Fighting Fantasy at the UK Games Expo 2026

This weekend - Friday 29th May through to Sunday 31st May 2026 - the UK Games Expo is celebrating its 20th anniversary - and Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have been along for much of that ride, as can be seen in the Expo Museum.

Sir Ian Livingstone is in attendance against this year - on Stand 2-359 in Hall 2 - as is FF historian Jonathan Green, and brand manager Marc Gascoigne*.

Sir Ian will be taking part in a number of events across the weekend:

2:30pm - 3:30pm on Friday, 29th May - Main Stage, Hall 1: Life is a Game talk

11:30am - 12.30pn on Saturday, 29th May - Main Stage, Hall 1: 20 Years of Gaming panel with Luke Gygax and Steve Jackson (US)

2:00pm - 3.30pm on Saturday, 30th May - Toute Suite: City of Thieves playthrough with John Robertson

You will also be able to pick up copies of Magic Realms, Dice Men, and even a few copies of the hardback edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - all from Stand 2-359.

If you are attending the UK Games Expo this weekend, stop by and say hello, and may your STAMINA never fail!

* Please note that Marc Gascoigne will be attending on the Saturday only.

Fighting Fantasy and All Rolled Up at the UK Games Expo 2026

All Rolled Up are delighted to announce a new line of officially licensed Fighting Fantasy gaming accessories that will be on sale at the UK Games Expo 2026. These include...

Coasters...

Messenger bags...

Mugs...

and Beer Steins!

There are also dice and, of course, ARU's legendary All Rolled Up that can hold all the dice, pens, counters, game cards and more for your tabletop, or gamebook, needs in a sturdy, hand-crafted roll.

Visit All Rolled Up at the UK Games Expo at Stand 3-627 in Hall 3 and then stop by Stand 2-359 in Hall 2 to meet the legend that is Sir Ian Livingstone himself.

Starship Traveller - Turn to 400!

Starship Traveller was recently published in Danish, by Faraos Cigarer, with a new translation by Morten Gottschalck.

However, Morten didn't just translate the Steve Jackson-penned adventure - he also added 60 sections to the adventure to take the total count up to 400. Here's Morten to tell you more about it...

Sir Ian Livingstone at the UK Games Expo 2026

From Friday 29th May - Sunday 31st May 2026, Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending the UK Games Expo at the NEC on the outskirts of Birmingham. You will find him on Stand 2-359, along with FF alumni Marc Gascoigne* and Jonathan Green.

Sir Ian is also taking part in two events.

2.30pm-3.30pm on Friday, 29th May, Main Stage, Hall 1:  Life is a Game

Ian will give an entertaining and visual account of his struggles as an entrepreneur in the 1970s when he and Steve Jackson founded Games Workshop and launched Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer in Europe. He will tell the origin story of the multi-million-selling Fighting Fantasy gamebook series from its launch in 1982 with The Warlock of Firetop Mountain up to the present day with the announcement of a new title written by Ian coming out at Fighting Fantasy Fest 6.

2.00pm-3.30pm on Saturday, 30th May, Toute Suite: City of Thieves play through with John Robertson

Take the journey to Port Blacksand and help Ian lure a comedian to his doom for charity! 

(This sold out almost immediately, hence it is no longer shown on the UK Games Expo website.)

* Saturday only.

Return to Firetop Mountain... again!

Arriving in just a few weeks' time on Steam, courtesy of Tin Man Games, is Ian Livingstone's Return to Firetop Mountain.

Years have passed since Zagor the Warlock fell, but the shadows never truly left Firetop Mountain. Evil stirs once more within its depths, and the labyrinth you thought you knew has changed. New dangers, twisted passages, and deadly secrets await those brave (or foolish) enough to enter again.

Tin Man Games' digital edition will feature the original striking cover art by Les Edwards, alongside atmospheric interior illustrations by the late, great Martin McKenna, bringing every dark corridor and monstrous encounter vividly to life.

So sharpen your sword, steady your nerves, and get ready to take that first step into the darkness once more.

The mountain is waiting...

Night of the Necromancer is coming to Denmark

Genfærdets hævn, the Danish translation of Jonathan Green's Night of the Necromancer, is currently live on Kickstarter.

If the crowdfunding campaign is a success, the translation - by Morten Gottschalck - will be published by Faraos Cigarer.

If you are a Danish speaker, or a dedicated Fighting Fantasy collector, you can pledge your support to the crowdfunding campaign here.

You can view the FF adventures already in print in Denmark here.

40 years of Sword of the Samurai

40 years ago today, Sword of the Samurai was published for the first time.

Written by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson*, the twentieth book in the series presented readers with the Fighting Fantasy version of Japan, in the form of the mystical land of Hachiman**.

The hero of the adventure is a young Samurai, Kensei, who is tasked with recovering the Dai-Katana - the Shogun’s great sword - which has been stolen by Ikiru, the Master of Shadows, who dwells deep in the Pit of Demons.

“At the time, the whole Samurai/Ninja thing was big and breaking out of the niche world it was in, into the bigger niche of gamebooks and RPGs, which had become substantially more popular than they had been for a long time,” says Thomson. “Still a niche, compared to cinema and even games like Monopoly and stuff, but a big niche.”

Sword of the Samurai was only the second time that Alan Langford had appeared on internal art duties at the time, while Peter Andrew Jones contributed his first cover since Talisman of Death***.

