of grid/math paper I went through making character sheets for these books was insane! I still have a box full of these books, collected up to Return to Firetop Mountain, and to the best of my knowledge, only missing Masks of Mayhem. I will have to go hunting!
Really enjoyed these as a child. My first one was Citadel of Chaos.
I got into these books in fall of 1984 by a friend, I have 1 through 21 I believe and still in very good condition. My favourites are House of Hell, City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon. Steve Jackson's Sorcery books 1 to 4 were good too.
I'm 50 and have discovered the Fabled lands gamebooks. They are like Skyrim but in book form.
Great video, well done! :) 1 of my best times was in my childhood to read these books, was so awesome to get into the stories & the Sci-Fi/Post-Apocalyptic/Fantasy world of these stories with the experience amplified by amazing illustrations of these books PLUS my endless imagination!!! :)
i own deathtrap dungeon and house of hell. these books were amazing and could keep me busy for hours. the latter book doesnt seem controversial, since its like only fantasy. but its still one of the hardest
Yes, I think the only one that is harder is Creature Of Havoc. I did manage to complete House Of Hell. Played it so much I could see the map/house in my head. It was actually simple when I did it, lol.
@@Heaven-dy9lj Ah, you must have never played Crypt of the Sorcerer which is notoriously hard to beat.
Robot commando was the first FF book I picked up as a kid back in the early 80's. I eventually collected about 30 of these. It took forever, as I mowed lawns, washed cars, etc to save up and buy them. I'd pretty much forgotten about them, now afty seeing this I want to buy the whole set (after I dig my existing collection out of my parents basement!) Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
No problem Jensimaster! I'm still checking out ebay for my missing books - so dont start outbidding me, or we'll have a problem...lol - Snare
Great video mate. Just recently fetched down from the loft my small collection of FF books from my school days, started looking on ebay for some more, and watched some youtube vids. So much nostalgia. I hope your collection has grown in the 3 years since you made this vid! Cheers 🍺
Hey this was a really good overview of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. Other's out there I find focus too much on the wrong things at times but you explained your nostalgia and some of the things they're famous for. Great job!
Thanks for the kind words Kai - much appreciated! I'm presuming that you may be old enough to have experienced these first time around? in any case - thanks for getting involved and enjoy the rest of the channel :) - Snare
I was of the generation just right to become obsessed with these books. Like many I never once actually used the dice to play, but was still fun. As I recall though with the exception of Rebel Planet the sci-fi books were more miss than hit.
About cheating in gamebooks, the first time I play an adventure, I try to stick to the rules (with minor tweaks like treating nonsensical skill bonuses as attack strength bonuses).
Eventually however, the more attempts at a book I put in, the more the rules just fall apart. Reading the same pages over and over again is not that fun and neither is just doing the dice rolls on their own.
For house of hell I was playing legitimately for about 6 attempts but each route I tried just led to death (either by fear points or a death page, I won't spoil them).
My record I made for options "left to explore" wasn't thorough enough and I thought I'd explored certain places which I hadn't fully. And those places I overlooked were what I needed to progress.
Eventually I just said "fuck it" and played as a "ghost" adventurer to find the correct route. Then I played properly again after knowing what to do so that I could at least have some "sense of victory".
For anyone that wants to know I'm currently 21. I originally got into the series when I was about 12 (my Mum bought a collection, not sure where from) though I've now got back into them and intend to beat some of the ones I haven't played back then (if I can get ahold of them).
That is great collection, you have there. May I suggest for you "Creature of Havoc" ? It is one of the most unique ones as you start as a monster and can not comprehend languages at all and it plays as some brutal r-rated mystery book. Really unique experience.
The old style drawings are soooo cool! I miss that
'...now that's fucking genius.'
