Merry Christmas from Fighting Fantasy

It has been another busy year for Fighting Fantasy. There has been the release of another new Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Dungeon on Blood Island, as well as the publication of numerous foreign translations, some of which marked the 40th anniversary of particular titles.

Then there was the release of two non-fiction books about Fighting Fantasy, Jonathan Green's YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, and MAGIC REALMS: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, written by Jonathan Green and Sir Ian Livingstone.

There was also crowdfunding success for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy Adventure Creation System and the board game Dark Dungeons.

And of course, Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 took place in September, marking 40 years of Deathtrap Dungeon and featuring an in-person visit from ace artist Iain McCaig.

So, what does 2025 have in store for Fighting Fantasy fans? Apart from the release of Fighting Fantasy Adventures and more Fighting Fantasy Classics from Tin Man Games, you mean? You'll just have to wait and see.

But in the meantime, here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

40 years of Scorpion Swamp

Scorpion Swamp will see print again next year, as part of Steve Jackson Games' publication of the Fighting Fantasy series in the US, so today we look back on the history of the first non-Jackson and Livingstone FF gamebook, 40 years after it was first published.

In March 1983, TheWarlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos and The Forest of Doom topped The Sunday Times bestseller charts. Two more titles, Starship Traveller and City of Thieves, appeared later that same year. Having seen how successful the series was, other publishers began jumping on the bandwagon, rushing out competing gamebook series of their own. But Puffin Books were keen to maintain their position at the head of the game.

“Puffin decided our best battle strategy would be to publish a new FF book every month,” says Jackson. “There was no way Ian and I could write a book a month, so we decided to commission other authors… and called it the ‘Jackson & Livingstone Present’ series.

“As it happens, our first ‘Presents’ series author was Steve Jackson – the American one, designer of GURPS – who had come over to the UK to talk business with Games Workshop. So the book was: Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Present: Scorpion Swamp… by Steve Jackson. Very confusing!”

“I was visiting London,” explains US Steve, who was already known to the UK Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone since Games Workshop was distributing his games on this side of the Pond. “They described their travails in creating FF books, and the difficulty of flow-charting. I sat down and wrote the first third of Scorpion Swamp, and they liked it.”

There are still people to this day who do not realise that the Steve Jackson who wrote Scorpion Swamp, Demons of the Deep and Robot Commando, and the Steve Jackson who wrote such classics as The Citadel of Chaos, House of Hell and Creature of Havoc are two completely different people.

“Occasionally I am presented with a copy of one of UK Steve’s books to sign,” says US Steve. “I always explain, and if they really want me to, I will sign it ‘The wrong Steve Jackson’.”

Published in 1984, with cover and internal art by Duncan Smith, Scorpion Swamp (FF8) sent the hero into the foetid fens of the title with nothing but his sword to defend himself, and a magic Brass Ring that detected evil as well as letting the hero know which way was north.

Unlike other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Scorpion Swamp allowed the player to choose one of three quests, from a selection of patrons who were Good, Evil and Neutral. The gameplay was non-linear in design, enabling the hero to revisit locations and explore the swamp as he so desired, and a direct consequence of US Steve’s background in RPGs.

Did you know...?

When the US Steve Jackson visited Games Workshop, the plan was that UK Steve and Ian Livingstone would show him the sights of London. However, having been persuaded to write a Fighting Fantasy book for them that was what he did – right then and there in their office! The planned tour of London never happened, but ever since many thousands of readers have enjoyed exploring Scorpion Swamp instead.

Scorpion Swamp is one of the FF adventures that have been mapped by Qatlas, and you can purchase a copy for your gaming room, or to aid you with completing thne gamebook, here.

To find out more about the history of your favourite FF Gamebooks, pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks today.

40 years of House of Hell

For almost thirty years following its initial release back in 1984, House of Hell remained unique; it was the only FF adventure to have a wholly ‘contemporary’ setting. It was not a futuristic, superhero sci-fi yarn, or a post-apocalyptic adventure, but was Fighting Fantasy’s one and only specifically horror-themed adventure, until Blood of the Zombies was published in 2012.

The setting for House of Hell is the sort of nightmare you could imagine yourself ending up in if your car broke down on a lonely country road in a thunderstorm only for you to discover that you were in a mobile phone dead spot.

Other than the fact that there’s no mention of mobile phones, the plot of the book hasn’t dated in the intervening decades. As a result of the aforementioned breakdown and thunderstorm, the hero takes refuge in an old house, but it’s a decision that turns out to be the worst mistake of his life, since the house is home to a cult of devil-worshippers and their demonic Master.

