Join HJDoom for a playthrough of Fighting Fantasy book 14 and take a journey across desert sands to the mysterious abandoned city of Vatos. Sandworms! Nomads! Undead Assassins! Temple of Terror has it all and almost all of them want to kill you. Will our dauntless hero take a brief citybreak in Port Blacksand on the way? Find out by listening.
Another bonus episode is here! What joy. This time we’re taking a turn through Den of Dragons, the second book in the Grail Quest sequence by prolific UK author JH Brennan. A deadly Brass Dragon is menacing Avalon and King Arthur has told Merlin to tell you to embark on a dangerous quest to destroy the fell beast. Armed with a talking sword (actually pretty quiet) and a whole bunch of spells we’ll be taking on the role of Pip, the pleasingly gender neutral protagonist, and trying our best not to be get killed immediately on leaving home. If you’d like to help fund more bonus episodes then you can do so by going to patreon.com/hjdoom and pledging as little as a single pound.
Episode 13 sees another attempt to create a science fiction Fighting Fantasy book that isn’t rubbish. This time it’s all gone a bit Mad Max as Ian Livingstone takes us on a gritty journey into a post-apocalyptic landscape where the collapse of civilisation has failed to impact on private car ownership. Gaffa tape some nerf guns to your Lexus because it’s time to take on some weirdly dressed thugs in a Volvo in Freeway Fighter.
We're off to Space! But not to actually assassinate anyone. Brace yourselves because this one gets very strange indeed and pushes your host to the limits of his tolerance for old adventure gamebooks. Space Assassin was written by Andrew Chapman with internal art by Geoffrey Senior. Listen to the end for some insights into the somewhat strange origin story of this quirky and unique entry in the Fighting Fantasy canon.
It’s bonus episode time again and this time we’ve got a chance to play through a gamebook co-written by Dungeons and Dragons legend Gary Gygax and 80s cartoon writer Flint Dille. Will our muscle bound hereo overcome the odds and bring home a reasonable sum of money for his tribe? Listen along to find out. This episode is only possible thanks to the generosity of the people who support me on patreon. Join that august body of heroes by going to patreon.com/hjdoom and pledging as little as a single English pound to support the podcast.
We’re back in fantasy territory with episode 11 of Fantastic Fights but it isn’t quite business as usual as we’re taking a tour of a new fantasy world, that of Orb, created by Matt Smith and Jamie Thomson, best known for the excellent Way of the Tiger gamebook sequence. Will it live up to the best that Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone have to offer? We’ll find out and also find the limits of my ability to pronounce made up words. If you’d like to support my efforts to play through every Fighting Fantasy book then you can do so by going to patreon.com/hjdoom. Anything you can spare is hugely appreciated.
Join HJDoom for a spooktacular journey into the insane rabbit warrens of Earl Drumer’s crumbling family home, a home that is rammed to the gills with all manner of occult shennanigans. This episode marks the first Fighting Fantasy book to tackle horror head on and it’s a straight up classic. Vampires, ghosts, lots and lots of zombies. The House of Hell has it all. If you’d like to help me make more adventure gamebook content then you can support me on patreon at www.patreon.com/hjdoom. Happy listening.
Nostalgia levels are at critical here at Fantastic Fights as I tackle a game book based on He-Man, the first thing I can remember truly loving. This game book was published in the UK by the legendary children’s publisher Ladybird which adds a second layer of nostalgia to the mix. Will this be a lazy cash in or is there more to this than book than you might expect? Listen along to find out.
These bonus episodes are made possible by the kind generosity of my patrons. If you want to chuck me a couple of coins to ensure these bonus episodes keep coming then you can do so at patreon.com/hjdoom.
We’re back! 2021 kicks of with a second jaunt into the brutal dungeons of the Snow Witch. This episode will only really make sense if you’ve already listened to the first part in which I died very early in the playthrough. This second part continues to bring the pain but will we be able to overcome one of Ian Livingstone’s most misanthropic gamebooks? Listen along to find out.
Join your ever optimistic host HJDoom as he embarks on a freezing journey through some of the most inhospitable terrain yet featured on Fantastic Fights. Mammoths, Frost Giants, and surly dwarves abound in this deadly quest to defeat the abominable yeti and plunge into the mysterious lair of the even more mysterious snow witch. Will our hero make it out alive? What is the best flavour of crisps to eat when you’re nearly dead? Some of these questions may possibly be answered as you listen along.