Awww... i just got quoted :) well, about 7 months ago, but still - I feel all fuzzy inside... - Snare
My first book was Vault of the Vampire when I was about 10. Got every one of them now including the new ones and a signed copy of the anniversary edition of Warlock of Firetop Mountain. I also have the fabled lands books, Steve Jackson's Sorcery series and many more. My son is now getting into them and it is encouraging him to read without being prompted by me or my wife.
That is amazing and such a touching story of passing on the love of those books! Thanks for the comment! -Snare
My first book was Demons of the Deep in either 1988 or '89, and I was hooked. In time I realised, unlike Choose Your Own Adventure, that a lot of them were set in the same fantasy realm, and that's part of what kept me coming back. Is there a list of which ones specifically all share that same fantasy realm? I always felt a bit taken out of the world when it was a book that didn't fit in with those. Thanks.
I'd forgotten all about The Trolltooth Wars until this video. I still have Creature of Havoc, because I believe it's a misprint, and you'll end up stuck in an infinite loop. I could never get out of it, anyway.
I had heaps of these as a kid, I have no idea what happened to them - I can only assume they got sent to the dreaded charity and now some collector probably has them for 50p from the time....who knows! I wish I'd kept them, I know I had Scorpion Swamp, Daggers Of Darkness & Trial Of The Champions to name a few (and ones that were personal favs..). Alas, I never kept 'em....crapsticks. Thanks for the memories, good fun :)
yessss!!!!! more content please@!!! love these books
omg i remember these books from when i was young! i remember being stuck in the same house for like a week, i had to restart cause i literally cheated and everything but couldnt find my way out for some reason. these books were amazing
Happy memories huh? Glad you enjoyed the video :) - Snare
Awesome Pal; cheers 😀
Real nice. Subbed purely cause of this video. I'm currently writing my own game book based on the "Fabled Lands" series.
Aww - thanks bud! ...AND you are writing a game book? That's awesome! i wish i had the commitment to do something similar - i hope it goes well, and let me know when it's finished - i'd happily pick up a copy :) - Snare
i loved these books so much holy shit...
Hahaha that intro is pretty funny 2 years later, my uncle turned me on to these as a kid good times man
Have you tried Lone Wolf by Joe Dever? 30+books and game book of the year for several years ! Started in the 80s
Another fact you can add to this video is that Miyazaki creator of Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, was heavily influenced by these books, he received an award for his achievements and he admitted that while accepting the award and they were the ones(creators Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson) delivering it to him, you can see their influence in some of the artwork of those games as well :) Here you have it:
officialfightingfantasy.blogspot.com/2018/11/steve-jackson-and-ian-livingstone-at.html
"The award was presented by two living legends in their own right: Games
Workshop and Fighting Fantasy co-creators Steve Jackson and Ian
Livingstone. Their presence was no mere coincidence: the Fighting
Fantasy choose-your-own-adventure RPG books that Jackson and Livingstone
penned 37 years ago originally inspired a young Miyazaki. Livingstone
called Miyazaki a "true genius of game design," which must've felt
great, as the pair are two of Miyazaki's childhood heroes. "I'm such a
huge fan of these two guys, I've almost forgotten what I was going to
say," Miyazaki chuckled. "
www.gamesradar.com/dark-souls-creator-hidetaki-miyazaki-takes-the-lifetime-achievement-award-at-the-golden-joystick-awards-2018/
Nice one!
These books were awesome.
Managed to collect a complete set during the early years of ebay.
House of hell was amazing I had no idea it caused grief ! Brilliant
ah... the sensitivities of 80's Britain... gotta love it... now it's the video games which are the bogeyman for kids...lol - Snare
That was a hard book to win. Any choice that takes you to the basement ends in death. Never go to the basement...
The US released Dell Books had the best artwork ever!
Nice collection you've got there! I've also been collecting them again, mainly from eBay. As with many people, I have no idea what happened to the books I had as a kid, charity shop or tipped most likely :( BTW, I'd just leave Sky Lord on the shelf, it's probably the most whacky and convoluted book of them all!
