Gamebook
A gamebook is a book that is also a game. It is sometimes called solo adventure, or choose your own adventure (CYOA). Choose Your Own Adventure is the name of a famous series of gamebooks.
Description
The book is made of several paragraphs. The paragraphs are numbered. You do not read the paragraphs in order. At the end of a paragraph, you make a choice between two or more possibilities; your choice leads to another paragraph.
For example,
- Paragraph 1. Your are in a corridor. There are two doors: one on the left, one on the right.
- If you want to open the left door, read the paragraph 2.
- If you want to open the right door, read the paragraph 3.
- etc.
You can read the book several times. If you make different choices, you read a different story each time.
Use of gamebooks
Some gamebooks are adventure games. They tell the story of an adventurer. These books are usually related to role-playing games. They are often science-fiction books, or fantasy books.
Some gamebooks are educational. They are used to learn something. A gamebook is funny to read; the reader is active (he makes choices). The gamebook can describe real situations where people must make choices; the paragraphs explain the consequences of the choices. Gamebooks can be a good way to make a subject more interesting.
Gamebooks can contain small games inside: riddles, puzzles, dice games, etc.
Famous series
- Choose Your Own Adventure: American series started in 1976. The creator is Edward Packard.
- Fighting Fantasy: British series started in 1982. The books are translated in many languages. The creators are Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.
- Lone Wolf: British series started in 1984. The author is Joe Dever.
Some series are spin-offs of novels. For example, the gamebooks series Give Yourself Goosebumps is a spin-off of the Goosebumps series.
Some gamebooks are adventure for role-playing games (RPGs), played by only one people. They are called "solo adventure", or "solitaire adventure". The first solo adventure was written in 1976 for the RPG Tunnels and Trolls.
Some games are spin-offs of gamebooks. For example,
- several video games are based on Fighting Fantasy gamebooks;
- several traditional role-playing games are based on gamebooks:
- Advanced Fighting Fantasy is a RPG based on Fighting Fantasy gamebooks,
- Lone Wolf Adventure Game is a RPG based on Lone Wolf gamebooks.