Stuart Lloyd, welcome to the Gamebook Author Spotlight. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this interview series.

 

What first drew you to gamebooks and interactive fiction?

 

My first discovery of interactive fiction was when I was 7. I was at a school fair and I bought a copy of Talisman of Death. I had not really been interested in fiction at that age, but I couldn’t put Talisman of Death down. Imagine my delight when I realised that it was just one of many books. I read every gamebook I could find and still do. What drew me to it? It was the interactivity and the agency it gave me. I had choices. I enjoyed choices. I could see the consequences of my choices and rewind them if I didn’t like them. I had the excitement of rolling dice and seeing if I could defeat my opponents in combat. These were all things I had never experienced before. 

 

Was there a particular title or moment that sparked your passion?

I had always read gamebooks on and off since I had left school, but the moment that sparked my passion was after the second Windhammer Competition in 2009. I had made what I thought was a great book, but I still hadn’t won. It turned out that I had focused completely on the system and not thought about story or characters or plot very much at all. I hadn’t engaged with the reader. And that is when I decided to become a better gamebook writer, which involved writing a series of short gamebooks to see how they turned out and then starting Lloyd of Gamebooks to analyse the art of gamebook writing.

 

As for titles, there are many that helped. Moonrunner is my favourite Fighting Fantasy book for its Hammer Horror detective themes. Lone Wolf showed me how epic gamebooks could be. Heart of Ice showed me how not every gamebook needs a happy ending and choices could act as mirrors for us where we can discover a bit about ourselves.

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Do you remember the first interactive story you ever wrote—or read? What stood out?

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The first interactive story I read was Talisman of Death. What stood out for me was the epic journey. I also loved the monsters and magical items I obtained on the journey.

 

The first interactive story I wrote was called War of Deities part 1. It was going to be book 1 of 4. It was a pretty simple dungeon crawl. It was pretty generic, but I had a few things stand out. I had a trio of pyromaniac dwarfs in it who I would have appear in every book to cause trouble for the character. I also did something clever where you could make a magic item for yourself from other items. I had a whole story laid out which involved the three primal gods of Titan, one of the demon lords and allying yourself with Sargon, high priest of Elim, because he had fallen out of favour. Book 2 would involve searching Port Blacksand and the sewers underneath for a powerful artefact. Book 3 would involve a trek across Allansia from Blacksand to the Icefinger mountains. Book 4 would be a series of super powered battles where the main character would have a massive power boost from the two good primal gods and then fight the seven champions of the evil god Elim climaxing with a siege of Port Blacksand as the ancient gods fight over the ruins of Carsepolis. I haven’t written any of the other books yet, and, if I ever did, I would make it a trilogy instead, as the first book does little but to set up your rival adventurer and introduce a few other minor characters.

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How did Lloyd of Gamebooks begin?

 

It began in 2010 when I was working on my third Windhammer entry. The Windhammer competition was a short gamebook competition which ran from 2008-2015 and was the inspiration for the Lindenbaum competition. My first two entries had not won any prizes and I started Lloyd of Gamebooks as a way to reflect on the process of writing gamebooks in order to improve. And it must have worked because I won the 2010 competition! From then on, I wrote every thought I had on gamebooks in a blog and released posts weekly. I managed that for about 7 years. Peter Agapov now does posts with his analysis, and I post Lindenbaum competition updates on it.

 

What have been some of your most rewarding or surprising moments as a creator and curator in this space?

 

My most rewarding moments have been the times when I have seen the community grow and being able to meet people in real life. When I started Lloyd of Gamebooks in 2010, I assumed I would simply be taking a retrospective look at old gamebooks and interacting with a few people who wanted to write gamebooks in the style of the gamebooks of the 1980s and 1990s. Tin Man games was the only company making gamebook apps and they were basically electronic gamebooks. I had no idea that so many new gamebooks would be created.

 

I had no idea that gamebooks would have so much of a resurgence. It turns out that there are lots of people who want to write them, and they have come up with their own gamebook series and pushed the boundaries of what gamebooks can do. That was both surprising and rewarding. Now I have people message me about their gamebooks and I enjoy hearing what they have been up to.

 

How do you approach world-building and mechanics in Savage Realms compared to classic gamebooks?

 

Savage Realms books have quite a dark, horror-like vibe. Mine was based on Lovecraftian horror.