Hey John! I'll get around to it when i can though - I can't have it and not read it! some prices on ebay are crazy expensive though - missed out on a few deals too - regrettably. thanks for getting involved! which one is your fav? - Snare
I like the atmosphere of the books. However they are written like a trail and error puzzle. There are multiple paths to take but in some books like Trial of Champions(BEWARE OF MINOR SPOILER)
you need to collect a certain number of rings in order to win(you only learn this near the end of the game) and only one particular combination of routes through the dungeon will let you collect all the rings. I ended up going through all the possible paths while making a map of the dungeon and marking where those rings are so I can have a chance to complete the book. The same mechanic goes for The Forest of Doom and Cavern of The Snow Witch and I suppose a lot more of the books. Robot Commando is a bit different. You have 3 completely different ways to beat it and in addition to the on foot fights you have robot fights and each robot has its own stats and special abilities. If anyone can't find a particular book they might want to check for the PC/Mobile adaptations(although only the most popular of the books have a digital release). Best thing about the digital version is that the game keeps track of your inventory and stats. I don't miss filling my character sheet one bit.
i bought these from Coles every Friday with my allowance. I managed to keep a decent number of them for 30+ years and have been trying to acquire the full collection. They're don't seem as common in Canada as they are in the UK. And the British style fantasy art was awesome.
Yes they are hard to find in Canada.. 🙁
Great video Snare, I remember loving these books when I was a kid and had the green zig-zag banner versions of all of them up to and including Demons of the Deep. I've no idea what happened to them all, I can only assume they made their way to a charity shop years ago.
I was funnily enough thinking of doing a video on exactly the same subject - I've started collecting them again, like you. So far I've only got Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, Citadel Of Chaos and City Of Thieves, with varying covers but would love to collect them again. Out of interest, where did you get those plastic covers - they look really good?
Thanks TEA! I just searched for 180mm plastic covers on amazon - i think there may be cheaper alternatives, which i'm looking into as i need quite a few..! I've just got my hands on the Steve Jackson Sorcery books too, which look intriguing, you have to remember the spells without being able to refer to them while playing!
Cheers mate, I will have a look on the rainforest for some!
At the moment, whichever ones I can get in good condition for a reasonable price. Are you collecting them as well?
My favourite is City of Thieves. If you have a copy of Midnight Rogue there is a great map of Port Black sand that will help you navigate City of Thieves.
The only one I had out of yours was House of Hell, but I had quite a few of the earlier ones. I also had a couple of Lone Wolf books.
I never even heard of all the others you have, as I seem to have lost interest after House of Hell, as after that I got a Commodore 64. The Infocom and Magnetic Scrolls text adventure games were in some way an evolution of these game books.
For anybody interested in these, check eBay because there has been some reprints and you can buy new books for reasonably cheap. Of course lots of the classic originals aren’t reprinted so they’re harder to find, but you can pick up a few new books and see if they appeal to you.
I've been building my collection from chance offerings on eBay already... I still love these book so many years later. also managed to get a steal on some original Sorcery! books :) - Snare
OverbyteGaming ohh Sorcery! I have 4 of them - is that all of them?
They are a step above in terms of complexity and depth, and that spellcasting mechanic is quite clever. Very cool books.
yep! i think so - have yet to play them though - not enough hours in the day! - Snare
Funny you say that beause i play warhammer play skyrim SE and read these books good vid
Thanks Ethan! - Snare
Those types of books are still being created. You can find details here: facebook.com/adventuregamebooks/
how cool - i never knew about this, AND in the UK! thanks for the tip Adam! - Snare
Citadel of chaos is a must along with . deathtrap dungeon
Omg...
U have numberless spine book 5!!!!
That is very rare!!!
Wow forgot I had Crypt of the Sorceror until I saw the cover!
Hitlery is RACIST I had Creature of Havoc, Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Armies of Death, Sword of the Samurai and Freeway Fighter.
