Wishing YOU a very Fighting Fantasy Christmas!

Happy gaming this Christmas and we'll see you again in the New Year.

And may your STAMINA never fail!

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 12

We know that many of you are looking forward to receiving your Fighting Fantasy Legends miniatures next year. To keep you going until next February, when shipping is due to begin, here are some as yet unseen photographs of the new sculpts - a combination of heroes, villains, and monsters!

Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 11

Branching Narrative, the company behind Deathtrap Dugeon: The Interactive Video Adventure - which features Hollywood star Eddie Marsan - is joining in with the Steam Christmas sale, which is taking place from 22nd December 2020 – 5th January 2021.

There will be a whopping discount of 70% on the PC and Mac versions on Steam, and Branching Narrative are also dropping the price of the mobile versions for the same period.

So if you've not picked up this particular adaptation of Ian Livingstone's seminal gamebook Deathtrap Dungeon, now would seem like the ideal time to correct that situation.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 10

If you have yet to pick up Nomad Games' Fighting Fantasy Legends or Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy, you will no doubt be keen to hear that Fighting Fantasy Legends will be discounted on the App Store, Steam and Google Play Store from 22/12/20 to 5/1/21, while Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy will be discounted on the App Store, Steam, Google Play Store and Nintendo Switch eShop from 22/12/20 to 5/1/21.

Remember, you heard it here first!

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 9

Devastated by a killer virus, the world you once knew is a wilderness.

Life is lawless and dangerous. Survivors like you either live in scattered, fortified towns, or roam outside as bandits. YOUR mission is to cross the wilderness to the far-distant oil-refinery at San Anglo and bring vital supplies back to the peaceful town of New Hope. Even in the armed Dodge Interceptor you are given, the journey will be wild and perilous. Will YOU survive?

Coming next year to a Messenger App near you is the Freeway Fighter Chatbot, FF13.

Having started life as a Fighting Fantasy Gamebook, in recent years Freeway Fighter has been turned into a limited run of comics and graphic novel, but in 2021 you will be able to play Ian Livingstone's much-loved post-apocalyptic adventure again via the Messenger App on your phone, tablet or PC.

This new version has been developed by the Hungary-based team at Talk-A-Bot along with Ian Livingstone.

Below is a screenshot to give you an idea of what the Freeway Fighter Chatbot will look like.

As ever, keep checking www.fightingfantasy.com and follow Fighting Fantasy on social media - via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - to be kept up to date with all developments.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 8

Do you remember Rebel Planet, one of the most popular of the Fighting Fantasy science fiction titles?

Well, today, we can exclusively reveal that the gamebook's original author, Robin Waterfield, and series co-creator Ian Livingstone, have given permission for FF and gamebook superfan Mark Lain to turn the story into a graphic novel.

The artist taking on the art duties for this momentous project is none other than the adventure's original illustrator, Gary Mayes, who will be bringing the world of Rebel Planet to life in shimmering '80s monochrome!

The art in the graphic novel will all be new material and Gary will be producing a new colour cover for the book too. So set your hype-phasers to stun now, as the Kickstarter to fund production of the gamebook will be coming some time in 2021.

Watch this space for more news in the New Year...

Mark Lain is a regular attendee of the Fighting Fantasy: Virtual Beer-o and the next one is taking place on Wednesday 23rd December, from 7:45pm GMT, so you might be able to ask him more about the project then.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 7

DICE MEN: Games Workshop the Early Years 1975-1985 is a full colour, highly illustrated hardback 288 pages long, A4 (210mm x 297mm) printed on 140gsm gloss art stock, colour printed endpapers and bookmark ribbon.

Written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, the founders of global success story Games Workshop, it relates the early years of the company, from when it was no more than three friends working out of a shared, rented flat, to the point when it was known around the world as the premier purveyor of fantasy role-playing games.

Publishers Unbound have announced a publication date of Autumn 2021, now that the book is finished and has moved into the design phase.

It's not too late to take advance of one of the unique rewards on offer to those people who back the book before publication via the Unbound website.

