Wednesday 25 April 2018

Return to Deathtrap Dungeon

Good news, Deathtrap Dungeon fans, Ian Livingstone's seminal Fighting Fantasy gamebook is now available as part of Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics library app.


The Fighting Fantasy Classics Update (1.3), which includes Deathtrap Dungeon, is available now, and contains a handful of exciting features, including:

• The return of our History of Fighting Fantasy and Rulebook titles, which are included as free books on the shelf for all players.

• The map feature is now fully functional. All eight of the available books include these maps, which are a throwback to the old-school Fighting Fantasy experience of grabbing a scrap of paper and plotting out the locations you’ve explored. The map automatically records both your current and previous playthroughs, making it easier than ever to uncover every path and encounter all that each gamebook has to offer.

• Dice accelerometer support – shaking the device will re-roll dice.

• Lots of bug-fixes to improve combat, page-turns, menu navigation, bookmarks, Free Read Mode, image downloads and more.

Not only that, but the team at Tin Man Games want to know which book you would like to see adapted next - Sword of the Samurai, Trial of Champions, Creature of Havoc, or Freeway Fighter? To place your vote and have your say, simply follow this link.


Friday 20 April 2018

The Second Swordsman - Cover-ing More of Khul

In this, his 15th Second Swordsman post, Malcolm Garcia returns to the dark continent of Khul...


The Second Swordsman - Cover-ing More of Khul

By Malcolm Garcia

Something synonymous with FIGHTING FANTASY adventures are the covers that adorn each book. From the infamous ones on Deathtrap Dungeon and City of Thieves to the oddness of those on (the original) The Citadel of Chaos and Spectral Stalkers, each promised a glimpse of what adventuring lay within. For this episode of the Second Swordsman I chose three covers that have, what I considered to be, quite interesting cover art.

Scorpion Swamp was decorated with the Pool Beast which was drawn by Duncan Smith, Beneath Nightmare Castle had the Spiked Maiden of prolific cover illustrator Terry Oakes, and Masks of Mayhem had John Sibbick’s Golem rushing at YOU through an underground cavern. Only two of these, the Pool Beast and the Spiked Maiden can you fight during the adventure, although with SKILL scores of eight and ten respectively that might not be the wisest choice. Coincidentally, all three books were set in Khul, a place I’d not visited since attempting the trio of Luke Sharp adventures set in the southwest of the continent. But would always choosing the second option give me greater success this time?

Robin Waterfield wrote Masks of Mayhem and the only book of his I’d tried previously was Phantoms of Fear (not being willing to sell a kidney to get a copy of Deathmoor) where I had met my end in a fight against myself. In Phantoms, following the Second Swordsman process had led me to the underground dream world of the Demon Prince Ishtra and so I had some hope that I’d get a fair way into this book. The background to Masks was a bit complex, but it boiled down to a ‘kill the big bad girl’ mission. I started with good SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores as well as the much-appreciated ten meals and a potion of strength (the second potion in the list of choices).

Very early in the adventure I reached Lake Nekros where, rather than going into the Affen Forest (which I’d explored previously in Phantoms and would have liked to return to) I instead headed into the hills. While circumnavigating the lake I managed to sprain my ankle in a rabbit hole and incurred a SKILL loss at, what I thought was, a very early stage in the book. Soon afterwards I then chose to go one way down a path rather than another and my adventure was suddenly over. No fights. No treasure. Just what must be one of the most enigmatic sudden deaths in FIGHTING FANTASY, “You walk off through the mist which closes behind your back. You are never seen again, by man or monster, on this earth.” Mysterious and memorable.

I then left northeastern Khul and went west, to the town of Fenmarge for the beginning of Scorpion Swamp. In the FIGHTING FANTASY series, this book was both the first to be penned by an author other than Ian Livingstone or Steve Jackson, the writer being the American Steve Jackson, and was also the first (of the fantasy adventures at least) to not be set on Allansia. With these firsts would Scorpion also be the first book where following the Second Swordsman process would be successful? The only other adventure of Jackson’s I’ve tried was Demons of the Deep, where I got a pretty long way before being slain by the STAMINA-supercharged Kraken.

While I started the book with a magic ring, I had no food and a poor LUCK score. Then, as with my attempt at Demons, choosing the second option meant I began Scorpion by ignoring opportunities to interact with the locals and learn something about my surroundings. This resulted in me paying no attention to talk of a group of wizards and choosing a quest. I hastily headed into the swamp, failed a LUCK test, and fell into a hole and died. No fights. No treasure. No spell gems. Just the final ‘told-you-so’ words of, “Soon, as the villagers predicted, only your bones are left, gleaming in the dim light that filters down between the trees.”

Not too far south of the place of my defeat in Scorpion lies the city of Neuberg, the setting for Beneath Nightmare Castle. This was the third book by Peter Darvill-Evans I’ve attempted – in Portal of Evil I was captured by a group of soldiers early on and in Spectral Stalkers I foolishly tried to swim through a moat of acid after wandering around aimlessly for far too long. The starting scores for my attempt at Beneath were promising, but in the background of the adventure YOU are captured and knocked unconscious. Given the choice between accepting or rejecting an offer of help from an unseen stranger, I chose the latter. And died. Again. And this time I set a record for the quickest failure in a FIGHTING FANTASY adventure – just one choice! My previous worst performance as the Second Swordsman was in Crypt of the Sorcerer (where I failed in two choices). This time there was no disappearing into the mist or a muddy hole, but instead the terrifying, “They kill you slowly and take ecstatic pleasure in your agonised writhings. You go completely insane before you die.”