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​​In some ways, the world building for my Savage Realms gamebook was easier, and in some ways it was harder because it is based in a real-life place (Antarctica) and a genre with very specific themes (Lovecraftican horror). So it was easier, because I didn’t have to think about what the terrain or the environment was like, but it was harder because I had to research the locations and make them as accurate as possible whilst fitting them into my story. Thankfully, the internet has maps of the Antarctic bases and there are online videos of researchers showing the interior of the bases with cameras. I also listened to podcasts about life in Antarctica and books about the environment there. I did a lot of research, because, for me, when I have done the world building, lots of other things fall into place, such as the skills needed, the encounters and the hazards that will arise on the quest. All of the bases in my book save for one are real-life places and I have made certain hazards in the adventure due to the geography and environment of Antarctica – for example, the characters having to stop to refuel an aeroplane.

 

For mechanics, the abilities were quite easy to work out based on the fact that the character is a scientist who has been to Antarctica before. I actually had two extra abilities, but I couldn’t think of enough uses for them, so I got rid of them. After writing so many gamebooks, I know that I usually have too many ideas to be practical, and while I’ve not removed this problem of mine, I’m at least aware of it and I can correct it earlier.

 

Mechanics that linked to the horror tone of the book were a bit tricky. In Lovecraftian horror, the protagonist usually goes mad to some degree. However, I did not want a mechanic that took away the player’s agency and I did not want sanity to be a second hit point score where a character at maximum sanity is exactly the same as a character on the brink of madness. What I did instead was to change the perceptions of the character if they had taken certain actions that would lead to madness. This means that the same situation would look differently depending on the character’s state of mind and then they will have different options. So then the player still has full agency, but they have different choices.

 

What’s your process when writing or reviewing a gamebook?

 

Like I’ve said in the planning section, I try to plan the whole thing out, but I realise that there are other options as I go and then I have to fit them in. Or I usually put too many scenes or options in the gamebook and have to cut back as I go. It’s a messy process for me, but I haven’t managed to eliminate being so messy. I can’t actually think it all through in the planning stage. When I plan, I start from the ground up – I plan the area the gamebook takes place in, the geography, the climate and the people involved. I plan out the history of the area sometimes and I also make the villain’s plan, if there is one and decide what resources the villain has. Then I imagine how the main character will affect all of these things. It is a lot of groundwork and a lot of it never sees the page, but I find that if I have everything planned out this way then the encounters usually just write themselves. It is a lot of work to start with, but then makes the writing process more seamless.

 

When reviewing a gamebook, I wait a week after finishing the first draft so that I can look at it with fresh eyes. I then look at the choices and make sure that every reasonable choice is there because I don’t like gamebook sections where there is a choice I can think of but it is not offered.

 

When reviewing another person’s gamebook, I look for all the things I like and appreciate. I usually notice things relating to the system more than the story because I am more of a game person than a story person. I appreciate someone who has clearly worked out whether the game part of the book gives a reasonable probability of success and if the mechanics are engaging. However, if a book lacks much game system, I don’t mind. I try to meet a gamebook on the intentions of the author, and an elaborate game system is not always necessary. I have realised over the years that the game system should serve the story and setting and enhance it, so the stats you should measure depend on the story. I realised this when I wrote Rulers of the NOW. I was going to have loads of stats but then realised that they weren’t really relevant to the story which involved surviving in a dystopia and I reduced it down to one stat – Resolve – and some skills.

 

I appreciate being given meaningful choices, so I look for how many choices I have and whether then make a difference to the story. I also look for good, engaging writing. All of these things mean that gamebooks have a wide variety of styles. You can have a gamebooks that’s all mechanics and no story where you map your way through a fantasy dungeon to kill the monsters and steal the treasure and have to manage your resources. Or you can have a gamebook with nothing to track and you are choosing a story. Or you can have anything in between. And every style is just as likely to be wonderful.

 

How do you approach branching narratives—do you plan everything first or discover paths as you write?

 

I would like to say that I can plan it all out and then just get on with it, but I have found that I think of other options in situations as I’m writing and so I have to them write new threads based on the new options or ideas I have.

 

So I do plan out the book before I start, but I also acknowledge that the plan will change. Before I start, I also reduce my original ideas to about a quarter of what I initially started with because I always underestimate exactly how many extra sections each path can involve. Each choice may then lead to another series of choices which leads to more choices and so because the increase in choices can be exponential, I need far fewer choices than I initially think.

 

When I do add extra choices, I try not to make them disrupt the whole book so much, so I try to make sure their effects go back to the original storyline somehow. That is where stats are good because then I can make a new choice into a stat change rather than a whole new branching path.

