1. The Devil's Addition
Author: Forrest Harris
Illustrators: Mark Bulmenshine (cover), Forrest Harris, Rick Harris and Chuck Quilty (interior)
First Published: 1998
ISBN: 0-9667046-0-6
Length: 136 pages (400 sections)
Number of Endings: 1 (led to from 54 different sections)
Plot Summary: The reader controls the actions of Red Lewis, a lawman
in search of a murderer in the town of Abilene, Kansas.
My Thoughts: While Westerns don't really interest me very much, I
still quite enjoyed this book. It's one of the few gamebooks I've seen that
fall into the Western genre, and one of the even fewer gamebooks that are
aimed at a mature audience. The "adult content" isn't too
gratuitous, and it does give the story a gritty feel which nicely complements
its great attention to historical detail. This historical detail is also
aided by the footnotes scattered throughout the story which are interesting,
if a bit distracting. Gameplay feels fairly similar to the
Boot Hill solitaire module since a lot of it
involves wandering around town, but this adventure is a lot less aimless (and
much more interestingly-written) than its predecessor. Still, the game
design isn't perfect; successfully completing the story isn't very hard, and
while there's a lot to be gained from replaying the book, the fact that you
must often remember who you've talked to and where you've been makes playing
without cheating increasingly difficult with each subsequent reading. Of
course, this is only a problem if you play many times in the same day; I
imagine that players who return and attempt to beat their high scores after
leaving the book on the shelf for a few months won't get too confused...
Actually, I may have to try this myself!
My High Score: 20 (1/13/2001)
2. Raining Hammers: The Ballad of Johnny MacDonald
Author: Forrest Harris
Illustrators: Forrest Harris and Rick Harris
First Published: 1999
ISBN: 0-9667046-1-4
Length: 144 pages (400 sections)
Number of Endings: 1 (led to from 50 different sections)
Plot Summary: The reader follows (and controls) the adventures of
Johnny MacDonald, an innocent man accused of murdering his brothers.
My Thoughts: While the previous book was quite good, this volume is
superior in nearly every way. Its story is a bit more linear (but not
too linear), meaning that completing the adventure successfully takes
quite a while and yields a number of interesting plot twists. The historical
footnotes augment the story excellently, and the more advanced game system
works quite well, giving the reader more of a sense of control over the
random elements of the adventure. My biggest complaint is that it is
possible to get stuck wandering aimlessly, trying to avoid returning to
events that obviously couldn't happen more than once; the fact that this
possibility is acknowledged by the rules doesn't make it any less frustrating
when it happens. A lesser complaint involves the game's gambling -- while it
is nice to have games within a game, the rules are presented somewhat
ambiguously, making betting a little confusing. Still, these flaws are
easily overlooked, and this is a worthwhile read -- a well-written,
interesting and challenging gamebook. I can only hope that more
Knuckleduster adventures will be forthcoming...
My High Score: 121 (1/14/2001)