Really happy to see that this morning! Was about to play it today because I discovered it on the channel facebook group! Thx for the review without spoilers!!!
Get the nostalgia reminder of playing Jackson and Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books way back as a kid,,when i saw the pages of that Gates of Fear, as they had some great art in those old books.
Nice - saw this on the Facebook group and my finger hovered over the purchase button on Amazon but I didn't pull the trigger. Gonna buy it now - looks like a fun little experience.
Daniel, you are at 9.99k subscribers--a stone's throw away from the incredible 10k milestone! I can't wait to celebrate your reaching the 10k milestone in the very, very near future!!!! You and MarcoOmnigamer are my top 2 favorite board game content creators. Keep up your great work! ; )
I just finished my first full run, had a tons of fun! I love how its printed on cream paper to minimize eye fatigue. I don't think you add anything to the attack rolls so its pretty easy to lose to a bad streak. Drinking potions in the middle of a fight helps that, but it kind of makes life level-ups meaningless if you can just drink a potion once you get within 1 hit of dying. Damage level-ups seem op for any class, especially non-fighters. Dumping spells on tough enemies is super strong too. Overall though an awesome game! I've seen this concept in the journaling game Diary of a Thousand Year Old Vampire where you go d10-d6 or from 9 forward to 5 backwards and it also had 3 prompts/events per page in case you got a repeat. So yeah a little something for improving your attack rolls or re-rolling them (luck at the cost of exp maybe) and a way to affect the room roll to backtrack or go forward more would be cool.
Great review of a book I hadn’t heard of. Thanks Daniel. I wish you would do a video on gamebooks to increase the modern US gamer’s knowledge of these.
Totally agree it's hard to get excited about other game books after Fabled Lands. I like this direction, toward more variety each play through with less overhead to restart and play. One of the challenges with game books, including FL, is that even those with deeper play inevitably lead you to 'start scumming' like a PC roguelike. You know the early beats and the optimal paths and you're just looking for the right rolls that will give you a shot at winning, or just seeing the later parts of the game. This is taxing when you're talking about reading and re-reading the first few pages/entries in a book. Anyway thanks for the overview! I'm working on my own project that is adjacent to game books and 4AD-style dungeon crawlers and this has given me some food for thought when it comes to what makes games (and books) in the space fun.
LOL@Cages of Fear feeling like a book turned cardgame reversed back into the book😄. My brother and I would have LOVED Cages of Fear as kids--we were into Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and Cages of Fear is a step up from those!
Sometimes only a game book hits the spot. Worth checking out the Oliver Hulme series Legendary Kingdoms since it provides a refreshing update on the Fabled Lands template (except with a team of 4), and the series is also likely to be completed sooner! Have you received Oathsworn yet? I've been lucky enough to play it for 2 weeks and it's incredible, but how it fits in with your channel objectives is another matter.....The Domain of Mizra Noctis arrived today as well. That package also includes the VotDK Klik game book to bring us back to that topic.
From the examples shown, it seems like there is little to no choice here. To me, this makes this more of an auto generated story than a game. That's not necessarily bad. I don't remember the name of it, but there was a fun little computer program where you would just hit start, and the game would auto run a fantasy dungeon crawl where the character would gain treasure, and gear. There was zero input from anyone. You just watched until the character died.
Idle games do this. There is also a rich history of tools like Rog-O-Matic, which play through games like Rogue. This game book might benefit from a press your luck element to make it more engaging. I won't offer specific solutions but some simple risk and reward might go a long way.
@@markg890 Melvor Idle is supposed to be a great idle game. As for this game, I liked how Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard and A Torch in the Dark handled damage and failure. In Pilgrimage, I don't think you can fail to the point of ending the game, but lacking resources effects the outcome of the story. They're not similar mechanics, but there are choices that keep the story moving in unique ways.
@@TheDungeonDive Contemplating getting into solo RPGing and figuring some decent "grown-up" gaming books might make for a nice entry, I backed them on Kickstarter but I haven't actually gotten to play them yet. They look fun and nicely produced, but not as extensive as Cages of Fear.
Have you played Fabled Lands? Those are probably the closest to a solo RPG in a game book. Great big open world where you move from one book to another depending on where in the world you are, tons of quests, keywords, item storage, cities, dungeons, etc.
@@TheDungeonDive I haven't done *any* solo gaming. The idea is to gradually work my way to playing true TTRPGs solo. I might also pick up Alone Against Fear along the way. Eventually I'd like to extend solo to GM-less with only two players.
@@TheDungeonDive I understand. One major reason to check would be that are 'live' right now. They are being written and build upon FF books and Fabled Lands. The design is a little more modern for a gamebook. I didn't click with Fabled Lands... so I'm supporting the new kids on the block ;-)
Really happy to see that this morning! Was about to play it today because I discovered it on the channel facebook group! Thx for the review without spoilers!!!
Get the nostalgia reminder of playing Jackson and Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books way back as a kid,,when i saw the pages of that Gates of Fear, as they had some great art in those old books.
The art is stunning throughout.
Nice - saw this on the Facebook group and my finger hovered over the purchase button on Amazon but I didn't pull the trigger. Gonna buy it now - looks like a fun little experience.
Daniel, you are at 9.99k subscribers--a stone's throw away from the incredible 10k milestone! I can't wait to celebrate your reaching the 10k milestone in the very, very near future!!!! You and MarcoOmnigamer are my top 2 favorite board game content creators. Keep up your great work! ; )
Thanks David! Appreciate that.
@@TheDungeonDive Looks like you reached 10K. Congrats!
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Purchasing now!
The comparison to dark castle is spot on.
I just finished my first full run, had a tons of fun! I love how its printed on cream paper to minimize eye fatigue.
