LAST UPDATED 30, July 2024
Click here if you want to check the Beginners guide.
Before I start, here is a short disclaimer:
- This list will be updated every couple of months.
- All of the books I show here are IN PRINT and can be bought new at regular prices in most places.
- This list only shows books that I know a lot about or I've read.
- You can suggest other books, and I'll try to add them to this list.
- This entire list is just my opinion.
Classic Gamebooks
This four-part series is an amazing achievement and is regarded as one of the very best Gamebook experiences, and is a "spin-off" from the Fighting Fantasy series.
In Sorcery!, you get to choose if you want to play as a Warrior or Wizard. If you choose the Warrior, you'll get a similar experience to any Fighting Fantasy book, however, if you choose to play as the Wizard (hence the name "Sorcery!"), you'll get a very different experience.
To play as a Wizard, if you don't want to cheat, you'll need to study ALL of your spells. What do I mean by "study"? Exactly that, study the spellbook, remember every spell name, every spell effect, if the spell needs any preparation, if it needs any specific items... etc. You ARE a Wizard, so, you should act like one!
After you finish book 1, your progress is carried to book 2, and so on, until you finish in book 4 epic finale. I added this book to the veterans list because it's one of the most difficult classic books from Fighting Fantasy, and one that demands more from the player than usual, because, yes, perma-death is still here, and you'll need to start from the beginning of your current book. However, if you get to finish this adventure, you'll probably never forget it.
I should add two books from Fighting Fantasy that I also recommend to Veterans, and both are from the same author of Sorcery!, Steve Jackson.
The books are House of Hell, a very classic 80s' Lovecraftian Horror, but extremely difficult, and Citadel of Chaos, which feels like a spiritual prelude to Sorcery! since this was the first introduction of "spells" in Fighting Fantasy. Both are great but difficult adventures.
- Sorcery! Book 1 - The Shamutanti Hills (Start here)
- Sorcery! Book 2 - Kharé – Cityport of Traps
- Sorcery! Book 3 - The Seven Serpents
- Sorcery! Book 4 - The Crown of Kings
Fighting Fantasy
- House of Hell
- Citadel of Chaos
If you want in-depth reviews of Fighting Fantasy and Sorcery!, Gamebook Odyssey has a great compilation of reviews of all the classic releases (including out-of-print releases).
Pros
+ One of the best Gamebook experiences you'll ever read if you play as a Wizard.
+ A big old-school adventure.
Neutral
o It might be frustrating if you don't cheat.
o You need/should map your adventure every time, because...
Cons
- There is perma-death, meaning, you need to start from the beginning of the current book you're reading each time you die.
Lone Wolf: The Huntress Trilogy was not written by the original Lone Wolf author, Joe Dever, instead, they were written by Jonathan Stark in 2024. However, I'm adding these books to the classic section because they were written in the same style as the originals, even the art is from Fighting Fantasy veteran, Gary Chalk.
The story in these books happens many years before Lone Wolf's first book, Flight from the Dark, and you play as "The Huntress" as the name suggests. If you're interested, you should buy all three books because they were created as a trilogy, and released all at the same time. It has the same progression as the main series, you finish book 1, you continue with the same character to book 2, and then 3.
It sounds like a great book for beginners, but, currently, at the time of this post, you can only buy the Hardback version directly from Holmgard Press, which is "not beginner friendly", and why I added this in the Veterans guide. If it gets released in paperback anywhere, I'll add this to the Beginner's guide.
(Just flexing a bit, I created the trailer).
- Lone Wolf: The Huntress Book 1 - Marked for Death
- Lone Wolf: The Huntress Book 2 - Queling of the Flame
- Lone Wolf: The Huntress Book 3 - Echoes of Eternity
Pros
+ Same style as the original Lone Wolf releases.
+ Very good self-contained story.
Neutral
o I recommend you use a D10 (ten-sided die) for rolls, and not the numbered table inside the book.
o Combat might be a hit or miss for some people
o You need/should map your adventure every time, because...
Cons
- There is perma-death, meaning, you need to start from the beginning of the book you're reading each time you die, and you need to reset your character sheet to how it was at the beginning of that book.
Modern Gamebooks
From the same authors of Fabled Lands (and based on some NFT stuff you can 100% ignore), Vulcanverse is a very good pick if you want a solo Campaign experience, full of puzzles and riddles. This book feels like a 90's PC Adventure Game (Monkey Island, Broken Sword), but in a book format, themed with dark ancient Greek/Egyptian mythology/fantasy, in a world that reminded me of something taken from Dark Souls.
