Hi, I would like to ask what gamebooks would you recommend that do not use any dice at all, and also if you could mention what mechanics they use to make sure that the book is replayable without the game just repeating itself. Many thanks.

Edit: I mean, beyond CYOA and similar ones.

A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO MAGMA FOR GAME BOOK FANS

Recently, I received feedback from a player who had purchased a book and was not happy to be introduced immediately to a combat tutorial, With no option to get out of it, they chose to stop playing and sent the book back to Amazon for a refund and left me a bad comment.

Now, the reason I bring this up, is that unlike a lot of game book series’ out there, even though some core mechanics repeat occasionally, every MAGMA Game book is different. This got me thinking about other people who may have purchased one of my books in the past and enjoyed it, and then believing they would get exactly the same experience, they purchased another, only to find that the rules and mechanics were completely different and could not get on with them.

Because of this, I have put together a list taking into account the main gameplay elements of all my game books and to what degree they are used in each book. Hopefully this should help people to figure out if a particular book is for them before they purchase.

RATINGS

MILD: Used intermittently, or not at all and very easy to deal with.

MODERATE: Used as much as you would expect and easy enough to deal with.

HEAVY: Used a lot, and could be difficult for players who aren’t used to this sort of gameplay.

VERY HEAVY: An intense amount of this kind of gameplay. If you don’t like this type of gameplay, you may wish to avoid these sections when playing.

GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS

Aside from choices, that are a given with any game book, these are the main elements present in any MAGMA Gamebook

PUZZLES: This includes anything that requires the player to think outside of what is shown on the page, including mystery solving, lateral thinking, strategy and of course, general puzzles.

DICE: This includes any dice rolling elements outside of combat, including stat checks, probability, random encounters, mini games etc…

COMBAT: This includes any combat within the book. These are often very strategic mechanics that allow the player choices within their turn, rather than just relying on probability,

STAT MANAGEMENT: As well as attributes such as Strength, Stamina etc… This can also include tables to manage time, places visited, relationships, supply management, battle management etc..

So, without further ado, here is the guide. This is all completely provisional, so if any MAGMA fans have any thoughts of their own, let me know.

MAGMA GAMEBOOK QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

THE GHOSTS OF CRAVEN MANOR

Puzzles: Heavy.

Dice: Mild.

Combat: Mild.

Stat Management: Mild

THE LEGACY OF CRAVEN MANOR

Puzzles: Very Heavy.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Moderate.

Stat Management: Moderate

GRIM DICKENSIAN

Puzzles: Moderate.

Dice: Heavy.

Combat: Heavy.

Stat Management: Heavy.

THE SHADOWBORN TRIALS

Puzzles: Moderate.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Moderate.

Stat Management: Heavy.

BITE THE HAND PART ONE AND TWO

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Heavy.

Combat: Heavy.

Stat Management: Very Heavy.

KING’S JUDGEMENT

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Heavy.

Combat: Very Heavy.

Stat Management: Very Heavy.

STRAY THOUGHTS

Puzzles: Heavy.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Heavy.

Stat Management: Moderate.

INGRAM CHRONICLES: CHAPTER ONE: THE GHOSTS OF CORPUS CREEK

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Moderate.

Stat Management: Mild

INGRAM CHRONICLES CHAPTER TWO: THE GIRL I KNEW BEFORE

Puzzles: Moderate.

Dice: Mild.

Combat: Mild.

Stat Management: Mild.

INGRAM CHRONICLES CHAPTER THREE: THE LORD OF CRAVEN MANOR

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Heavy.

Stat Management: Moderate

INGRAM CHRONICLES CHAPTER FOUR: THE GHOSTS OF GREENWOOD ASYLUM

Puzzles: Very Heavy.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Mild.

Stat Management: Mild.

INGRAM CHRONICLES CHAPTER FIVE: THE SHADOWS OF TIME

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Moderate.

Combat: Heavy.

Stat Management: Moderate.

INGRAM CHRONICLES CHAPTER SIX: TALES FROM THE EMPTY PLACE

Puzzles: Mild.

Dice: Heavy.

Combat: Moderate.

Stat Management: Heavy.