Fancy a signed limited edition hardback, a reproduction copy of Games Workshop’s newsletter Owl and Weasel No.1, originally published in 1975, or an A3 reproduction of the first-ever Games Day Poster, signed by Ian and Steve? Then check out the rewards still on offer here.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 6

Fans of Tin Man Games' digital app adaptations of classic Fighting Fantasy gamebooks will be pleased to hear that the next two titles in the Fighting Fantasy Classics series have been announced.

Written by Steve Jackson

Are you ready for the most unusual Fighting Fantasy adventure yet?

You begin this adventure not knowing where you are or who you are. All you know is that you are some kind of creature of instinct, understanding little. During the course of the adventure, it may be possible for you to begin to control your bestial nature, to find out more about yourself, and even to learn your destiny. But even if you know all this, success is by no means certain, for the traps and terrors of Trolltooth Pass are many... Are you ready — to become the Creature of Havoc? 

Written by Ian Livingstone

The dark, twisted power of the young Malbordus is reaching its zenith!

All he needs now is to retrieve the five dragon artefacts which have been hidden for centuries in the lost city of Vatos, somewhere in the Desert of Skulls. Each day that passes brings him closer to them and only YOU can stop him! YOUR mission is to reach the lost city before Malbordus and destroy the treasures he seeks. But beware! Each step you take leads you closer to your doom...

Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which route to follow, which dangers to risk and which foes to fight!

Watch this space for more news from Tin Man Games in the New Year...

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 5

Many gamebook fans also enjoy other aspects of roleplaying and board games, such as the Advanced Fighting Fantgasy RPG. And sometimes those people are also talented sculptors and painters, who bring elements of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to life in 3D.

Of course, coming next year from Atlantis Miniatures is the Fighting Fantasy Legends range, which many hobbyists cannot wait to get their teeth into. But if you visit the Master Modellers section of the Fighting Fantasy Fan Zone you can enjoy the sculpting and painting efforts of Fighting Fantasy fans.

If you have your own miniatures or dioramas, and would like to share them with likeminded FF aficionados, send some photos of your pieces to mail@fightingfantasy.com, tell us something about them, and your models could be appering on www.fightingfantasy.com very soon.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 4

Available now from Arion Games is another set of Paper Miniatures for Advanced Fighting Fantasy. They are continuing to work their way through Beyond the Pit, and this set presents another 16 miniature monsters that you can use to help bring your tabletop games to life.

Among the monsters in Beyond the Pit Set XII are several common creatures, such as the Giant Spider and Spectre, as well as quite a few Titan-Specific horrors, including the Shael Beast, Shicome, Sightmaster and Spike Demon!

To purchase this new set, as well as other Advanced Fighting Fantasy products through DriveThruRPG, simple click on the image below.

If you're looking for something seasonal, why not check out the Ice and Lakes set of Advanced Fighting Fantasy paper miniatures?

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 3

Hungarian fans of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, or indeed fans of Hungarian Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, are going to be in for a treat next year.

Following on from the release of Hungarian editions of Assassins of Allansia and, more recently, The Port of Peril, 2021 is going to see the publication of translated editions of two more Ian Livingstone adventures - Deathtrap Dungeon and Return to Firetop Mountain - as well as Rhianna Pratchett's Crystal of Storms.

The books will be published by Chameleon Comix. Return to Firetop Mountain will feature Martin McKenna's original interior illustrations but with a new cover painted by Krisztián Balla, who painted the cover for the Hungarian edition of The Port of Peril, while Crystal of Storms and Deathtrap Dungeon will feature new internal art and new covers by Hungarian artists.

For more news, as they say, watch this space!

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 2

Ever wondered what your Fighting Fantasy collection is worth? Or are you curious just how many editions of your favourite gamebooks have been published over the years? Then you need the Fighting Fantasy Collector.

Jamie Fry, the Fighting Fantasy Collector

Jamie Fry has been curating his collection over many years and it includes some very hard to come by items. He has even become part of the collection himself, since acquiring a Fighting Fantasy tattoo!

Jamie Fry's Fighting Fantasy-inspired tattoo bearing the motto,

'May your STAMINA never fail'.

Each year he publishes his Fighting Fantasy Checklist & Price Guide, and while the 2020 edition is out of print he is looking to bring it to DriveThruRPG, so watch this space. He also occasionally sells some of the pieces from his personal collection.

