''The Forest of Doom'' 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 Malcolm Barter. 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 1983, the title is the third 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, and the first of several to feature the character Yaztromo. 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

Plot

''The Forest of Doom'' is a fantasy adventure scenario in which the hero character travels through a hazardous forest in search of the missing pieces of a magic warhammer needed to assist the dwarves in their war against the trolls.

Reception

Marcus L. Rowland reviewed ''The Forest of Doom'' 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 10 out of a possible 10. Rowland suggested that only " ally stupid players" would try to loot the home of the mage, because they "will not like the consequences", and noted the lethality of the forest area with "some encounters being survivable only by luck or remarkably good combat rolls, while others can be settled without any conflict".

Reviews

*''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Ru ...

'' #38

In other media

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 ...

based on the book was released by

in 1984. The gamebook was also converted into a 40-page d20 System role-playing adventure by Jamie Wallis. It was published by Myriador in 2004 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. This gamebook has later been released by Tin Man Games. 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 Forest of Doom'' in a CD boxset with '' The Citadel of Chaos'', '' Deathtrap Dungeon'', 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 Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aunt ...

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:Forest of Doom, The 1983 fiction books Books by Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy gamebooks