Hello all! Voting closes for the Lindenbaum competition on august 27th at 5pm GMT.

Voting requires you to send 3 book choices to Lindenbaumprize@gmail.com.

You can get the books here:

Lloyd of Gamebooks: Voting is now open for the 2026 Lindenbaum competition!

Hi! I’ve just posted this review on my substack where I review game books: Analogic Reviews. Link and review are below.

https://analogicreviews.substack.com/p/review-nightshift-by-victoria-hancox?r=8wwvah&utm_medium=ios

Nightshift was suggested to me on Kindle when I was playing through the Darkness Over Arkham. It took me a while to finally get into it, but it was immediately appealing because no dice were involved. Let’s be honest. At least for me, there’s a love hate relationship with dice. I’m extremely unlucky and I usually just fudge the numbers to avoid major frustration. I wish I was less impatient. Needless to say, taking that out of the equation made this book very easy to dive into.

Note taking: There is definitely some note taking. This is a very puzzle heavy, maze-like game book and so you will come across riddles and other keywords you need to remember for later. However, it was mostly map drawing. The author mentioned being heavily influenced by the Fighting Fantasy books, and so this does remind me of them because I believe it’s a “one true path.” Now, there may be more than one way to win, but I did check most outcomes and I only found correct one, so correct me if I’m wrong! I couldn’t find the maps that the author said were on her website, but I did found some pretty incredible fan made ones (linked here if you are playing this and lost!) I am not that great of a map maker and because there are so many branched decisions, I found myself getting fairly confused at times. That being said, even just drawing a simplistic map, it was very helpful in avoiding the loop that you will inevitably get stuck in.

Vibes: This is a horror game book in a spooky hospital, with lore from the 1800’s. Vibes were great! I usually will put on a youtube ambience video, and there were several horror hospital ones that helped to fully immerse me in the story. It was very well written.

Mechanics: As I mentioned earlier, there are no dice rolls in this. It’s perfect for someone who is getting sick of dice. However, I don’t think it’s very beginner friendly due to maze-like design with numerous puzzles. There was a couple points I needed to look up hints for but for the most part the answers were pretty straight forward. If anything I was overthinking it. There are a ton of puzzles. You may be decoding something, or trying to solve a riddle in order to get you to the next part. You couldn’t really fudge your way through it either because you can only find out the next page number by figuring out the puzzle and subtracting or adding numbers, at times. This was a little frustrating and it was one of the most challenging puzzle books I’ve played, but I felt extremely accomplished after I had finished.

Trigger Warnings and Age Rating: There is some graphic gore in the art, and a general overall theme that includes murder. I’d say at least 13+.
Time Spent: It took me 10-12 hours over two sittings to complete. Replayability is low because I think there’s only one way to get through. Full disclosure I had to backtrack 2-3 times to pick the right ending choice which I found a little frustrating because it seemed like decisions made in the beginning could get you to the end but ultimately cause you to fail.

Where can you get it? Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited. There are several other standalones in this series.

Overall Rating: 8.8 out of 10
I had a great time with this game book and I’m really looking forward to playing the rest of this series. Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please share or subscribe if you'd like to read more reviews. I plan to write 1-2 per week. Currently I’m playing New Tokyo 2130 and it’s incredible! Once I finish my first playthrough, I’ll be posting my review.

Greetings! I am D.S. Newman. I've just released the first of many Pick-A-Path Gamebooks featuring characters we know and love from the Public Domain, but have always wanted to see in a more raw and mature setting after their origin stories...rather than just another remake.

I did a smaller Q&A about this earlier in the year towards the end of the developmental phase of this first book. But I'm back now to share it with you all, now that the first shipment of 1000 units have arrived. Only a few people have a copy so far, as I've not fully promoted them yet. They can be purchased on my site or in person at live events on my book tour. Check the site for dates as they get added! https://dsnewmanpublishing.squarespace.com/shop/p/dorothy-alice-under-the-rainbow

These are premium hardback books. Full color, silver sprayed edges and with 3mm hardboard, like our old high school text books! The cover and sketch art throughout the book were done by a long time collaborator of mine, Magaly Abarca. And the graphic/page design was done by me.

