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FANTASTIC FIGHTS

Bonus Episode - Frankenstein

October 10, 2025

It’s bonus episode time again and we’re playing Dave Morris’s unique take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This is a digital gamebook (played on iOS) which always make for an interesting departure from the classic formula. How will Morris’s take on a classic stand up to the original? Listen along to find out.

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In podcast Tags dave morris, gamebook, game book, adventure gamebook, adventure game book, choose your own adventure, fighting fantasy, inkle, digital gamebook, interactive fiction, gothic, horror, classic, mary shelley, universal, hammer, monster, gothic horror, science fiction, retro, nostalgia, modern, review, gaming
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Episode 64: The Eye of the Dragon

September 26, 2025

Ian Livingstone is back! Eye of the Dragon written in 2005 is the first new Fighting Fantasy book since 1995 and Livingstone’s first book since 1992. We’re in proper old school mode for this extended dungeon crawl which has the added bonus of Martin McKenna’s always exceptional artwork. Will it be able to recapture the magic of the series for a new generation? Listen along to find out.

The review portion of the episode starts at 46m22s.

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In podcast Tags fighting fantasy, wizard books, darkwood forest, forest of doom, trail of champions, house of hell, ian livingston, steve jackson, allansia, fang, sukumvit, deathtrap dungeon, yaztromo, port blacksand, fantasy, rpg, gamebook, adventure gamebook, cyoa, choose your own adventure, interactive fiction, gaming, retro, nostalgia, pop culture, history, games workshop, dungeons and dragons, labyrinth, game book, advenure game book, adventure game book, adventure gamebooks, icon, roleplaying, role playing, nerd
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Bonus Episode - The Cave of Time

January 15, 2024

We’re investigating a key piece of gamebook history this episode as we explore The Cave of Time, the first proper Choose Your Own Adventure book by Edward Packard with art by Paul Granger. With 40 different endings this packs a lot of adventure into a small package. It spawned a wildly successful franchise but is this book actually any good? HJDoom plays it to find out and offers a mildly contentious and completely untested theory about the reason gamebooks exploded in the early eighties.

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In podcast Tags choose your own adventure, paul granger, edward packard, bantam books, CYOA, gamebooks, interactive fiction, children's books, 1980s, retro, nostalgia, 80s, nerd, kids, fiction, gamebook, adventure gamebooks, adventure game books, game books, time travel, science fiction, adventure
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Bonus Episode - Heart of Ice

April 10, 2022

It’s bonus episode time again! This time we’re playing through Dave Morris’s seminal Heart of Ice, often touted as the very finest adventure gamebook of all time. It’s the 24th century and Earth has gone very strange indeed as a quixotic computer messes with the climate and the human race clings to an increasingly precarious existence. It as has art by Russ Nicholson which always makes me happy. These bonus episodes, which are free to everyone, are only made possible by the generosity of my patrons. If you’d like to contribute to the running of this podcast, as well as getting a few freebies, then you can do so at patreon.com/hjdoom.

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Tags rpg, dave morris, heart of ice, gamebooks, gamebook, adventure game book, nostalgia, 1990s, retro, gaming, Russ Nicholson, fighting fantasy, interactive fiction, podcast, game design
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