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.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 and a return to Forbidden Planet

Last Saturday, Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 took over the University of West London in Ealing for a day dedicated to your favourite gamebook series.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, including the traders who came along, and to all our guests, but especially Guests of Honour artist Iain McCaig and Fighting Fantasy co-creator Sir Ian Livingstone.

There is no other event quite like Fighting Fantasy Fest. After all, where else could you see a Hollywood blockbuster character designer dance a jig while a knight of the realm plays blues harmonica?!?

Sir Ian Livingstone with original Penguin Books commissioning editor Geraldine Cooke, who championed The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Sir Ian's signing queue went out of the door!

The new 75mm Shape Changer produced by Blue Giant Studios and painted by Paul Cooke of Pandaemonium Miniatures during FFF5.

The authors' talk with Marc Gascoigne, Steve Williams, Paul Mason, and Peter Darvill-Evans.

Deathtrap Dungeon Live! Featuring Sir Ian Livingstone, The Dark Room's John Robertson, and Zagor the Warlock!

The legendary Fighting Fantasy Auction with Guest of Honour Sir Ian Livingstone.

The winners of the charity pub quiz that took place the night before FFF5 - I Love Wheelies!

Sir Ian was inundated with people wanting him to sign his new books, The Dungeon on Blood Island (number 72 in the series if you're counting from the beginning) and the #1 Bestseller Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy.

If you were not able to attend FFF5, you have another chance to grab yourself a signed copy of the books at Forbidden Planet, on Saturday 14th September, from 2:00-3:00pm, where Jonathan Green, co-author of Magic Realms, will also be in attendance.

Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy

Today sees the publication of the long awaited Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy by Sir Ian Livingstone and Jonathan Green.

You can join Sir Ian this evening at Barnes Bookshop for the official launch.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Green was on BBC Radio Somerset today, talking about the new book and the Fighting Fantasy series in general. You can listen to the 12 minute interview with Vicki Clark for the next 29 days here. The bit you want begins at the 2hr 16min mark.

Yesterday, the pair were signing books for those people who supported the book through Unbound. By the end of the day, Sir Ian had set a new record for the number of items signed in one day - a whooping 2,120! That's 850 books, 900 prints, 150 bookplates, and 220 copies of Shadow of the Giants! 

Sir Ian and Jonathan will also be signing Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 on Saturday, while Sir Ian will be giving a talk at the Cartoon Museum, in Central London, on Tuesday 10th September.

A Message from Steve Jackson

Steve Jackson would like to apologise for his absence at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5. It is an event he is very disappointed to have to miss.

As many of you already know, Steve suffers from Parkinson's Disease and because of this, as well as other personal reasons, he is unable to attend this year's convention.

He asked the Warlock to pass on this message to fans:

Over the years, Fighting Fantasy Fests have served well in bringing the FF community together. This year's Guest Artist of Honour is Iain McCaig, illustrator of Deathtrap Dungeon, who always puts on a brilliant show. Also Sound Realms, a Swedish company, is launching an audio visual version of F.I.S.T. - the first ever telephone game.

I wish I could be there.

Best wishes

Steve

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 - one week to go!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 will open the doors of Deathtrap Dungeon one week today, at 9:00am on Saturday 7th September 2024.

As well as our Guests of Honour, Sir Ian Livingstone and Iain McCaig, and our other guests - Geraldine Cooke, Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, Duncan Smith, Tony Hough, Marc Gascoigne, Jamie Thomson, Peter Darvill-Evans, Paul Mason, Steve Williams, Dave Morris, Keith P. Phillips, and Jonathan Green - we will also be joined by a host of traders.

One last minute addition to the roster is Other World Gamebooks, Polish publisher of Storm Weavers.

Storm Weavers is a story-driven solo tabletop game - a unique combination of a classic gamebook with an element of tactical combat taking place on the board. As a dwarven warrior, you undertake a journey across the vast land of Midgard to find and rescue your friend. To achieve your goal you must overcome a sinister adversity. As you travel from location to location, you have to face strong orcs, clever goblins, bloodthirsty wolves, ice giants, almigthy gods, cowardly wizards, greedy merchants, bad people, good people... can they stop you from reaching your goal?

Other World Gamebooks have also published the new edition of Heart of Ice by Dave Morris, who will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest for the first time this year.

We are down to our last few tickets, but it's not too late to purchase yours - if you hurry!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 Livestream Tickets

If you are unable to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 in person, do not worry! You can still enjoy the talks and panels taking place on Saturday 7th September 2024 by watching the FFF5 livestream.

Please note that for copyright reasons, The McCaig Masterclass will not be livestreamed.

Livestream tickets are now available to buy here.

Armies of Death comes to Steam

Armies of Death, Sir Ian Livingstone's 11th Fighting Fantasy gamebook, and the direct sequel to Trial of Champions, has been reborn as the latest release for Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics line.

Brand-new artwork has been commissioned from digital artist Joshua Wright for the ad-app-tation and you can see how his initial roughs were transformed into the final art here.

Giant Spider

Calacorm

Dwarf and Shape Changer

As well as new art, the gameplay has been given an upgrade. New features include:

• New army management system to manage your troop numbers along with mass-battle combat between opposing armies.
• Make the gamebook as easy or hard as you like and even turn on a special 'Free Read' mode to play the book like an old-school cheater!
• Map feature makes it easy to keep track of everywhere you have explored during current and previous playthroughs.
• Unlimited Bookmarks allow you to revisit difficult sections as many times as desired.
• Automated Adventure Sheet that keeps track of your stats, inventory and knowledge gained during your journey.

Can YOU defeat the nightmare army of the undead?

Agglax the Shadow Demon is amassing an army of undead warriors to conquer Allansia.

Setting off from Fang with over two hundred veteran fighters, YOU journey east to meet the enemy. But the Shadow Demon is not of this world and special powers are needed to destroy him. The longer you spend searching for these powers the stronger he will be.

Log on to Steam and download Armies of Death today!