40 years of Trial of Champions

When Deathtrap Dungeon became a publishing phenomenon, it cannot be over-exaggerated how high anticipation was for a sequel when Sir Ian Livingstone's Trial of Champions was published just two years later in 1986.

Number 21 in the original Puffin series, Trial of Champions wasn’t a direct sequel, but is set a year after the hero of Deathtrap Dungeon has beaten Baron Sukumvit’s deadly labyrinth for the first time.

All the familiar Deathtrap Dungeon tropes are there to be enjoyed, including a host of deadly monster encounters and lethal traps, as well as the other competitors who are encountered as the hero takes ‘The Walk’ through the dungeon - not to mention the massive cash prize for anyone who actually makes it through to the other end alive.

However, the story adds an element of sibling rivalry to the tale, with the hero having been taken captive by the Baron’s jealous brother Lord Carnuss and sent to Fang specifically to beat the dungeon and shame Sukumvit.

Author and creator of the Illmoor Chronicles, David Lee Stone, cites Trial of Champions as being one of his favourite gamebooks:

“House of Hell or Trial of Champions: both are absolutely brilliant fun, and classic examples of two authors completely focused on creating an atmosphere for the games they’re constructing. I couldn’t choose between them.”

Trial of Champions was the only time Brian Williams illustrated an FF gamebook, providing the striking cover art as well as the internal black and white illustrations (although he also illustrated The Riddling Reaver, published the same year). His clean line art and representations of the human form were exquisite.

Sadly, Williams passed away unexpectedly at his home in October 2010.

While not currently in print, adventurers can still tackle Baron Sukumvit's updated dungeon via Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classsics app.

Of course, Trial of Champions received its own sequel, of sorts, when The Dungeon on Blood Island was published in 2024, to coincide with Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

Sir Ian Livingstone has written another new gamebook, this time to coincide with Fighting Fantasy Fest 6.

Tomb of the Golden Skull will launch at the event, on Saturday 5th September 2026, so make sure you've reserved your place at FFF6.

Return to Firetop Mountain with Fighting Fantasy Classics!

Zagor lives! Dare YOU return to Firetop Mountain?

Ten years have passed since the evil Warlock of Firetop Mountain was defeated. His treasure was plundered. His reign of terror was ended. His name became a warning whispered across Allansia.

But dark sorcery does not die so easily.

Zagor has returned from the dead, more powerful, more twisted, and more determined than ever to wreak revenge upon Allansia. Now, some brave adventurer must journey once more to the most infamous dungeon in Fighting Fantasy history, brave the wild lands beyond, enter the mountain, and face the resurrected Warlock in his lair.

That brave adventurer is YOU!

Return to Firetop Mountain is Ian Livingstone’s thrilling sequel to the original Fighting Fantasy classic, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. First published as the landmark 50th book in the original series, this adventure takes you back to where the legend began, but don’t expect old memories to save you. The mountain has changed. Its horrors have multiplied. Its master is waiting.

Before you even reach Firetop Mountain, you must travel through the perilous lands of northern Allansia, seeking aid, clues, weapons, and magical knowledge. Along the way you may encounter the wizard Yaztromo, cross dangerous rivers, wander through deadly forests, and meet a cast of strange allies, treacherous rogues, and monstrous foes.

Once inside the mountain, every choice could bring you closer to victory, or to a sudden and grisly end. Goblins, trolls, undead warriors, mutant beasts, vampires, traps, riddles, and dark magic stand between you and your final confrontation with Zagor himself.

This is not just a return. This is revenge.

FEATURES

• Face the resurrected Zagor, one of the greatest villains in Fighting Fantasy canon.
• Includes the classic cover art by Les Edwards.
• Features original interior illustrations by the late, great Martin McKenna.
• Built-in mapping system tracks your progress across playthroughs, helping you explore the deadly routes to and through Firetop Mountain.
• Unlimited bookmarks let you retry difficult sections as often as you like.
• Automated Adventure Sheet handles your stats, inventory, combat, and key decisions, so you can focus on surviving the mountain.

Will you defeat Zagor once and for all? Or will Firetop Mountain claim another victim?