Hitlery is RACIST Never had that one borrowed a few like Robot Commander and House of Hell.
Hitlery is RACIST Don't I ever completed any of them, I found them really hard!
Misheard 1:45 as "Sky Lord had some sh1t mechanics"
Yes. Yes, it did.
Trial Of Champions is a follow-up to Deathtrap Dungeon, and you HAVE to read Deathtrap Dungeon, it's one of the best of the series! House Of Hell is great too but bloody difficult to beat.
@Elf Warrior101 - The Mirror Demon!
@Elf Warrior101 The worse part of the Mirror Demon is - if my memory serves - that finding it meant that you had gone the wrong way in the labyrinth and that you would ultimately fail due to missing a vital item.
Would I attempt it? Hell no! I'm far too peaceful :-)
How about you?
@Elf Warrior101 If done right, then yes it would be amazing! I think a lot of the FF books would make great VR games. House Of Hell, City Of Thieves, Demons Of The Deep, Creature Of Havoc, Vault Of The Vampire...
Where did you get those plastic covers?
Just from Amazon. Did the job just great! - Snare
Wow.a blast from the past.could you send me all the artwork from inside the books for a payment.
Citadel of chaos and deathrap dungeon were my first and favorites. Cant recall which I got first tho.
Seems like a lifetime ago huh! I remember everyone having some of the common ones like forest of doom, and no one having some of the rarer ones... glad you enjoyed the video! -Snare
@@OverbyteGaming Man as a kid those saturday mornings I spent sitting on my hardwood floor rolling dice were the best.
@@OverbyteGaming There are so many rare ones I didn't know about it until seeing this video. Personally I never liked the sci fi themed ones but the one were you're a robot fighting a dinosaur looks pretty badass.
Yeah - still have to find time to get into that one, despite how awesome the premise is...lol I actually got the hardback "YOU ARE THE HERO" book by Jonathan Green and jumped into a huge amount of history of the books - you should check it out if you can :) - Snare
I have book looking for revenge of the vampire and magehunter for years. There ridiculously expensive for some reason
Tell me about it! still hoping for a silly person to sell it for 50p...lol - Snare
I had all of these up to about number 30 but my mum threw them out when I moved away. The best one imo is Talisman of Death, which is about number 12 or so - the writers went on to do their own ninja themed game books which were really good. A lot of the books are based on D&D modules- something I did not realize until I was much older.
You said that most deaths are not too gruesome but that House of Hell has a few disturbing ones. There is one that has periodically popped into my head over the years to make my toes curl.
To be fair, a lot of the Ian Livingston ones are not that good. He tends to write blandly and without atmosphere. Steve Jackson, on the other had, wrote some really good ones. The guest authors seem to be either brilliant or awful.
Oh man u dont have forest of doom its a must
I do - i just didnt show it here because at the time of filming, i didnt have a black dragon cover... now i do so i have more thatn 1 copy of FOD!!! ...i feel like a king...lol - Snare
Yeah that was a good one. Deathtrap Dungeon too.
I recently re-read forest of doom and I still had my map I drew when I was a kid.
Playing without rolling dice? I never did that when I was a kid reading them... Got killed all the time though playing them.. lol..
Fingers in pages and just 'winning' every fight is how you are SUPPOSED to play them - EVERYONE knows that... ;) - Snare
Those are the later versions, I have a few that are the black skinnier versions
yeah, they are the ones i grew up with though. one day i might complete the collection... Thanks for the comment!- Snare
I loved these as a kid! Had a bunch of them but gave them away. Big mistake.
Hey!
Hey abdulhadhi! Thanks for dropping by! -Snare
SORCERY!
I managed to grab a set of sorcery books - never played them though. How were they to actually play? - Snare
If you cheat in the dice rolls, or go back to a paragraph then you don't really complete the book - you know. Why not just flip to page 400? I have been recollecting my FF collection from childhood, and I make a point of legit completing each one. Cheating just makes you feel crap.