10 Best Gamebook Apps

10 Best Gamebook Apps

Adventure gamebooks, like the Fighting Fantasy and Choose Your Own Adventure series, were popular pastimes for children and young adults in the 80s and 90s, transporting readers into fantasy realms, pulp fiction scenarios and sci-fi universes. The genre is experiencing something of a mobile revival, with publishers such as Tin Man Games, Inkle and Choice of Games delivering everything from classic gamebook fun to more experimental interactive fiction apps that play around with the possibilities of the digital medium. Check out 10 of our favorite mobile gamebooks below.

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Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion (Android, iOS) ($5.99)

Set in the grimdark universe of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 franchise, Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion sees players putting on the ancient battle armor of an Imperial Fists Space Marine descending into the depths of a derelict starship in order to cleanse it of vile aliens and other threats. Adapted from a Path to Victory novel of the same title, Herald of Oblivion adds digital flourishes to the text, such as a new tactical combat system that lets players choose whether to engage their enemies at range or in melee, balancing risk and reward in their quest. Herald of Oblivion is a good example of your traditional adventure gamebook, with an action-packed, branching story adapted for a mobile format.

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Trial of the Clone (Android, iOS) ($5.99) 

If you like your gamebooks lighthearted, Trial of the Clone delivers a humorous pastiche of space opera stories. Readers take on the role of an unwanted clone, raised by the mysterious Silene Monks, who is out to explore the universe and become a hero. Or die horribly. With a script written by Zach Wienersmith of Sunday Morning Breakfast Cereal and voiceovers by Wil Wheaton, Trial of the Clone delivers much hilarity, while operating with the tried and true Gamebook Adventures engine of Tin Man Games.

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Appointment With FEAR (Android, iOS) ($2.99) 

Along with their original offerings, Tin Man Games is busy bringing the classic Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks into the mobile market. One of its latest revivals is Appointment With FEAR, an interactive comic that eschews the traditional gamebook feel of Tin Man Games' other releases for a presentation that's more like a graphic novel then a pocket book. Take on the role of your own customizable superhero and defend Titan City against the super-powered forces of FEAR and the nefarious Titanium Cyborg.

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Ryan North's To Be or Not To Be (Android, iOS) ($5.99) 

Imagine William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" as a choose-your-path gamebook app, and you get Ryan North's "To Be or Not To Be", which has you playing the part of Hamlet, Ophelia or Hamlet Senior on their insane adventures. Powered by Tin Man Games' Gamebook Adventures engine, the app takes full advantage of the digital format by accompanying the text with music, sound effects, hilarious achievements and an end-game "Haml-o-Meter" and a statistics page that compares your choices with the Bard's. A particular delight is the wealth of illustrations by a variety of Web comic greats such as Kate Beaton (Hark, A Vagrant), Zach Weinersmith (SMBC), and Matthew Inman (Oatmeal). Incredibly hilarious and brilliantly executed, "To Be or Not To Be" is a great addition to your app drawer.

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A Land Fit For Heroes (Android, iOS) ($0.99)

Adapted from Richard Morgan's dark fantasy series of the same name, A Land Fit For Heroes is an adventure gamebook that follows the adventures of three anti-heroes, Kirellin, Calnar and Ilaria. Each separate story ties together a tale of magic, conspiracy and blood. In addition to a bloody, grimdark storyline and a tactical combat system, A Land Fit For Heroes includes an interesting multiplayer mode, with three players each taking control of one of the protagonists, making choices in their own story, with decisions and information carrying over to influence the stories of the other players. Purchasing the app gets you the first three linked chapters, with in-app purchases unlocking more story content.

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Sorcery! Series (Android, iOS) ($4.99/episode)

In Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, players take on an epic quest to recover the Crown of Kings stolen by an evil wizard. Sorcery stays true to its "choose your path" roots, but renders many of your choices on a gorgeously illustrated world map. It features an intuitive combat system that combines narrative cues and risk-reward play to clever effect. Bookmarks allow you to step back at any point in the story to try other forks in the road, and the app even saves your progress so that if you finish the game, you can import your character (complete with gold, items and other game information) into later installments of the series, such as, Sorcery! 2: Khare, the City of Traps (Android, iOS), and the just launched Sorcery! 3: The Seven Serpents (Android, iOS)

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80 Days (Android, iOS) ($4.99) 

Inkle gets even more experimental with its next piece of interactive fiction: 80 Days, based on Jules Verne's classic "Around The World in 80 Days". As the loyal valet Passepartout, you accompany your master Phileas Fogg in his globe-trotting journey through a steampunk Earth filled with automata, Artificers and airships. Players must race through the world's great cities, discovering new routes and stumbling across mysteries while exploring each city through a "choose your path" interface. Discover the fastest routes, balance your finances, pack the right inventory in your limited luggage space, and maybe, you just might win Fogg's epic wager and circumnavigate the world in 80 Days.

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Slammed! (Android, iOS) ($2.99) 

While developers like Tin Man Games and Inkle push the boundaries of the digital gamebook format, Choice of Games features a more traditional bent, focusing instead on the power of a well crafted yarn. Paolo Chikiamco's Slammed! is a great example; an interactive novel that reads as a loveletter to the weird and wacky world of professional wrestling. As an up and coming pro-wrestler, it's up to you to balance ringside athletics, crowd-pleasing promo skills, and locker room drama, not to mention boardroom politics. Slammed! does a masterful job of presenting the larger-than-life world of pro-wrestling and 'kayfabe,' while at the same time keeping the gripping story accessible to wrestling newbies.

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Deathless: The City's Thirst (Android, iOS) ($3.99)

Another Choice of Games title, Deathless: The City's Thirst is the latest from award-winning author Max Gladstone. With the God Wars over and the rain god dead, it's up to you as an agent of supernatural firm Red King Incorporated to somehow find a way to make it rain. Set in the same universe as Gladstone's Craft Sequence and Choice of the Deathless (Android, iOS), The City's Thirst is a many-layered supernatural thriller that sees you pitting your wits against mundane and supernatural forces, from sorcerers to real estate moguls, magical scorpions, to people just trying to get by in a dry and dusty world. Featuring a customizable character creation system and an evocatively written story of more than 150,000 words, Deathless: The City's Thirst is a thrilling read.

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Hollywood Visionary (Android, iOS) ($3.99) 

Rather than throwing you into the far future or into some fantasy realm, Hollywood Visionary puts you into the heyday of Hollywood as an aspiring filmmaker out to make the next blockbuster in the Hollywood of the 1950s. Players can take the role of the lead writer, producer, director while you hobnob with silver screen royalty, pursue your artistic dreams and avoid the nefarious attentions of the blacklist? Will you languish in film-making obscurity, or create the next cult classic or Oscar Winner?

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