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...

Fighting Fantasy is coming to Nintendo Switch

Fighting Fantasy is coming to Nintendo Switch in February 2026!

Tin Man Games have announced that Fighting Fantasy Classics Volume 1 is launching on Switch on 5th February 2026, bringing four of the most famous gamebooks by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone to Nintendo’s hybrid console.

The adventures included in Volume 1 are The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos, The Forest of Doom, and Starship Traveller.

Tin Man Games' digital gamebook adaptations include:

• Automatic stat and inventory tracking.
• Unlimited bookmarks.
• A map showing where you’ve already died.
• A gallery of original artwork.
• A soundtrack to make your bad decisions feel more dramatic.

Happy Christmas from Fighting Fantasy

There have been a number of exciting developments in the worlds of Fighting Fantasy over the course of 2025.

The year started in January with the news that Marc Gascoigne had been appointed as the new FF Brand Manager and in February Steve Jackson Games launched a crowdfunding campaign to publish the first five of a projected 50 titles in the United States. (The Kickstarter for the second five titles is live now.)

Over the course of the year, more titles were added to Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics library, including Starship Traveller, Eye of the Dragon, Crypt of the Sorcerer, and Scorpion Swamp.

In 2025, fans got to see Ulisses Spiele's Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for the first time, it was announced that Sound Realms would be turning Fighting Fantasy gamebooks into audio adventures, Advanced Fighting Fantasy was released on Foundry Virtual Tabletop, and new editions of some classic FF titles were published in Finland.

One of the highlights of the year was the release of the new collector's hardback of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, featuring new cover art by the extremely talented Karl Kopinski.

Another classic FF gamebook got a makeover when, with Steve Jackson's permission, Morten Gottschalck wrote some additional content for Starship Traveller, so that future editions will feature the classic 'Turn to 400', while recently Blue Giant Studios' Fighting Fantasy Heroes appeared on MyMiniFactory.

And, of course, in October, sadly we lost FF artist Pete Knifton.

Pete Knifton, 1958-2025

So, what does 2026 have in store for the world's preimere gamebook series?

Will there be a new adventure published next year? You'll have to wait and see. Will there be another Fighting Fantasy Fest? Yes, in September*. Will there be more ways to enjoy the worlds of Fighting Fantasy than ever before? We can only hope.

What we can tell you for sure is that the Kickstarter to produce the next five FF books in the new Steve Jackson Games' editions concludes at New Year. So, don't delay and pledge your support today!

* Look out for more news in the New Year.

Choose Wisely in the Scorpion Swamp!

The newest adventure available from Tin Man Games, as part of the Fighting Fantasy Classics library, is... Scorpion Swamp!

Sharpen your swords, steady your nerve, and maybe pack a spare pair of socks, because Scorpion Swamp has officially arrived as the latest DLC gamebook for Fighting Fantasy Classics!

A new edition of Scorpion Swamp - featuring brand new artwork by Tazio Bettin - is also on the horizon. It is coming as part of the second tranche of FF titles going from Steve Jackson Games in the States. You can back the Kickstarter here.

40 years of Appointment with F.E.A.R.

Another Fighting Fantasy gamebook celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025 is Steve Jackson's superhero smackdown Appointment with F.E.A.R.

Back in 1985, Steve Jackson had not written a Titan-set FF adventure since The Citadel of Chaos and his fifth title in the series continued this trend. Appointment with F.E.A.R. (FF17) took as its inspiration the comic books Jackson had so loved as a child and involved more problem-solving as opposed to the item collection ‘shopping list’ approach of some gamebooks.

The action takes place in the suspiciously familiar sounding Titan City with the hero assuming the role of Jean Lafayette and his alter ego, the crime-fighting Silver Crusader.

The Silver Crusader does battle with such colourful characters as the Scarlet Prankster, the Serpent, and the Alchemists, as he struggles to discover the time and location of the next meeting of F.E.A.R. – the Federation of Euro-American Rebels – an evil organisation led by Vladimir Utoshski, a.k.a. the Titanium Cyborg.

