A new episode has been added to the database: Wandering the Mythic

A new episode has been added to the database: Round Table Episode 60-61

A new episode has been added to the database: Salmon Max - The Unexpectables II Episode 152

A new rpg publisher has been added to the database: Gander Gaming

A new rpg publisher has been added to the database: Unseen Audience Games

by Rachel Carpenter

Happy 22nd Friday of 2026, everyone!! And as always on Friday, here are the current Friday links: 2026 Friday on Friday: Play Friday EVERY Friday of 2026 and Friday on Friday, May 2026.

Hello again, Level 5! Will this be the week I stay alive and savor my first sweet Level 5 victory of 2026?

Nope 😜. Whomp, whomp, whomp. The last card in the Yellow Phase marked my demise :geek_zombie:.

At least it was a late Yellow Phase loss! It could've been worse, I mean it could've been a Green Phase loss :whistle:...

My final score was -14 points: 29 points from Fighting Cards, -10 points from Aging Cards, 0 points from lifepoints, 0 points for defeating neither pirate, and -33 points from Unbeaten Hazards 🌴.

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Weekly Updates:


Challenge Updates:

:d10-1: 2023 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2024 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2025 Extreme Numerology Challenge: Wrapping up. Microbadges for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 will be awarded, please stay tuned! 2026 is live: 2026 Extreme Numerology Challenge
:d10-2: Fire in the Library- Summer/Fall 2023 Solo Challenge- Extended!!: Done! Stay tuned for a new series of mini challenges that include some more Weird Giraffe-themed fan promos. COMING THIS SUMMER! (2026)
:d10-3: 2025 Challenge: 25 un(der)played in 25: is Wrapped! If you spot errors or make updates, please geekmail me!
:d10-4: 2026 Challenge: 26 un(der)played in 26: is Active!
:d10-5: A special note on the Friday on Friday challenges: ALL owed microbadges should be system-awarded THIS YEAR. ALL microbadge reimbursements complete! Update: Stay tuned for progress on microbadges!



Designer's Corner:


Published Games:
:d10-1: Charge the Circle: Post-Contest (Revised Edition) Web-published to BGG. 2nd Edition & 2nd Edition (PNP) & 2nd Edition (Altar Decks ONLY!) coming to The Game Crafter in 2026! You can follow along with the ongoing graphic development here: A new edition coming in 2026!.
:d10-2:Eight Elephants: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-3: Fireworks for the 4th: Semiquincentennial Edition: Now available on The Game Crafter! Revised (Post Contest) Edition remains available here!.
:d10-4: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-5: The United Cards of America: Now available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-6: Lincoln's Cat: Now available on The Game Crafter! Print & Play edition also available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-7: Liberty, DEATH, or TAXES: Now available on The Game Crafter!


