''The Citadel of Chaos'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by

Russ Nicholson Russ Nicholson is a British illustrator, best known for his black and white fantasy art. Education Russ studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Scotland which later became part of Dundee University. He moved to England ...

. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the second 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. The gamebook was also adapted into a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Rules

Story

''The Citadel of Chaos'' is a fantasy scenario in which the player takes the role of an adventurer magician hero must navigate the hazardous castle of the evil wizard Balthus Dire. To confront Dire, the player must avoid monsters and collecting several artefacts that will allow passage past guardians to the villain's inner sanctum.

Reception

Marcus L. Rowland reviewed ''The Citadel of Chaos'' for the June 1983 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 a 9 out of a possible 10. Rowland called ''The Citadel of Chaos'' "an exciting adventure", and noted that the book's introduction of magic as an extra characteristic "adds a new range of decisions to encounters". Karen L. Miller, staff writer at ''

Reading Eagle The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pe ...

'', stated that the title featured "an elaborate combat system with adventure score sheets. This way you read and at the same time...conquer the dreaded sorcerer at the heart of ''The Citadel of Chaos''".

In other media

based on the book was released by Puffin Books for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

in 1984. In 2010, an electronic version of the title was released 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 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 ''The Citadel of Chaos'' in a CD boxset with ''

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 ...

'', ''

Deathtrap Dungeon ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Iain McCaig. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1984, the title is the sixth gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series. It was later ...

'', and '' Creature of Havoc'' 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.

References

External links

''Fighting Fantasy'' Gamebooks
- the official website
''Wizard Books''
- the Publisher's site {{DEFAULTSORT:Citadel of Chaos, The 1983 fiction books Books by Steve Jackson (British game designer) Fighting Fantasy gamebooks