Sounds cool! Well, it is, but keep in mind these books are super difficult to figure out since you start your journey with absolute zero knowledge about anything... be it the main quest, side quest... objective, story... zero, you know nothing. The first few hours are very difficult but once it "clicks"... it really "CLICKS".
Vulcanverse is an open world, five books make up the world map (you can start in any book, but Book 5 is where the story ends). Everything you do has a reaction in the world, so, if you unleash evil in Book 1, it will hunt you in every book until you find a way to kill it, or you start a quest in Book 2, and need to gather stuff in Book 3 and 4, and finish it in book 1.
Very Complex, but extremely rewarding, be ready to write down a lot of notes and map the overworld of each book.
I should add that this is the very first open-world Gamebook to be fully finished, and you need all five books if you want to complete this series. Everything is connected.
- Vulcanverse Book 1 - The Houses of the Dead (This has a more manageable start)
- Vulcanverse Book 2 - The Hammer of the Sun
- Vulcanverse Book 3 - The Wild Woods
- Vulcanverse Book 4 - The Pillars of the Sky
- Vulcanverse Book 5 - Workshop of the Gods (You already start with some knowledge here)
Pros
+ Big and dark open world to explore.
+ Amazing sense of adventuring into the unknown.
+ Good quest/puzzle design, where every book is connected.
Neutral
o You might not like it if you don't enjoy feeling lost.
o You should map each book's overworld.
o No perma-death except in some very specific locations.
Cons
- It can be excruciatingly frustrating.
This is a steampunk open-world Gamebook series set in an alternate 19th-century steam-powered England or Wales. There are six books planned, three books have been released, the 4th book is coming along and the last two books (5 and 6) are in the planning phase.
You travel around England on a bike, keep in mind, that you'll also need to take into consideration your bike's maintenance, like damage, stats, and upgrades.
All the books are connected, but each one also has self-contained stories. There is a lot to unpack here if you want a steampunk adventure, many fans consider this series to be one of the best gamebooks.
- Steam Highwayman 1: Smog and Ambuscade (You should probably start here)
- Steam Highwayman 2: Highways and Holloways
- Steam Highwayman 3: The Reeking Metropolis
Sorry, I currently don't know enough to do a pros & cons, but I know everything is mostly positive, and highly recommended by the community.
If you enjoy horror, then you probably should consider the Cluster of Echoes series from Victoria Hancox, comprised of six books in total, where Nightshift is the first one.
I also haven't played this one yet, but the overall opinion of the community is very positive. Here is a bit more info on the book that I copy-pasted from Amazon:
"There's no dice to throw and no battles to fight. You won't get through by being lucky and you definitely have no spells or swords. What will get you through is what you already have—knowledge, skills, memory and a pencil—the best advice is that you make notes of all the evidence and hints you find! You just might make it out if you can piece together the clues and figure out the puzzles."
This one is mostly a puzzle Gamebook, and from what I know, it's very difficult. I don't know how frustrating it can be, but, if you're up for a challenge, this one is usually recommended.
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 1 - Nightshift (You should probably start here)
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 2 - The Alchemist's Folly
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 3 - The Phantom Self
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 4 - Behind the Weeping Walls
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 5 - Shopping Maul
- The Cluster of Echoes: Book 6 - Game Over
Sorry, I currently don't know enough to do a pros & cons, but I know everything is mostly positive, and highly recommended by the community.
Let me get this out of the way. I think this book is good, really good. The characters, puzzles, progression, combat, everything I've read is very solid, not the best thing ever, but, I could recommend the book easily. This is a pretty good adventure.
Currently, Rise of the Ancients only has two published books, Bruidd and Ashpherron, but more are planned, including side stories/spin-offs. I should add, that all of the books are connected by lore. If you enjoyed Fighting Fantasy but want something more advanced and adult, you should consider this one. The combat feels like it was grabbed from Fighting Fantasy and added a spin on it, making it more fun, it really feels like you're swinging your sword this time. The story and characters are engaging, it's very immersive. It's not an open world, but there is some exploration.
Regarding the content of the book, I think this is a very well-done adventure.
However, I really need to add that, as a book, it is, without a doubt, the worst book I've ever read, and it makes me so disappointed that this good of a Gamebook has this bad of a presentation.