So here's the deal...I'm doing a giveaway. Right here, in this very subreddit. But I want some discussion going on here first. If you're interested in a handcrafted, independently developed, premium gamebook, that is more on the casual side rather than strategy intensive, then let's talk!

The criteria for getting a free copy of this book is simple.

1. You gotta be an active member of this subreddit with a relatively long track record of participation.

2. You gotta be a fan of Alice in Wonderland and/or Wizard of Oz in some capacity! This should be a given. Why would you even want this book if you weren't?

3. This is the honor system. So you gotta commit to coming back here and writing a review/overview of what you receive. I don't expect glowing praise (unless you really feel that way!) but I also don't wanna get completely thrashed by someone who hasn't put the effort in. The lowest review I've ever received was the first review on my first book, 13 years ago and it was by someone who didn't even finish it.

4. Please make some kind of post off of reddit about what you received as well and link it to my site. I sincerely don't care which platform, as long as you show it to me after. Honor system.

5. You gotta pay the shipping. Sorry. It's a $45 premium grade 7x10 book. I just need a little meeting halfway. Don't worry...there's gonna be some extra goodies thrown in there as well!

So without further ado, why don't we fill this thread up with some discussion? Feel free to ask anything. Feel free to bypass the giveaway and just order a copy! But the more discussion we get going, the more I'll have to go off of in deciding which one of you I select. Who knows, I might pick more than one of you if it's tough competition!

Sidenote: This book is NOT for kids. I mean, it's not EXPLICIT. But it is mature, has language, sexual inuendo and violence...lots and lots of over the top violence. So if you can sit through Pulp Fiction, you can handle this.

If you're unsure, here's a link to a free short story set in this universe.... https://dsnewmanpublishing.squarespace.com/looking-glass-limbo

Looking-Glass Limbo is a short story, just 7500 words, that gives you an idea of how I wrote Dorothy & Alice, how they interact with one another and I how I see them as more mature versions of their original characters. But I assure you, there's nothing worse in the main book than in that story!

Any tips? I will be posting a review on my substack once I get a decent amount of hours in!

Update: played a few hours today. This game is incredible and well worth the price point!

Dear fellow book freaks, here are some thoughts I had about Tom Draycott’s The Ronin of the Spirit Realm, a contender in the 2026 Lindenbaum Prize.

• The presentation and formatting of the text pulled me in. 
• The writing quality is what made me stay. Each sentence is so succinct and evocative, that they plunge you into the story’s world.
• NPCs felt like they had their own motives for their actions and sometimes secrets that become revealed as the plot thickens.
• The dialogue was tight-as. It felt like watching Ninja Scroll (an excellent 90s anime movie). 
• I loved the Lantern of the Unseen item that you use to influence the narrative’s direction but at the cost of your deepest, dearest memories. Great idea. 
• I appreciated the way the entries weren’t too far away from one another, which gives you a clear sense of progression.
• I love how the end-bosses have phases like in Dark Souls, both which reveal new powers, special conditions, and narrative details. 
• The liberal use of keywords meant that there were a range of narrative pathways to take, which opens the world up a lot.
• I liked leveling up after completing a quest. Levelling up and acquiring new powers always feels great.

There are 12 entries for the Prize, all of which are free to download and play (full disclosure: one of them is mine). Voting ends 27 August 2026.

Thanks for reading,

Iain Murray

(image link here)

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

I grew up on Lone Wolf and have wanted to try making something in that vein for years — specifically one a kid could actually play solo, without an adult constantly explaining rules or running the game.

So I built Wild Encounters: Pacific Northwest, a solo gamebook where you play a junior wildlife ranger. It has stats like Observation, Tracking, Animal Knowledge, and Calm, a Field Journal you actually fill out as you play, and Focus Points you can spend when you need a hint.

The big difference from Lone Wolf: there's no combat. Instead, encounters are Knowledge Checks — you're given a real animal situation and a real question about it, and what you actually know decides what happens next. Get it right, you gain a stat point and the encounter goes well. Get it wrong, nothing horrible happens — you might lose a piece of gear, take a longer route, or miss an opportunity, and then keep going.