Active Projects:
:d10-1: Finders Keepers: No new progress.
:d10-2: Bears love bows: Very Merry Trashmas edition: now available for playtesting AND formally entered in Bad Comet's Cozy Game Design Contest here on BGG! Next up: video!
:d10-3: Really Retail: No new progress.
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: Tentatively coming to The Game Crafter in late 2026. Still needs a lot of work and a new coat of paint :geek_grin:.
:d10-5: The Boxcats of Meowazon : No new progress.
:d10-6: Read the Runes: Check out the updated TTS! I need playtesters to help me continue refining this one. I like the current art direction, but this will need more if I decide to go The Game Crafter route... There's also the drift problem... As much as I hate to say it, this might have to stay a print-and-play for now...
:d10-7: 10 Minutes to Midnight: THIS WILL BE COMING TO THE GAME CRAFTER IN 2026! In fact, it's likely to be the main game in my 2nd batch of releases :geek_grin:. Work continues... lookin' like the play mat will be the way to go...
:d10-8: Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters: Contest complete! #2 Best Family Game and #8 Best Overall Game! Woot! Video still on the docket. Then I do plan on pitching the otters and seeing if I can catch some waves... and ... in the meantime, yes I am now committing to a Game Crafter release in 2026! Rules revisions continue! Box almost done!
:d10-9: Tricky Treats: Game considered complete and officially Ready for Pitching! I still need a video... no progress on that project this week.
:d10-1::d10-0: Squirrelly (formerly Woodland Warriors) : Contest complete! #3 for Best Art! 2 mini expansions available! Ready for pitching! Video still on the docket...
:d10-1::d10-1: Composer's Cat: 2024 In-Hand Game Design Contest: 5th Best Multiplayer Game; 6th Best Innovative Mechanic; 7th Best Use of Theme; and 4th Best Low-Ink Printing! Major revision complete, new video live, Print & Play Assembly Guide now available, and while entered in the 2026 Cardboard Edison, it didn't place as a finalist. I got good feedback, but I'm not sure what's next for this kitty... I did take some more video footage for the Cat last month.. and I'm still seriously considering re-jigging things to at least get the original starter set on The Game Crafter...
:d10-1::d10-2: Librarian's Cat: formerly Palm Library. formerly Littlest Library. 2025 In-Hand Game Design Contest: contest is complete... but I've got plenty of unfinished business to see to and I intend to see it all through, eventually. Please stay tuned!
:d10-1::d10-3: Elements: Coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026! New cards, done! New rules posted to the WIP thread, take a look and let me know what you think! Just waiting 'til I've got more proofs ready to order...
:d10-1::d10-4: Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown : Contest complete! #3 Best Solo Game, #3 Best 2 Player Game, and #4 Best Family Game! Not bad, not bad at all, especially since I fell woefully behind on the comments... I do plan on addressing all of the feedback. And I do want to continue to refine and improve the game. There's a decent little game here and it's worth pursuing.
:d10-1::d10-5: Critter Calls: Ready for pitching! I'm happy with the TTS and sell sheet, but do want a video. Not a high priority for pitching, but if I see any calls for party games or icebreaker games I will 100% submit it for consideration :geek_grin:.
:d10-1::d10-6: Unlucky Spirits, Revised Edition: Uncooperative Spirits campaign in-progress. Revised Edition formally entered in 2026 Two-Player Game Design Contest! Come on folks, take a look and help me get this game off the ground! Voting now underway! And... I'm still experimenting with what I'm calling a Pocket Edition (though it'll still be larger than a lot of games). It *might* be doable... Finally got around to working on the Uncooperative Spirits campaign this past week and while progress is slow... I like where things are heading! TTS updated coming this weekend!
:d10-1::d10-7: Abydos: Contest complete, game did not place... I'm disappointed, but I'm still committed to getting this game out there. And, yes, it is coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026. I've figured out a way around the drift issue that works well for Abydos. There's still more work to do, but I'm actually happy with how this is going now. Work continues.
:d10-1::d10-8: Nine Tails: Ready for pitching! This one will be coming to The Game Crafter! Art for full color edition done! Now working on the coloring book version, print-and-play files, and box!
:d10-1::d10-9: Put a bow on it! The new lease on life continues! The game is getting bigger and maybe a bit too complicated for Bad Comet's Cozy Contest... we'll just have to see how this one continues to develop...
:d10-2::d10-0: Eighteen Eggs: Contest complete, game did not place. *sigh*. Rain, Rain Mini Expansion and Player Aids available. The future of this little game... I don't know. It's cute, but it's too kiddie for The Game Crafter. Period. And I haven't come across any publishers looking for solo games for kids... That said, if you see a call for submissions, please let me know! Not writing it off, but pivoting to a more-Game Crafter-friendly design... see Last Leaves below!
:d10-2::d10-1: Snow Squall: In the vein of Eight Elephants and Eighteen Eggs, but a bit bigger, no timer, and more Game Crafter-friendly art. Again, not much progress this week. In fact, I'm putting this on hold for the moment and pivoting to a new take on Last Leaves...
:d10-2::d10-2: Monk's Cat: The Book of [Pawprints]: The third game in the Cat Companion Card Game series, sequel to Composer's Cat and Librarian's Cat. Contest now complete! I'm happy! #1 Best Graphic Design for Visually Impaired Players; #8 Best Use of Theme; & #7 Best Low-Ink Printing! I've still got feedback to address and I'll get there- I promise! But, overall, I'm happy with the game, with its reception, and I'm looking forward to continue developing Monk's Cat... possibly for future publication on The Game Crafter... 😜
:d10-2::d10-3: Unnamed Puzzle Game: multi-level campaign puzzle game in the vein of Abydos, Read the Runes, and Charge the Circle. Fuzzball-inspired. Backburner. Tentative entry in this year's Solitaire Print and Play Game Design Contest...
:d10-2::d10-4: Nine Lives: I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming this is a no-go. Still, I might revisit this idea down the road...
:d10-2::d10-5: Who's ready for the owlidays?: Might be my entry/one of my entries in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest! No new progress this week.
:d10-2::d10-6: I sits!: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-7: Caturday @ the cattery: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but will still happen. Eventually. Again, watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-8: Elements 2: Will be 1 of my entries in this year's Solitaire PNP Game Design Contest! Sequel to Elements, draws on the setting/visuals/narrative of Elements and builds on the gameplay of Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice with an added rock-paper-scissors-like overlap mechanic. Stay tuned! WIP will go live sometime this month...
:d10-2::d10-9: Time's up! : Probably my 2nd entry in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest. Playtesting has gone well, now I'm fine-tuning things, actually locking down the rules, and starting work on the graphics. WIP thread won't go live until July to preserve eligibility.
:d10-3::d10-0: Last Leaves: old name, new game. This is a cozy, cute, Game-Crafter-friendly solitaire matching game that builds on Eighteen Eggs. The original Last Leaves may still happen down the road, but it'll need a new name because the name fits this little game better :geek_grin:. Card done! Rules done! Box done! Now waiting with Elements for my next order of proofs.


