Item - Into the Jaws of Doom

When I first opened this book, I nearly let out an audible gasp. It has several sections per page, it requires the reader to keep track of inventory, and it even uses dice! The only thing that keeps it from being a "real" gamebook is its lack of character statistics like strength or hit points. This is remarkable, especially for a mass-market book published in 1998! Alas, the book isn't all it could be -- the design is rather spoiled by the die rolling. All of the die rolls in the text are pure tests of luck, and since many of them are completely unavoidable, it becomes increasingly likely that you'll lose due to bad luck the farther into the story you get. For what it's worth, things seem to get easier as you go, but the die-rolling still makes replaying without cheating very tedious and is simply a bad design practice. It's unfortunate that a point-based character creation system wasn't added to the rules -- this could have offered a way for players to strategically avoid death by poor die rolls, assuming that different rolls were adjusted by different abilities. Oh well; I guess you can't have everything. In any case, if you need help with the book, you can find a walkthrough in Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel. Despite its flaws, it's a nice change of pace from the more traditional Give Yourself Goosebumps series, and its style of gameplay certainly suggests that R. L. Stine hasn't forgotten about his classic Hark series.

More reviews by Demian

My favorite Give Yourself Goosebumps book (I've only read 3). The Supercomputer is a great villain, and the inventory management is great. A must-read for fans of horror-themed CYOA gamebooks.

More reviews by DukeNukem 2417

Surprisingly good, considering the series it's coming from, this book requires well-thought out planning, inventory management, and often luck with the dice rolling to win. It's an enjoyable and memorable game that works well on many levels, with exception to the often unfair dice rolling, which I got frustrated with and cheated on. I'd recommend that anyone, especially a gamebook fan, read it, and I'd enjoy a chance to read it again sometime.

More reviews by Waluigi Freak 99