Never before has choosing every second option met with such abject failures across a range of adventures. Even so, each of these latest poor performances proved memorable because of their suddenness, giving me a different experience than the occasional long and winding path to an inevitable and ignominious death (I’m looking at you Seas of Blood and Armies of Death).


Thank you  to Malcolm for another entertaining Second Swordsman blog post. Which titles will he be tackling next, in his ongoing mission to only choose every second choice in a FIGHTING FANTASY adventure? You're just have to keep logging on to www.fightingfantasy.com to find out!

And remember, if you have any suggestions for items for the official Fighting Fantasy blog don't forget to get in touch via mail@fightingfantasy.com.

Monday 16 April 2018

Jackson, Livingstone and Higson signing at Forbidden Planet on Tuesday

Tomorrow, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone - co-creators of the bestselling, global Fighting Fantasy gamebook phenomenon - will be at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London, signing copies of the latest batch of FF titles re-released by Scholastic Books.

They will be joined by the newest guest author on the series, and a bestseller in his own right, Charlie Higson, whose new book The Gates of Death has been met with rave reviews.

The event takes place on Tuesday 17th April from 6:00pm - 7:00pm, and to find out more simply follow this link.


Friday 13 April 2018

Can you write an entire story in one tweet?

How would you like to win a copy of Nomad Games' Fighting Fantasy Legends, as well as Scholastic Books' new editions of the original Fighting Fantasy books that inspired the game?

If you would, all you have to do is write a story about a caveman, a librarian and a mouse – all character that appear within the game - in one tweet!


You have until Monday 30th April 2018 to enter and full terms and conditions can be found here.



Tuesday 10 April 2018

Ian Livingstone and Charlie Higson signing at Forbidden Planet

There's just one week to go until the doors of the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London open, ready for the next Fighting Fantasy signing event.

Both series co-creator Ian Livingstone and newest recruit Charlie Higson will be there, signing The Gates of Death and the other new releases from Scholastic Books.

The event takes place on Tuesday 17th April from 6:00pm - 7:00pm, and to find out more simply follow this link.


Monday 9 April 2018

An Interview with bestselling author Charlie Higson

With all the excitement surrounding the release of Charlie Higson's first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, and five classic titles by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone - including The Shamutanti Hills and Deathtrap Dungeon - the Warlock crawled out of his lair beneath Firetop Mountain to interrogate the series' newest contributor and find out more about the genesis of The Gates of Death.

You can read the interview here, at www.fightingfantasy.com.


Saturday 7 April 2018

The Gates of Death competition winners

Just over a month ago, we launched a competition to win a signed copy of Charlie Higson's The Gates of Death. Entrants had to draw what they thought Ulrakaah, the Big Bad of the book, looked like.

Before we reveal who's won, here's how illustrator Vlado Krizan imagined the Queen of Darkness...


And here's how cover artist Robert Ball envisaged the Mother of Demons...


Fans old and new alike entered the competition, and so, rather fittingly, we have actually ended up with two winners - one child and one adult. And they are...

Ollie Troman, aged 8

Chris Gill

Both Ollie and Chris will each be receiving a copy of The Gates of Death, courtesy of Scholastic Books, signed and personalised by Charlie Higson himself, as well as a Steam key for Tin Man Games' The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Four runners up will also receive codes for The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and they are Camden Travis, Tenisha Raymond, Simon Walpole and Kalman Mikorka.

Camden Travis, aged 6

Tenisha Raymond, aged 13

Simon Walpole

Kalman Mikorka

Congratulations to both the winners and the runners-up, and thank you to everyone who entered.

May your STAMINA never fail!

Friday 6 April 2018

Classic Fighting Fantasy titles relaunched by Scholastic Books

As well as releasing The Gates of Death this week, Scholastic Books have also re-released another five classic Fighting Fantasy titles by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, including the hardest and most devious FF gamebook ever created - Creature of Havoc - and the bestselling dungeon bash ever - Deathtrap Dungeon!


Which of these classic titles are you most excited to see back in print? 

There are still plenty of Jackson and Livingstone titles still to be reprinted, including such fondly-remembered titles as Caverns of the Snow Witch, Trial of Champions, Armies of Death, Starship Traveller, and the rest of the Sorcery! quartet.

Let us know which of these classic titles you would like to see brought back next in the comments below.


 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=fighting+fantasy+scholastic+steve+jackson&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Afighting+fantasy+scholastic+steve+jackson


Thursday 5 April 2018

The Gates of Death open today!

It's the day Fighting Fantasy fans have been waiting for, for today is the day that Charlie Higson's much-anticipated brand-new Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Gates of Death is released!


But not only that, three classic Jackson titles and two classic Livingstone titles are also re-released today.

  

  


Remember to let us know what you think of the new releases by posting a comment on this blog post, and perhaps leave a review online.

Tuesday 3 April 2018

Deathtrap Dungeon or Sword of the Samurai? YOU decide!

Tin Man Games need your help!

The team from Down Under are looking to the future of their newly released Fighting Fantasy Classics app and want to know which book YOU want to play next!

In case you’ve missed it, Fighting Fantasy Classics is a library-style app through which you can collect and play many of your favourite Allansian adventures! It is free to download on iOS and Android and every player gets Jonathan Green’s swashbuckling pirate adventure Bloodbones for free upon download.

Presently, you can purchase a handful of never-before-released gamebooks through the app, including The Citadel of Chaos, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and City of Thieves. But the big question is, would you like to play Deathtrap Dungeon or Sword of the Samurai next? Get your vote in by Monday 9th April, 6pm AEST*!

To find out more - and to vote! - follow this link.


* That's Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is 9 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.