House of Hell first appeared in a shortened form in Warlock magazine. A significant number of references were modified for the paperback version, with rooms being moved around and secret passageways added.

Although his artwork later appeared on the cover for The Citadel of Chaos, Houseof Hell was Ian Miller’s first work for the Fighting Fantasy series. Steve Jackson was so impressed by Miller’s work on House of Hell that he purchased the original painting.

The book was illustrated internally by Tim Sell. However, one of his illustrations - depicting a naked woman on an altar dripping with blood, with her modesty protected by a convenient cultist’s sleeve - was removed from subsequent printings after a number of complaints were received by Puffin Books.

“That did give us a problem,” recalls editor Philippa Dickinson. “We had a lot of complaints. The media suddenly got hold of, ‘was this suitable for children?’ We had various, no doubt very well-meaning, people claiming that we were encouraging children to believe in Satan and Satanism... But we had a lot of very bonkers letters. Some were genuinely concerned about whether this was suitable, and you could be respectful of their views, and we had a few who quoted Revelations at us.

“It was of that time, and it was because the books were so successful, and boys were getting so obsessed, so what were we doing? They were being obsessed by something, so this can’t be healthy, because they’re obsessed. But they’re reading! What are you complaining about?

“At that time our office in New York was at 666 Fifth Avenue… Every so often, they’d get people saying that the company was clearly run by an agent of evil because we operated out of the offices at 666 Fifth Avenue.”

However, attitudes can and do change, and recently an article in The Guardian newspaper recommended House of Hell as a good title for getting disillusioned children enthused about reading again.

The dedication written by Steve Jackson for the Wizard Books edition of House of Hell reads:

Games Night —
to Clive, Ian, Mark, Peter and Skye.
May their Dinner Winnerships be few.
But always more than mine...

The list of names are the members of an exclusive gaming group that’s been running since the mid-1990s, and which includes Peter Molyneux of Populous and Lionhead fame (and more recently with 22 Cans and Godus) among its membership. Games Night is still a regular event, and at the end of each season a cup is awarded.

If you are struggling to complete House of Hell, you can buy a solution map from Qatlas, and there is also one on the way from Scott Mackay.

House of Hell is now available as an app from Tin Man Games, either as a standalone adventure, or as part of the Fighting Fantasy Classics library.

To read more about the history of the Fighting Fantasy series, pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks today.

Fighting Fantasy at Dragonmeet 2024

Fighting Fantasy co-creator Sir Ian Livingstone and FF historian Jonathan Green will be attending Dragonmeet on Saturday 30 November 2024. You will find them at the Fighting Fantasy stand in the Upper Trade Hall (indicated by the small blue tent under the FF logo on the map below).

Click on the map to enlarge it.

Jonathan will have copies of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks to sell, and Sir Ian will have copies of MAGIC REALMS: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, which they worked on together, and a few hardbacks of The Dungeon on Blood Island.

How to Play Fighting Fantasy Adventures

Wallace Designs recently posted some examples of the card art for their forthcoming Fighting Fantasy Adventures game, and it looks incredible!

They also posted a video showing how the game plays.

The Warlock can't wait! How about you, adventurer?

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Monster Bundle available now!

Available now from Arion Games, on DriveThruRPG, is the Advanced Fighting Fantasy Monster Bundle.

This bundle contains five books at a discount of 15%* - Beyond the Pit, Return to the Pit, Rough Guide to the Pit, Demons of Doom, and Creatures of Mishna - which will provide you with more than 500 monsters to use in your AFF campaigns.

To purchase the AFF Monster Bundle, follow this link.

* And it auto-updates if you already own one or more of the books.

Fighting Fantasy Classics coming to Steam Deck

Fans of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks who also use Steam Deck, will be excited to hear that Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics adaptations are coming to the platform soon.

Steam Deck is a great platform for handheld gaming and it is a perfect fit for FF adventures, which were some of the very first on-the-go games for Gen Xers back in the 1980s.

The Tin Man team are currently adding in controller support as well as updating Fighting Fantasy Classics' save system to allow for multiple save slots per book. They are also adding in cloud saving.

A new build will be released soon and there will also be an announcement in the next few weeks regarding new FF titles coming to the FFC library!

The Tin Man himself, Neil Rennison, teasing some possible future FFC titles.

Sir Ian Livingstone to attend Dragonmeet 2024

Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending Dragonmeet again this year, at the Novotel London West, on Saturday 30 November 2024.

Before the trade halls open to the general public, the Dragonmeet Awards ceremony will take place. Last year, one of the awards that was made was the Ian Livingstone Prize for Innovations in Games.