It is the Titanium Cyborg who is the subject of the book’s cover art by legendary comic book cover artist Brian Bolland, while internal illustrations were provided by Declan Considine, who made his artwork look like panels from the pages of a comic book.

The Macro Brain, a super-villain from Appointment with F.E.A.R.,
by Declan Considine.

The adventure begins with the reader choosing one of four superpowers for the Silver Crusader from Super Strength, Psi-Powers, Enhanced Technological Skill (or ETS), and Energy Blast.

Appointment with F.E.A.R. also made use of a new HERO POINTS attribute. These points are awarded for every villain the Silver Crusader captures and every potential disaster he manages to avert. (Although it doesn’t necessarily affect the outcome of the game, it does allow players to compare performances from one read-through to the next.) Rather like Batman, the Silver Crusader is not permitted to kill his enemies, and any such deaths that may occur result in the loss of precious HERO POINTS. In one-on-one combat, when an enemy’s STAMINA score drops to 2 STAMINA points, the enemy simply surrenders.

It could be argued that Appointment with F.E.A.R. is only a science fiction adventure in as much as Spider-Man or Superman comics are science fiction stories. It is, in truth, a comic book superhero gamebook; nothing more, nothing less.

To date, Appointment with F.E.A.R. is the only non-fantasy adventure published by Scholastic, and the gamebook also exists now as a video game from Tin Man Games.

Will we ever see an Appointmentwith F.E.A.R. comic one day? We can but hope.

If you enjoy watching playthroughs of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, GoneHollowMedia have recorded their own attempt at tackling the adventure.

And if you want to learn more about the history of your favourite gamebooks, pick up Jonathan Green's YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks today.

40 years of Freeway Fighter

2025 marks 40 years since the publication of Freeway Fighter - the only Fighting Fantasy gamebook, to date, to be set in a dystopian world.

For his sixth solo contribution to the FF range, Ian Livingstone ventured into the realm of near-future (for 1985) post-apocalyptic science fiction. Clearly inspired by the Mad Max movies - and set in 2022 - Freeway Fighter (FF13) had the hero crossing the American wilderness in their heavily armoured Dodge Interceptor, to reach the distant oil-refinery of San Anglo so that they might return with vital supplies for the inhabitants of the peaceful town of New Hope. But success is far from certain since the wilds that lie between the scattered, fortified towns are the territory of lawless bandits and brigands.

Vehicular combat was a feature of this adventure with the Dodge Interceptor having both a FIREPOWER and an ARMOUR score to represent its offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Adventure Sheet for Freeway Fighter.

Like Starship Traveller (Steve Jackson’s one and only foray into hard sci-fi Fighting Fantasy), Freeway Fighter has fewer than the standard 400 references, coming in at only 380 paragraphs. How come? “Because 400 references was a guide,” explains Livingstone, “not an absolute requirement.”

The original US edition of Freeway Fighter.

The cover was by the renowned SF artist Jim Burns. When the book was republished by Wizard Books, the cover was reworked by Burns. However, this was not an original piece of artwork for the range - the illustration had already been used back in 1984 on the cover Games Workshop's Battlecars.

The interior art was by Kevin Bulmer. It was completed in only nine days, as a favour for Ian Livingstone after the original illustrations that had been commissioned were rejected at the last moment.

Kevin Bulmer’s illustrations for Freeway Fighter.

One of the early contenders for internal artist on Freeway Fighter was actually FF legend Iain McCaig, but other commitments meant that it simply wasn’t to be. However, we have an idea of how the book might have looked since McCaig did start work on an image for the book.

In 2017 Titan Comics published Ian Livingstone’s Freeway Fighter, a limited four-part comicbook series that was then collected as a trade paperback. It was written by Andi Ewington, with art by Simon Coleby, colours by Len O’Grady, and lettering by Jim Campbell.

Concept and cover art for the Freeway Fighter comic by Simon Coleby, with colours by Len O'Grady.

While Freeway Fighter is not currently in print as a physical gamebook, it is available as part of Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics app.

Will Sir Ian ever return to the lawless hinterlands of America to write a pedal-to-the-metal heart-stopping sequel? We'll just have to wait and see...