Item - Jungle Trek

This book (the first of six) belongs to a series based on a video game for iOS and Android devices. Luckily, whoever wrote it made an effort to create an actual gamebook, and not just a promotional for the game. There is not much here for the people who prefer rules mechanics in their interactive books - the only mechanic is a very simplistic inventory system. Nonetheless, the book (which draws inspiration from the Indiana Jones films) has a strong game feel to it, with clear goals to achieve and choices that actually require reasoning and strategy. Unlike many of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, this one has a single underlying plot, and reading the book several times allows you to uncover different aspects of it.

The book is not perfect, though; of the three major paths through it, one is considerably less well designed and interesting than the other two. Nonetheless, this book was for the most part an engaging read, and a sign that in the 2010s, gamebooks continue to be alive and well. Here's hoping that the author decides to combine a similar premise with a game system for his later works.

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