 

My favourite gamebook structure is called branch and bottleneck. I have different parts of the book where there are lots of decisions but they all eventually converge to a single point. The reason I do this is because at that point, I can do a bit of “tidying up”. I can create a checkpoint where I get the player to erase keywords or get rid of items they don’t need any more and prevent too much buildup of information. In order to see other structures in interactive fiction, this awesome post by Sam Kabo Ashwell lists and explains them all - https://heterogenoustasks.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/a-bestiary-of-player-agency/#:~:text=The%20arc%20of%20the%20story,is%20a%20relationship%20in%20time.

 

So basically, I start off well planned, I make a mess in the middle and then I have to tidy it up at the end.

 

How have you seen the gamebook landscape evolve over the years?

 

I was 7 in 1990, so I missed the decade where gamebooks had their meteoric rise. Instead, I was reading gamebooks mostly in the mid 1990s when most series had been cancelled due to the rise of video games. I managed to find several gamebooks in charity shops, however. During the 2000s, there were a few places online about gamebooks, but they were mainly retrospective, talking about the gamebooks of the 1980s and 1990s.

 

In the late 2000s, however, I started to see the rise. All the children of the 1980s and 1990s had started to get disposable income and free time. Apps were also on the rise and some companies were making interactive fiction apps and finding that people with a sense of nostalgia for gamebooks would spend their money on gamebook apps. There were also places where gamebook fans could find each other like forums or Yahoo Groups.

 

The 2010s saw the rise of gamebook blogs, gamebook creation programs, self publishing and crowdfunding where gamebook obsessives could start making and funding their own gamebooks. There were enough gamebook fans that we started having meetings and conventions. Gamebook podcasts sprung up.

 

Now it’s the 2020s and we now have another generation of gamebook creators and it’s growing every day. In the 2010s, I used to do the news section for Fighting Fantazine and do an occasional blog post about gamebook releases. It’s been a long time since I was last able to keep up with all the latest gamebook news. And that’s great because that means there is a thriving community out there.

 

Are there any trends or innovations you’re especially excited about?

 

There are some gamebook series that excite me and I’m looking forward to seeing more from the creators of the series. These are series such as DestinyQuest, Steam Highwayman, James Schanepp’s one word title series, Victoria Hancox’s horror series, Savage Realms and Destiny’s Role to name just a few.

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I’m also excited to see how classic gamebooks have been turned into apps. Fabled Lands is now an open world app, the Sorcery! Series has been turned into a series of apps and massively expanded upon and some Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have been linked together in an app as well as being updated and made in colour by Tin Man Games. I’ve also enjoyed seeing how Inkle has affected interactive fiction by having different sections based on previous choices.

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On that note, there are several programs now that allow you to write gamebooks. I am a fan of the Gamebook Authoring Tool, but there are others out there. It helps with the randomisation process and creates a flow diagram. That reduces one of the practical barriers to gamebook writing.

 

Which authors, books, or systems have most influenced your work?

 

That’s a big one. I have probably taken something from most authors I have read. Dave Morris has been a big influence due to his wide range of gamebooks but also because, over the years, he has engaged with my thoughts and offered me valuable insights. As for systems, I have modelled my SCRAWL system on many systems, taking aspects I needed from each one. I used the Lone Wolf armour rules as they were the simplest (armour gives more hit points), I used the Numenera rule about spending experience to act as if you have a skill temporarily. I was inspired by DestinyQuest to add tactics to each combat round. Fabled Lands inspired me to have blessings, 4 Against Darkness inspired me to use Clues. I could go on. I’ve read lots of gamebook and RPG systems and picked little bits of what I wanted from each one.

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I’ve had to work harder at the story side of gamebooks because, as a science teacher, I was fine with the maths and systems behind the books. I needed to work on story and engagement with the reader. There are some great gamebooks out there which are more about the story. Heart of Ice can be one. It has great characters, a great setting and an ending which makes you examine your values. Frankenstein from Inkle is another, where the book is mainly an exploration of Frankenstein rather than a game. It showed me that gamebooks don’t have to be won. Sometimes just playing them is enough.

 

Are there any lesser-known creators or titles you think deserve more attention?

 

There are too many to count, so I’m going to list the ones off the top of my head and apologies to everyone I missed. Look up gamebooks in search engines or crowdfunding websites to see what is available.

 

We’ve got Michael J. Ward who has created the DestinyQuest series – a series of doorstopper game heavy books where the system involves a really in depth combat system.

 

Then there’s Martin Noutch who is making the Steam Highwayman series – a Fabled Lands inspired series where you are a steampunk biker in a steampunk UK.

 

We have Troy’s Savage Realms series where Troy has hand picked gamebook authors to write books for his excellent series.

 

We have Mark Lain’s Destiny’s Role series where Mark has written several brilliant gamebooks.

One title that I think is really good and needs more attention is Sword of the B— Elf. It is a parody of Fighting Fantasy books where you are an elf who leaves home in search of their real father.

