You already may be aware of the work of narrative-focused indie studio Inkle, thanks to their recent Switch release of Heaven's Vault, or perhaps you know them from their earlier games, 80 Days and the Sorcery! series.
Up until now, their fantastic Sorcery! games have remained locked away on PC and mobile devices (and, er, the books it was based on), but Inkle has just announced that the fantasy choose-your-own-adventure games are finally coming to Switch.
If, however, you aren't aware of Inkle's work, let us provide you with a quick rundown: known for their detailed and expansive branching storylines, Inkle has adapted quite a few things into video games, from Jules Verne's Around The World In Eighty Days to Steve Jackson's Sorcery!.
Steve Jackson, a British game designer, writer, and journalist who wrote the Sorcery! series, has a pretty impressive background himself, as the founder of Games Workshop and Lionhead Studios (with Peter Molyneux), a game designer on multiple games, including Fighting Fantasy, and the author of many CYOA books, like The Tasks of Tantalon and the Fighting Fantasy series. Steve, leave something for the rest of us, will you?
(He is not to be confused with the American game designer Steve Jackson, who made the tabletop role-playing games Munchkin and GURPS, and also wrote some of the Fighting Fantasy series. We know, they're very similar. Probably just a glitch in the system.)
So, needless to say, fans of CYOA books, tabletop role-playing games, and branching narrative games should definitely check this one out when it comes to Switch in Q3 this year - expect more exact news some time in Autumn. The game originally came out as a four-parter, but all four separate-but-connected stories will be united on Switch.
Comments 12
Oh man, these games are brilliant, definitely jump on them. I grew up with the original gamebooks and they’re a complete dream. Their 80 Days adaptation is even better though.
The Fighting Fantasy books were such a big part of my childhood... I think that I owned near enough all of them. Would like to see House Of Hell or Creature Of Havoc adapted like this... I never could complete those!
@Ooyah Creature of Havoc was a great one, definitely unique. Tin Man Games did straight adaptations of a lot of the books but the Inkle ones are a lot more ‘gamey’.
Looks good! Hope it plays well. More like tinman rather than Nomad games version.
Owned these on Android and they are fantastic!
they are good games but the switch tax is a farce get them on your phone for less.
The Switch version of Warlock of Firetop Mountain is currently £1.99 😃
I bloody loved the Sorcery! Gamebooks when I was little. John Blanche's art was just wonderful.
Loved the Fighting Fantasy books in general, especially Creature of Havoc (cover by the amazing Ian Miller), Scorpion Swamp, and Crypt of the Sorcerer (and Deathtrap Dungeon, Freeway Fighter, Rebel Planet...)
Allansia was a great world to get lost in.
Are there any Lone Wolf games?
@Rambler I absolutely loved all these series as a kid! Sorcery, Lone Wolf, Grail Quest, even the D&D Endless Quest series! I have a pretty good collection going, but these are hard to find in the states.
There is a videogame based on the Lone Wolf books and I believe it is available for Switch. In fact, I believe today is the day I buy it. This article has reminded me of my love for these properties.
Nice to see folks in here who read Steve Jackson's original work! I did go on a bit of a gush in the middle, so I'm glad it was appreciated
@Ooyah
Creature of Havoc was Steve Jackson's swansong for the series, so he made insanely challenging / difficult, along with some iconoclasm (hobbit stew!)
I'm sure it has a bit where you can kill someone with one blow, but the book forgets that and traps you in a loop?
@Grail_Quest, @Benji80
Thanks for the confirmation guys! I'll have to check them out.
I've got a signed hardback omnibus of the first two Lone Wolf gamebooks - doubt it's worth much, but is very cool.
There were some Line Wolf novels too that were, iirc, incredibly skin-flayingly gory - quite a suprise from the tone of the gamebooks!
@Clyde_Radcliffe I thought you were joking - nope! It's getting good grades on metacritic - I loved the book as a kid. A great starting off point.
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