The text's font is huge, and badly formatted, making big spaces between lines. All of the art inside the book is free art that the author got online, some of them are at best decent, and others are terrible (for example, black and white background photos with some drawings on top of them), there is zero consistency, the book would be much better without this art selection.
All this together makes the book absolutely massive, for no reason... it's bothersome to flip through it and occupies a ton of space on the shelf. By reducing the font size, formatting the text correctly, and removing the art pieces, you would get a much much improved and consistently better book, while reducing its size to half.
If you don't mind the terrible book presentation, you'll find a very enjoyable Gamebook, I wouldn't be surprised if this is for some their favorite Gamebook, because it's really well done.
- Rise of the Ancients: Book 1: Bruidd (You should start at the beginning)
- Rise of the Ancients: Book 2: Ashpherron
Pros
+ Combat is a good evolution from Fighting Fantasy
+ Good and mysterious story, with nice characters and adult writing.
+ Nice amount of puzzles and extra mechanics.
Neutral
o Sometimes exploration might feel a bit off with some disappointing locations.
Cons
- Absolutely terrible book presentation, the worst I've ever seen.
This Gamebook started its life as a (now failed) Kickstarter board game project. Later it was reworked into a massive Gamebook. How massive you ask? It was split into three huge Gamebooks, each 500 pages long, and you need all of them to start playing. That last part is important, you NEED all three books to start playing this because each book has a different purpose.
Expeditionary Company is more of a mix of a Gamebook and Tabletop RPG, since you have different ways to play and customize your experience, but, at its core, it still is a Gamebook since there is a narrative going on.
If you want to try out this Gamebook, you'll need to commit a lot of time to learn it and to play it. There is a lot going on and I can't list everything here, but, I'll try to be succinct in what's the core gameplay loop. Basically, you're the owner of a Company that makes deliveries around the continent. However, some weird mist is affecting the wilderness, which makes each travel very difficult, so, usually, this is what you need to do:
- Accept/receive a request, check all the details, as to where you're going, what can happen, which roads you'll travel... etc... all the details of your journey.
- Prepare, by hiring mercenaries/guards, stock up on relevant items, and get ready for your journey.
- Travel to the destination, will take a huge chunk of your time because a LOT can happen during your journey. You'll also need to set up camp, and sometimes this might trigger story events depending on what you're doing during that trip.
- Successfully arrive at your destination, this will give you a reward and also improve your mercenaries and other stats.
- Free time, there is a lot you can do here, like, exploring the city, mini-games like horse racing (by using and improving your mercenaries), and a bunch of other activities.
- Repeat the entire process.
There is a lot I left out, but, this sounds like the main gameplay loop for the campaign mode (there are other modes).
If this looks interesting to you, please, check the official website where you'll find more resources, tutorials, and a demo called - Maiden's Voyage. Check the "downloads" tab for all of this.
The creators also made a couple of playthrough videos in English that might help you understand the game a bit more.
- Expeditionary Company I - Travel Guide (Required to play)
- Expeditionary Company II - Contract Ledger (Required to play)
- Expeditionary Company III - Zekáinar Manual (Required to play)
- Expeditionary Company IV - Supplements I (Optional)
Pros
+ One of the biggest and most complex Gamebooks out there.
+ Huge amount of content.
Neutral
o There is a lot to keep track of.
o Even for seasoned readers, this is a big commitment.
Cons
- There is a lot to learn, but if you're up to the challenge, I guess you can ignore this con.
Community Suggestions
Since there are so many Gamebooks that I haven't heard or read, here are some community suggestions and other mentions that might pique your curiosity. Once I know more about them, I'll be sure to update the list above. I'll also update the list below with more books as I find them.
- The Isle of Torment - Huge pirate-themed Gamebook. Check this very good review about it.
- Samuel Isaacson books - This author writes fantasy and sci-fi-themed Gamebooks. Here is his Amazon page.
- The Seeker of Valenreath - Fantasy Gamebook with some interesting mechanics.
- Heroes of Urowen - From the same author of Expeditionary Company. Mature-themed Fantasy with some "advanced" gameplay mechanics.
- Ghostly Time Travelling Game Books - All I know is that these are creepy, difficult, time-traveling, mind-bending puzzles that are all connected and the people who read them love them. Check them out on Amazon.
Boardgames and Tabletop RPGs
This is not ready yet. I'll release another list of board games and tabletop RPGs that have some Gamebook mechanics or progression. This list will take some time to come out and it'll be short.