If you have some unusual items in your collection that your think the Fighting Fantasy Collector needs to know about, then you can contact him via his Facebook page.

And if you have a collection you are proud of, we would love to hear about it. Simply email some photographs of your collection - along with a brief paragraph about it, highlighting any specific elements you like - to mail@fightingfantasy.com, and you could end up appearing in Collector's Corner on the official Fighting Fantasy website.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 1

In the lead up to Christmas, we are going to be posting regular updates connected to your favourite interactive gamebook series - Fighting Fantasy!

First up is Christmas shopping. All Rolled Up are running low on stocks of licensed FF merchandise, and you can grab some real bargains if you head over to their website now!

And what else does every Fighting Fantasy fan need in their life? Why an ultimate stats SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK T-shirt, of course!

Blast from the Past! City of Thieves

The fifth and sixth Fighting Fantasy gamebooks regularly via for the top spot in best of polls, and they have a number of elements in common. They were both written by Ian Livingstone, co-creator of the FF series, they were both illustrated inside and out by Iain McCaig, and they are both challenging to complete. However, where they differ is in that Deathtrap Dungeon is a classic subterranean dungeon crawl, while City of Thieves is the first gamebook that features an urban setting.

For his second gamebook with the sole writing credit, Ian Livingstone plumped for a city-based adventure. City of Thieves sends the hero to Port Blacksand for the first time, searching for the means to save the prosperous town of Silverton from the evil Night Prince Zanbar Bone and his bloodthirsty Moon Dogs.

This was the first occasion on which Iain McCaig produced not just the internal illustrations but also, what has since become, a classic cover.

“I've always been fascinated by graveside sculptures of the Grim Reaper,” says McCaig. “I eventually designed one for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  Zanbar Bone is an early attempt to bring one to life.”

Jackson and Livingstone originally asked McCaig to work on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain but at the time he was busy painting a Jethro Tull album cover and had to turn them down. “Fortunately, the timing worked out better for Ian’s first solo book, The Forest of Doom,” explains McCaig, “for which I did the cover, and both his follow-up books, City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon, for which I did both the interior and cover art. I don’t think I ever enjoyed such a close working relationship with any other author, before or since,” says Iain.

“City of Thieves was my first taste of the Fighting Fantasy universe awaiting me,” says comics writer Andi Ewington, who later turned Freeway Fighter into a graphic novel. “I had been reading TSR’s Endless Quest series for a while, and even though they were enjoyable, I found they didn't quite leave you feeling ‘heroic’ at the end… I remember being drawn to that iconic Iain McCaig cover featuring Zanbar Bone. Picking it up and several brief scans of the interior later I realised I was holding the Holy Grail of single player gaming experience in my eleven year-old hands."

When Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World was published, it included a detailed plan of the streets of Port Blacksand, drawn by cartographer Steve Luxton.

Heroic adventurers have revisited the eponymous City of Thieves, many times since, not least in Graeme Davis's Midnight Rogue, which cast the hero in the role of an aspiring member of the Thieves’ Guild of Port Blacksand, and the second Advanced Fighting Fantasy volume Blacksand!

In Blacksand! co-author Marc Gascoigne added detail to the City of Thieves, giving an insight into the individuals, the taverns, businesses and temples of Port Blacksand, as well as its various guilds and nefarious cults.

In 2017, City of Thieves was reissued by Scholastic Books, featuring a new cover by Robert Ball.

Ian Livingstone returned to Port Blacksand, for The Port of Peril, the first new Fighting Fantasy adventure published by Scholastic, while the ruler of the City of Thieves, Lord Azzur, also made an appearance in 2019's Assassins of Allansia.

And somehow the Warlock doubts that this is the last we have seen of that particular den of iniquity either...

Fighting Fantasy Guest Authors on BBC Radio 6 this Saturday

Fans of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks will want to tune in to BBC Radio 6 on Saturday morning, between 7:00am and 10:00am.

Rhianna Pratchett and Charlie Higson will be on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's show, talking about the titles they have contributed to the FF series in recent years.

Stuary Maconie and Mark Radcliffe.

Crystal of Storms, by Rhianna Pratchett.

The Gates of Death, by Charlie Higson.