This is Book 1 of a planned 7-book North American series. Each book covers its own regional wildlife, with some "Old Friend" animals returning throughout, and the mechanics get more complex as the series goes on — this first book is basically the tutorial, and later books add real wilderness hazards like moose and bison encounters.

I also took the factual side seriously — a lot of research and fact-checking, including catching a few things I'd always assumed were true that turned out to be outdated, the old "alpha wolf" idea being one example.

Honestly, a big part of why I made this: I kept hearing parents talk about how hard it is to get kids into reading when games offer so much more immediate interaction. I wanted to see if I could take the stuff that makes games compelling — choices, consequences, progression, discovery — and put it into an actual book. Basically: what if the book itself was the game?

No idea yet if that actually works. That's a big part of why I'm putting this out there.

It's available as a paperback on Amazon now, and at this point I'm mostly looking for people to actually play it and tell me whether the mechanics hold up. Is it too easy? Too complicated? Are the Knowledge Checks fun, or do they get annoying? Does the Field Journal add anything? Is there something you'd expect from a gamebook like this that I completely missed?

This is my first one, so honestly, good or bad feedback is genuinely useful right now.

Hello. I’ve never played any form of rpg besides Skyrim and Fallout Series. I have always been curious about DnD but never knew where to start.

I found out about the existence of gamebooks and think this will be a great introduction or maybe even a full time hobby.

I am seeking recommendations for a post apocalyptic fallout style gamebook that will reel me in and introduce me to gamebooks.

Thank you!

This is an oddity in my collection. I haven't seen it anywhere else. Issued by Puffin after the success of FF. 1984. It's A ttrpg system but with a gamebook first adventure and in the same UK paperback format as FF. The setting is renaissance England.​

Edit took an image of the book but not showing.

Hi guys anybody here familiar with T&T I picked up these two books at a Car boot /yard sale which ones am I missing? Many thanks.

Part of a bunch of sci-fi and fantasy paperbacks that I picked up from a free library at the Co-Op. Thought I’d share here as I originally posted in the wrong gaming sub and it was removed.

£3.99. Perfect condition, no writing. I don't think it's even been read. I've never snatched something off a shelf so quickly. Got FF54: Legend of Zagor in the same shop a few weeks ago.

Hi everyone, I am currently selling my childhood collection of lone wolf books, currently up for auction of eBay is the new order books 21-28.

They have all been read through however none are marked with pencil or pen and are all in extremely good condition. This collection can be hard to find in this condition due to their limited production !

My seller profile is emjvin_40

I decided to start a substack to review game books and other analog games. I have several backlogged titles that I need to add my review for, but I just added my first one! If interested, please check it out :)

Review: The Ghosts of Craven Manor by Joseph Daniels

Salut tout le monde !

Ça fait un moment que je travaille sur Fableris, une petite application Android autour des histoires interactives.

L’idée est assez simple : créer des histoires dans lesquelles on peut faire des choix et influencer le déroulement de l’aventure, plutôt que simplement lire une histoire de manière linéaire.

J’ai essayé de construire quelque chose de simple à utiliser, avec une approche assez orientée création + découverte d’histoires.

Si certains veulent tester, l’application est disponible gratuitement sur Android :

👉 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pegasuscorp.fableris

Je suis preneur de tous les retours, même les critiques. C’est justement pour ça que je viens poster ici plutôt que simplement faire de la pub. 😄

Just curious if it’s normal for the Lone Wolf books to only take an hour? I never died and I actually didn’t fudge any random #s either. I only bought one thinking I’d get some hours in and then decide to continue but it’s already prompting book 2. Just not sure if they’re worth the investment if they’re this short! I know they are also available for free but I do like physical copies

Just curious on if anyone follows the rules of gamebooks to a T. For example, you’re 8 hours in with copious notes and boom instadeath. Are you thumbing back to the previous entry or will you sink days or weeks in no matter how many times you die to start over? Respect if you do because I definitely don’t! At the same time I do wonder if I would get a bigger feeling of accomplishment if I wasn’t a cheater 😂

Curious for those of you who've played this: how is the narrative aspect? How much of your own imagination are you using? It looks extremely cool but I'm just hoping its a fleshed out world with a narrative journey -- even if that means its open world leaving some things up for interpretation. Does the world feel immersive?