“I’ve been fascinated with the East ever since I read a book called The Earth is the Lord's by Taylor Caldwell,” says Langford. “It’s about the early life of Genghis Khan – Temujin – and that fired up my interest. The other source is Kubla Khan, and that was illustrated by Frank Frazetta. So Sword of the Samurai was quite an interesting job for me to do.”

Sword of the Samurai was translated into numerous languages, including Bulgarian, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese****, and, appropriately enough, Japanese.

We already know that Fighting Fantasy is big in Japan, but it is even bigger now that YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks has been published in Japanese.

* Who had previously worked together on Talisman of Death.

** Which Marc Gascogine would later make part of Khul.

*** The Wizard Books' edition featured cover art by Mel Grant.

**** Sword of the Samurai - or A Espada do Samurai - is still in print in Brazil.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 - Confirmed Guest Artists

Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 is taking place on Saturday 5th September 2026 at the University of West London in Ealing.

It will be a day of talks, signings, gaming, and nostalgia, with fans coming together from across the globe to celebrate all things gamebook-related.

A number of FF alumni have already confirmed that they will be attending including artists Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, and Tony Hough.

Born in 1957, Malcolm Barter studied Illustration & Design at Ipswich School of Art. He has since freelanced in publishing, editorial and advertising, and illustrated Ian Livingstone’s The Forest of Doom. He is, appropriately, a fully qualified horticulturalist. He is currently illustrating Fighting Fantasy once again for French publishers Scriptarium. He resides in Suffolk with his daughter Poppy and a modest bonsai collection. He only owns a Czech translation of The Forest of Doom. 

Alan Langford was born in Bournemouth in 1952, and from an early age was fascinated by comic illustration, particularly in stories that depicted horses and historical scenarios. The writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and Arthur C. Clarke both fascinated him. After studying art at evening classes at Southampton Art College, he found a full-time job illustrating for a company in Alresford, and later he worked as a freelance comic illustrator. In the 1980s he found work illustrating the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Island of the Lizard King, Sword of the Samurai, Creature of Havoc, Battleblade Warrior, Portal of Evil, and Spellbreaker. He now specialises in painting equestrian fine art and in 2020 published his own graphic novel, The Secret of the Aesir.

Tony Hough’s influences range from the old comics, TV shows and movies he grew up with, SF, fantasy and horror from art and literature, and back again to the ‘ordinary’ world around him. After studying art and design at Barnfield College in Luton, his work first appeared in Games Workshop’s popular Warhammer 40,000 game. Since then, his illustrations have featured in games, magazines, and books, including the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Spectral Stalkers, Night Dragon, Knights of Doom, and Bloodbones.

To purchase your ticket for the gamebook event of the year, click this link.

Sir Ian Livingstone no longer attending Ludiverse 2026

Unfortunately, contrary to what was previously announced, Sir Ian Livingstone will NOT be attending Ludiverse 2026 in Paris, France, on the weekend of Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April 2026.

We apologise for any confusion that may have arisen as a result.

However, Arkhane Asylum, the publishers of the French language edition of Dice Men, the history of the early days of Games Workshop, will be in attendance.

Ludiverse is the Parisian event for all gaming fans where you can discover board games, RPGs, miniatures, TCGs, and plenty of surprises at the Paris Montreuil Expo. To find out more, click this link.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 - Tickets on sale now!

Tickets for Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 are now on sale.

Sir Ian Livingstone will be our Guest of Honour this year, and other confirmed guests include FF artists Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford and Tony Hough, and authors Marc Gascoigne, Jamie Thomson, and Jonathan Green, with more still to be confirmed.

Tickets are also on sale for the charity pub quiz which takes place the evening before Fighting Fantasy Fest. This year, it has the title City Pub of Thieves, since it is the fifth such quiz to be held.

Numbers for both events are limited so, don't delay and buy your tickets today!

Sir Ian Livingstone at Budapest Comic Con

At the weekend, Sir Ian Livingstone was in Hungary, appearing at Budapest Comic Con 2026.

While he was there, as well as hanging out with the team from Chameleon Comix, who publish Fighting Fantasy in Hungarian...

...Sir Ian also met Krisztián Balla, who illustrated The Dungeon on Blood Island...

...and László Arpad, the talented illustrator behind the Qatlas Fighting Fantasy solution maps.

Sir Ian's Saturday signing session was a record in that it took over 8 hours, virtually non-stop, for him to sign everyone's books!

Adventures on Blood Island

Incredibly, it is over 18 months since Sir Ian Livingstone's latest Fighting Fantasy gamebook was launched at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

The Dungeon on Blood Island took adventurers back to Lard Carnuss' private, offshore, holiday hangout and sent them into a labyrinth filled with savage creatures and deadly traps.

The prize on offer was the fabled Golden Orb of Fang, if only the brave adventurer who found it could then also escape from the dungeon alive.​​​

Illustrations from The Dungeon on Blood Island, by Krisztián Balla.

Since then, The Dungeon on Blood Island has been published in Danish and Hungarian, by Faraos Cigarer and Chameleon Comix respectively.

So, speakers of which language will be given the dubious pleasure of exploring The Dungeon on Blood Island next?

Adventures Overseas

The latest Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to be given a glow up by Gallimard in France are Sir Ian Livingstone's Eye of the Dragon and Steve Jackson's* Scorpion Swamp.

Both feature brand new cover art by Regis Torres, and they look suitably threatening as well as fantastic.

The Pool Beast from Le Marais aux Scorpions
by Regis Torres.

The Two-Headed Troll from L'Œil d'Émeraude**
by Regis Torres.

To add these books to your collection click on the cover images above.

* The US Steve Jackson.

** The Emerald Eye.