''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a single-player

adventure gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

written by

Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of a series of role-playing gamebooks, ''Fighting Fantasy'', and the author of many books within that se ...

, and illustrated by

Iain McCaig Iain McCaig (born March 19, 1957) is an American artist, writer, and filmmaker. He was involved in the '' Star Wars'' franchise and many other iconic film and book projects, including an album cover for Jethro Tull's Broadsword and the Beast.Rei ...

. Originally published by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

in 1984, the title is the sixth gamebook in the ''

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choos ...

'' series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002.

Story

''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a fantasy adventure taking place in the hazardous labyrinth known as Fang. The player takes the role of an adventurer who decides to enter Baron Sukumvit's "Trial of Champions" and brave "Deathtrap Dungeon". Competing against five other adventurers, the player must defeat monsters, navigate the maze of dungeons and collect certain gems, which are the key to escaping and winning the Trial.

Rules

Sequels

The title was followed by two sequels, '' Trial of Champions'' (21st title, 1986), and ''

Armies of Death ''Armies Of Death'' is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Nik Williams and originally published in 1988 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Steve Jackson ...

'' (36th title, 1988).

Reception

Marcus L. Rowland reviewed ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' for the May 1984 issue of ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'', rating the title 8 out of a possible 10. Rowland stated that the format of ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' was "extremely simple, and resembles the plot of many early ''D&D'' scenarios".

Other media

In 1998, a ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' video game was released, developed by Asylum Studios and published by

Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. The gamebook was also converted into a 40-page d20 System role-playing adventure by Jamie Wallis. It was published by Myriador in 2003 and reissued in

pdf Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

format by Greywood Publishing in 2008. In 2010, the title was re-released in electronic form for the iPhone and

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

Big Blue Bubble Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is a Canadian video game company headquartered in London, Ontario founded in 2004 by industry veteran Damir Slogar, Renata Slogar, and Claudette Critchley. The company has developed over one hundred games and gained intern ...

. When Big Blue Bubble later lost the license, all its apps were withdrawn. In 2011, Mark Holdom Inc. announced a project to adapt ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' for the cinema, "a cross between ''

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

'' and ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

''". In 2018, the audio company FoxYason Music Productions, known for their work with

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

announced that they would be releasing an original, full-cast audio drama based on ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' in a CD boxset with '' The Citadel of Chaos'', ''

The Forest of Doom ''The Forest of Doom'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Malcolm Barter. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the third gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, and the f ...

'', and ''

Creature of Havoc ''Creature of Havoc'' is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by British game designer Steve Jackson (not to be confused with the US game designer of the same name), illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1986 by Puffin ...

'' for summer 2018. It will be written by David N. Smith, directed by Richard Fox and will feature Rachel Atkins returning to the role of Vale Moonwing from FoxYason Music's first release based on ''

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the title is the first gamebook in the '' ...

'', sub-titled The Hero's Quest. In 2020, an interactive video game called ''Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Video Adventure'' featuring narration by

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

was released, developed and published by Branching Narrative Ltd on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

for PC and Mac, iOS and Android.

References

External links

Official sites: * * {{Fighting Fantasy 1984 fiction books Books by Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy gamebooks