It’s bonus episode time again and this time we’re taking a look at Raid on Nightmare Castle, part of the Endless Quest series released by TSR in the 1980s as a kind of introduction to the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Will we survive our trip into a world of talking animals and portly elves? Listen in to find out.
It’s episode 8 of Fantastic Fights and we’re taking a turn round the insalubrious environs of Scorpion Swamp by the American Steve Jackson, creator of GURPS, Munchkin, OGRE, Illuminati, and many more. Will a fresh voice bring a fresh approach? Will my utter refusal to make any kind of map be a detriment to a quest entirely about making maps? Listen along to find out.
If you’d like to support the show you can do so at patreon.com/hjdoom. Anything you can spare will be appreciated and help keep the podcast well stocked with adventure gamebooks.
We’re approaching Halloween and I’m celebrating a second patron backer by doing a playthrough of the Doctor Who Decide Your Own Destiny book The Horror of Howling Hill. Does this capture the unique feel of Britain’s most successful cultural export? How many times will we hear the exact same howling scream before the horror begins to wear off? Listen along to find out.
After our disastrous tour round Deathtrap Dungeon we get a nice change of scenery, several changes of scenery in fact as we take a mini-break to Fire Island home of the insane Lizard King and an awful lot of very big animals. Golden beaches, dense jungle, a pictureque swamp and a deep ravine are just some of the environments the await us on our quest to undo an idiot prince’s bright idea of hiring insane lizardmen to run his version of Guantanamo Bay. This is a real epic and I hope very much you enjoy it.
Island of the Lizard King was written by Ian Livingstone with internal illustrations by Alan Langford and cover art by Ian McCaig.
It’s bonus episode time as I reveal my first, far less successful playthrough of Deathtrap Dungeon. I feel like there might be other very difficult gamebooks later where I end up doing the same thing. Regardless I hope you enjoy this little look into a world of abject failure.
Deathtrap Dungeon, the very name conjures horrors and a sense of abject failure. Can our hero buck the trend by emerging triumphant from one of the cruelest dungeons ever created? Find out by listening in to my playthrough of this stone cold Fighting Fantasy classic by Ian Livingstone. Watch out for a bonus episode coming soon to a podcast provider near you.
It’s time for a bonus episde! These are episodes where I step outside of my usual run of Fighting Fantasy books for no better reason than I feel like it. This time we’re looking at an adventure gamebook written by Dave Morris and based on the classic 80s TV show Knightmare, a series I absolutely loved as a child and was partially responsible for me turning out the way I did, not that I hold that against it. The book Labyrinths of Fear has an unusual structure in that there’s a novelette about Treguard of Dunhelm’s adventures which is then followed by a short gamebook. Does short also mean sweet? You’ll have to listen to find out.
We’re taking an urban turn this episode as we embark on the quest to defeat an evil creature with a very silly name. Along the way we’ll get our pockets picked, nick a selection of broaches, tangle with pirates, and have one of the all time classic fantasy roleplaying encounters as we battle giant rats in the sewers beneath Port Blacksand. Is this the greatest setting in all of Fighting Fantasy? Possibly. Will I record the first ever legitimate win? It’s very unlikely but never say never.
If you’d like to support me as I continue my doomed quest to remember what it was like to have hope and things to look forward to you can do so by going to https://www.patreon.com/Hjdoom and pledging as little as £1 per month.
In this, the fourth episode of Fantastic Fights we once again enter uncharted territory as Steve Jackson takes us to the stars as the crew of Starship Traveller. Space battles, poorly described aliens, and mediocre artwork abound as we search a parallel universe for a black hole that will take us home. Does the crew survive this jaunt into another reality? You’ll have to listen to find out.
This episode also sees the launch of my patreon page at patreon.com/hjdoom. No obligation but if you could spare me a copper or two towards the cost of buying Fighting Fantasy books for this podcast I would be eternally grateful. The podcast will alway be free to air regardless. If you’re enjoying this soujorn into the past why not tell a friend or two?
As lockdown eases here in the UK I’ve been making sure I get plenty of vitamin D by taking a lengthy stroll through the Forest of Doom, the very first Fighting Fantasy book I ever played as a child. Along the way we’ll behave impolitely towards an APE-MAN, rescue an ungrateful BARBARIAN and make the usual number of stupid or very stupid decisions as we try and find a magical dwarven warhammer in the mysterious and spooky forest. Will we make it through the trials and tribulations of the first Fighting Fantasy book set in the great outdoors? There’s only one way to find out.