#gamebook

I wasn’t expecting much from Raid on Nightmare Castle (1983), despite the awesome title. You can see right on the kind of weird Jeff Easley cover that your protagonist is going to be a kid accompanied by a dog and bird and no bet that the animals are A. Capable of speech and B. Use that power to whine ceaselessly.

All of that is true, and yet, somehow, this is top five for the series so far? Genuinely shocked. There are some crummy endings and some weirdly repetitive sections, but the good stuff is good. The kid is a human raised by elves who think he’s inferior, but it falls to him to rescue an important elf from the castle with, like, the intrinsic gumption of being human, I guess. Moral lessons, feh. But there is a nice selection of monsters. James Holloway, who usually seems so rushed for EQ, is actually pretty good, delivering in particular some gnarly spiders and trolls.

do you know a FANTASY GAME ENJOYER? or someone with a YEARNING for d&d but no opportunity/ time to schedule it?

may i suggest.... my books

Where can I obtain these: Consider US & UK indie bookstores!! But, many places, like Forbidden planet online for less than a tenner. or B&N.

Hello to all monster lovers, enjoyers, and fuckers! I have been brainstorming some characters for a LitRPG/gamebook focused on romancing monsters recently, and I have run into a character design choice that I'm torn between...

I have a harpy character on the roster, and I am unsure whether I want them to have arms (with talons) and wings, or just wings without arms. I find both design options to have their pros and cons (such as the armless version of the character potentially making the creature too monstrous/animal-like for some folks, while the version with the arms and wings might make the monster seem too human).

So, even though the story is very self-indulgent for me and acts as my own take on some monsters within the monster romance genre, I still want to create a story that people (even those who aren't normally interested in monster romance) can enjoy. Any input/thoughts would be much appreciated!

EDIT: This is about aesthetics, so just what option you find more visually appealing!

🐁💎✨

The June update for the demo adds major expansions to both chapters, along with tweaks to stats and lots of polish. Play on cogdemos or itchio now!

You'll need to restart the game to replay, but you can skip to Chapter 2 if you'd like (although Chapter 1 has expanded too, so I'd recommend playing both if you're in the mood!)

COGDEMOS | ITCHIO | DEVLOG & DISCUSSION THREAD | FEEDBACK FORM | INTRO POST | ROs

Among other changes and additions, in the game you can now (cut for spoilers):

So

I’m a teacher of Classical Civilisation that has taught the Odyssey for over a decade and studied pretty much every myth and story with Odysseus in it.. I think

and I’m writing an Interactive Fiction (choose your own path) version of the Odyssey, inspired by the Homeric phrase “he turned his great heart this way and that”, where you are Odysseus, allowing you to follow his decisions or make your own

and it already has 400 sections to it - written to emulate modern translations of the Odyssey, including the literary features of simile, formula, epithet, and the rest - and 21 different ways to die, and quite a lot of period and theme-appropriate alternatives

(and if I get time, the option to be Telemachus or Penelope, although that might have to wait because it’s already a monster)

and I’ve tested what I’ve made so far on my pupils, other Classics teachers, and some of the leading (and best-read) Greek Mythology podcasters and YouTubers, all of whom have universally loved it (yay!)

(EDIT: Oops and I presented on it at the Classical Association conference last year)

I’m trying to finish it this summer, but need a bit of encouragement to do so

EDIT: and I forgot to say that ideally I’m planning on it being a beautiful BOOK with an old-fashioned cover and lots of ribbons to mark your place ❤️ (ex-bookseller ofc)

so, please let me know if you’d like to know more!