Sir Ian presenting the inaugural Ian Livingstone Prize for Innovations in Games to the Role Play Haven at Dragonmeet 2023.

If you have been meaning to pick up a signed copy of Magic Realms, Dice Men, or the collector's hardback of The Dungeon on Blood Island, Dragonmeet will be the perfect occasion to do just that.

Also in attendance will be FF author and historian Jonathan Green, who will be selling copies of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

So, if you're in London on Saturday 30 November 2024, why not pop along and say hello?

Sir Ian Livingstone at Lucca 2024

Last weekend, Sir Ian Livingstone was a guest at the week-long Italian comics and games fair, Lucca 2024.

Sir Ian Livingstone at Lucca 2024 with Karl Kopinski, cover artist for the hardback of Assassins of Allansia.

During his time there, he joined with others in celebrating 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons, including Luke Gygax, son of the late Gary Gygax.

Sir Ian Livingstone (centre) and Luke Gygax (second from right).

He also met with many Italian Fighting Fantasy fans and was even presented with an award for Best Foreign Gamebook.

Sir Ian's award for Best Foreign Gamebook.

Fighting Fantasy returns to Spain

Celaeno Books are preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign to bring Fighting Fantasy gamebooks back for Spanish readers.

The first four titles they have in their sights are the classic The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Return to Firetop Mountain, and the 40th anniversary titles Secrets of Solomonis and Shadow of the Giants.

The books will feature classic cover art, where possible, and the original illustrations. There are also plans for a special limited and numbered edition of only 1,000 copies of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain exclusive to Spain with the original cover painting by Peter Andrew Jones.

You can find out more information and sign up to be notified when the crowdfunding campaign goes live here.

Steve Jackson Games Tapped As US Fighting Fantasy Publisher

The classic solo adventure gamebooks are returning to the United States after more than 20 years.

In 1982, British game designers Sir Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson introduced Fighting Fantasy, a revolutionary set of solo adventure books that combined nonlinear narratives with dice-rolling tabletop RPG mechanics. Now, this fantastical, multi-million-selling book series returns to the United States thanks to an historic 50-book publishing collaboration with Steve Jackson Games. The first books in the series will be available in early 2025.

Fighting Fantasy debuted with The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in 1982. Since then, over 20 million copies of the exciting series have been sold worldwide. In Fighting Fantasy, players embark on a solo adventure where their decisions – and dice rolls – determine the outcome of the story. This combination of nonlinear narrative and classic tabletop action sets the series apart from other gamebook franchises.

Fighting Fantasy co-creators Sir Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (UK) stated how thrilled they were to sign a US publishing agreement for Fighting Fantasy with Steve Jackson Games. Sir Ian says:

“To have a new publisher in the USA is a special moment in the history of Fighting Fantasy. We have known Steve Jackson (US) for more than 40 years, having distributed Steve Jackson Games in the 1980s when we owned Games Workshop. Steve also wrote three fantastic Fighting Fantasy books which caused a lot of confusion at the time when people didn’t realize there were two Steve Jacksons! We look forward to exciting times ahead in the USA for new and existing Fighting Fantasy fans.”

The first five books - The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos, The Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, and Deathtrap Dungeon - will be released in early 2025, with an additional five volumes - Island of the Lizard King, Scorpion Swamp, House of Hell, Creature of Havoc, and The Dungeon on Blood Island - later that year.

About Steve Jackson Games: Steve Jackson Games, based in Austin, Texas, has published games, game books, and magazines since 1980. SJ Games has an extensive catalog of hit games, including Munchkin, Zombie Dice, Car Wars, the GURPS roleplaying system, Ogre, The Fantasy Trip, and more. Munchkin, Ogre, and Illuminati also have digital versions on Steam and other platforms, bringing tabletop classics to a new generation of fans.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy: Dark Dungeons - The Board Game

Advanced Fighting Fantasy - Dark Dungeons: The Board Game, by Arion Games, is now funding on Kickstarter. Check out the video below and follow this link to pledge your support.

"YOU are the hero!" with Sir Ian Livingstone

On Monday 7th October 2024, Sir Ian Livingstone, co-creator of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, will be taking part in a webinar with debut author, Iqbal Hussain.

He will be discussing his life, writing process, inspirations, as well as his latest FF adventure, The Dungeon on Blood Island, and Unbound’s new book Magic Realms, a celebration of the iconic artwork in Fighting Fantasy.

The webinar will take place from 7:00-8:00pm BST (GMT+1) and you can reserve your free spot here.

In other FF news, or rather AFF news, the crowdfunding campaign for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy board game Dark Dungeons, launches on Kickstarter on Tuesday 1st October 2024. To find out more and register your interest, click here.