 

Victoria Hancox has made a series of horror gamebooks which are very good at being scary.

 

Also, Jonathan Green, who wrote some Fighting Fantasy books, is writing gamebook series based on classic stories, such as Alice in Wonderland.

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There are many other gamebooks by talented authors. If you look at the Windhammer and Lindenbaum archives, you will find many of them.

 

There are many more – Lovecraftian gamebooks, gamebooks written by a dad and his son, gamebooks about watching paint dry,   , gamebooks where you are a virus and many, many more.

 

The gamebooks subreddit is a good place to find the latest titles and discussions about them https://www.reddit.com/r/gamebooks/.

 

Oh and there’s this series called Fighting Fantasy and another one called Lone Wolf. I think they might be going places, but it’s just too early to tell.

 

What role has the gamebook community played in your journey?

 

The gamebook community has been an integral part of my journey and I feel privileged to be part of it. I loved getting feedback for my Windhammer entries from people and I enjoyed hearing about other people’s books. I’ve had people email me with help on things I’ve needed, such as formatting books, proofing books or offering help with systems. People have been really generous and supportive.

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Special shout out to Peter Agapov who has sponsored and judged the Lindenbaum competition. He’s been a rock ever since he got in contact with me.

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I’ve also loved meeting people in person at various conventions and meet ups. It’s great to see familiar faces and catch up with them. I wish I could do it more!

 

I’m so glad to be part of the gamebook community. It’s a great group of people.

 

Have any memorable collaborations or interactions stood out?

 

Tony Hough, artist. I actually live near him and I see him occasionally, giving him lifts to conventions. I love his art and he is really skilled at making really detailed illustrations. He really excelled when he did some illustrations for the Spellcaster trilogy series where he had to put all the clues to the puzzles in the art.

 

I’m also really grateful to all the people who gave me a chance and let me write for their franchises. Neil Rennison at Tin Man Games, Alexander Ballinghall at Fighting Fantazine, Wayne Densley for making the Windhammer competition, Graham Bottley at Arion Games and Troy Anthony Schermer at Savage Realms.

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I’m also grateful to people who email me with help, such as proofreading. It’s always welcome.

 

What’s next for Lloyd of Gamebooks and Savage Realms?

 

At some point in the future, I want to write some more posts, returning to the posts I wrote in the 2010s and updating them with what I have learnt since then.

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For Savage Realms, I know that Troy has lots of other authors lined up, so I am excited to see them as much as anyone!

 

Are there any upcoming projects, experiments, or dreams you’d like to share?

 

I’ve been working on a solo game called SCRAWL forever now. My aim was to create a game where you could generate a fantasy land with dungeons and towns and explore a procedurally generated world. I was then also going to release gamebooks with the SCRAWL system. It’s almost done, and, when I get some books done, I hope to release regular gamebooks. You can find what I’ve done so far here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gWLiE5lBoo_Tohf2gcT8eZDE9KlrCZT5?usp=drive_link

 

My dream would be to have enough time to work on all the gamebooks I want to and also to regularly release SCRAWL books and build a community of SCRAWL lovers. SCRAWL is basically the system I would want to play, so I would love to hear from people who love it too. Then we can all talk about it, make content for it and get together about it.

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What advice would you give to aspiring interactive authors?

 

If you haven’t already done so, write a really short gamebook. Maybe even 10 sections. Just to get the first gamebook out of the way.

 

Then, download a gamebook creation program (such as the Gamebook Authoring Tool) so that the excuse of structuring the gamebook is overcome.

 

Then write a few more gamebooks, share them with people, read them and see what you think.

 

Then work on improving them. If you don’t know where to start, read the links on the reading list I have compiled:

https://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2024/09/want-to-write-gamebook-then-heres.html

 

Then keep writing and sharing!

 

Where can readers and fellow writers of interactive adventures follow you and your work?

 

Website: Lloyd of Gamebooks

Facebook: Lloyd of Gamebooks | Facebook

X: Stuart Lloyd (@slloyd14) / X

Other: SCRAWL so far https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gWLiE5lBoo_Tohf2gcT8eZDE9KlrCZT5?usp=drive_link

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with fans and gamebook authors?

 

I’d love to hear from you or interact with you somewhere in the gamebooksphere, so reach out!

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Thank you again for this opportunity to ask you questions about yourself and your series, and for sharing your thoughts about the genre and advice for new authors of interactive adventures. I wish you the best with Lloyd of Gamebooks, your book in the Savage Realms series, and your continued work on the SCRAWL system and gamebooks.

 

       - Anthony Lampe