I don't think you add anything to the attack rolls so its pretty easy to lose to a bad streak. Drinking potions in the middle of a fight helps that, but it kind of makes life level-ups meaningless if you can just drink a potion once you get within 1 hit of dying. Damage level-ups seem op for any class, especially non-fighters. Dumping spells on tough enemies is super strong too.
Overall though an awesome game! I've seen this concept in the journaling game Diary of a Thousand Year Old Vampire where you go d10-d6 or from 9 forward to 5 backwards and it also had 3 prompts/events per page in case you got a repeat. So yeah a little something for improving your attack rolls or re-rolling them (luck at the cost of exp maybe) and a way to affect the room roll to backtrack or go forward more would be cool.
I bought it! Can't wait to get my copy!
Picked this up. Cannot wait to play and congrats on 10k
second time commenting on this...can't wait to get my copy...looks absolutely perfect.
Great review of a book I hadn’t heard of. Thanks Daniel. I wish you would do a video on gamebooks to increase the modern US gamer’s knowledge of these.
I will do a few more! :)
the escape the dark castle comparisons made this an instant purchase for me.
Totally agree it's hard to get excited about other game books after Fabled Lands. I like this direction, toward more variety each play through with less overhead to restart and play.
One of the challenges with game books, including FL, is that even those with deeper play inevitably lead you to 'start scumming' like a PC roguelike. You know the early beats and the optimal paths and you're just looking for the right rolls that will give you a shot at winning, or just seeing the later parts of the game. This is taxing when you're talking about reading and re-reading the first few pages/entries in a book.
Anyway thanks for the overview! I'm working on my own project that is adjacent to game books and 4AD-style dungeon crawlers and this has given me some food for thought when it comes to what makes games (and books) in the space fun.
Right. It’s more of a game and less of a game book. Wish I would have said that in the video ! Lol.
LOL@Cages of Fear feeling like a book turned cardgame reversed back into the book😄. My brother and I would have LOVED Cages of Fear as kids--we were into Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and Cages of Fear is a step up from those!
Sometimes only a game book hits the spot. Worth checking out the Oliver Hulme series Legendary Kingdoms since it provides a refreshing update on the Fabled Lands template (except with a team of 4), and the series is also likely to be completed sooner! Have you received Oathsworn yet? I've been lucky enough to play it for 2 weeks and it's incredible, but how it fits in with your channel objectives is another matter.....The Domain of Mizra Noctis arrived today as well. That package also includes the VotDK Klik game book to bring us back to that topic.
Can’t wait for the new Hexplore It to arrive! Really looking forward to it. Oath sworn has not arrived yet.
Late to the party but just ordered this 💀
From the examples shown, it seems like there is little to no choice here. To me, this makes this more of an auto generated story than a game. That's not necessarily bad. I don't remember the name of it, but there was a fun little computer program where you would just hit start, and the game would auto run a fantasy dungeon crawl where the character would gain treasure, and gear. There was zero input from anyone. You just watched until the character died.
progress quest?
@@Catz1987 Yes, that's it! Thanks. :)
You’re correct. I wish there was a little more player agency here, but it’s still fun for me.
Idle games do this. There is also a rich history of tools like Rog-O-Matic, which play through games like Rogue.
This game book might benefit from a press your luck element to make it more engaging. I won't offer specific solutions but some simple risk and reward might go a long way.
@@markg890 Melvor Idle is supposed to be a great idle game.
As for this game, I liked how Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard and A Torch in the Dark handled damage and failure. In Pilgrimage, I don't think you can fail to the point of ending the game, but lacking resources effects the outcome of the story. They're not similar mechanics, but there are choices that keep the story moving in unique ways.
Damn Daniel, we always like the same stuff. Must be being in the 40s thing. What are the illustrations of the two dice at the bottom each page for?
So you can flip to a die roll.
This looks pretty neat! Have you looked at Officina Meningi's gamebooks "The Necronomicon Gamebook: Dagon" and "The Necronomicon Gamebook: Carcosa"?
I have not. I don’t spend a lot of time with game books. Are they good?
@@TheDungeonDive Contemplating getting into solo RPGing and figuring some decent "grown-up" gaming books might make for a nice entry, I backed them on Kickstarter but I haven't actually gotten to play them yet. They look fun and nicely produced, but not as extensive as Cages of Fear.
Have you played Fabled Lands? Those are probably the closest to a solo RPG in a game book. Great big open world where you move from one book to another depending on where in the world you are, tons of quests, keywords, item storage, cities, dungeons, etc.
@@TheDungeonDive I haven't done *any* solo gaming. The idea is to gradually work my way to playing true TTRPGs solo. I might also pick up Alone Against Fear along the way.
Eventually I'd like to extend solo to GM-less with only two players.
That’s great! I’d definitely check out Fabled Lands.
Daniel, what is the purpose of the two dice printed at the bottom of each page? Thanks.
Some game books have dice printed on pages so you can flip to a roll.
You should check Legendary Kingdoms game
book. They have 2 books out release and just succeeded with book 3 kickstarter.
My offer to send you book 1 is still open
@@erikpeters7072 You should send him! It will be a good surprise!
Thanks! I am familiar with those, just don’t want to dive into them at this time. Still have a lot of Fabled Lands to read.
@@TheDungeonDive I understand. One major reason to check would be that are 'live' right now. They are being written and build upon FF books and Fabled Lands. The design is a little more modern for a gamebook. I didn't click with Fabled Lands... so I'm supporting the new kids on the block ;-)
I did try the Vulcanverse (sp?) books and did not really care for those. Another new series similar to Fabled Lands.
Bought this based off this video
Hope you enjoy it.
I wish you had put a link to buy the book.
Just google it. It's the very first thing that comes up. I'm not here to google things for people.