Early Development:
:d10-1: The 7th Seal : A bit of progress :whistle:
:d10-2: Gator Glory! Simmering.
:d10-3: So, you want to be a mage......
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: At the postern gate: A smaller version of the original. Similar story, setting, and mechanics, but more compact.
:d10-5: Reverse the curse!: My forthcoming entry in Button Shy's No Shuffle Challenge. Provided it comes together in time... still still giving me a headache... Probably not going to make it...


On Hold:
:d10-1: Contagion and Calamity: The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793: formerly Philly Fever 1793
:d10-2: Rolling Runes
:d10-3: Defend your Dreams: (formerly Dreamcatcher Duty)
:d10-4: Trick or Treat
:d10-5: Last Leaves Needs New Name!: This was going to be my entry in the 2026 Children and Family Game Design Contest (family category), but I'm putting this on the back burner instead to concentrate on getting my shop pages up-and-running over on The Game Crafter. Development will continue later this year and you can expect to see this game in the 2027 Children and Family Game Design Contest.
:d10-6: Unnamed design: Involves the Titanic and Jenny the ship cat...
:d10-7: Nine Nopes
:d10-8: Book it!
:d10-9: History Heist
:d10-1::d10-0: Lost in the Labyrinth
:d10-1::d10-1: Dragon's Draw
:d10-1::d10-2: Push to the Peak
:d10-1::d10-3: Cardshop Caretaker
:d10-1::d10-4: Water always wins
:d10-1::d10-5: Sniper, take the shot!
:d10-1::d10-6: Puppy Pile: (formerly Dogpile)
:d10-1::d10-7: Compound It!
:d10-1::d10-8: My Little Fish Tank
:d10-1::d10-9: Knick Knacks: Lovely Lamps : Sequel to Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown
:d10-2::d10-0: Triskell (or maybe Triskellion): name not final
:d10-2::d10-1: Cursed Cards (Traditional Deck Game)
:d10-2::d10-2: War of the Wilds
:d10-2::d10-3: Scratch-off


Professional Projects:
:d10-1: Explosion in the Laboratory/Fire in the Library (2nd edition): Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-2: Dreams of Yesterday: Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-3: In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944: GMT Games: Complete! I still haven't managed to get this back to my table. Gah! In the meantime... see A Solo Sunday Salute - First Impressions - In the Shadows for a preview.
:d10-4: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game: Minerva Tabletop Games: Initial feedback in. First impressions and some extra crumbs: Solo Sundays- First Impressions: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game and Solo Saturdays - Continuing to make Crumbs. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing. Fingers-crossed that Minerva Tabletop Games comes through... it looks like this is finally in the process of fulfilling...
:d10-5: Crystallo expansions and miniature edition: Light Heart Games: Initial feedback in. Previews and additional adventures shared: A crystal cavern at the garage aka mini Crystallo is here!, First Impressions: Crystallo: Untold Fortune, Solo Saturdays- First Impressions: Crystallo: Den of Dragons, and Solo Stories- Playing with all of Crystallo. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crystallo: Untold Fortune and Crystallo: Den of Dragons. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing... AND there's GOOD NEWS: Crystallo lives!- Crystallo's new Gamefound
:d10-6: Lost Adventures: Belltower Games: First Impressions and continuing adventures shared: Two-Player Thursdays- First Impressions: Lost Adventures, Two-Player Tuesdays- Getting Lost with Mom, and Solo Stories - Lost Adventures. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It: Lost Adventures. Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled. Campaign complete.
:d10-7: Quirky Bird Games: The zine campaign funded! That's a wrap! Congrats Beth and Angel! Fulfillment ongoing. Keep up the great work!
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Still no new sales BUT I'm still on top of my non-BGG socials AND mostly caught up here on BGG too 😜.

Work continueson Nine Tails, Abydos, Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters, 10 Minutes to Midnight, and Charge the Circle. Art for the latter has been a priority this week. The emblems for the position markers are still giving me trouble. I like the Guardian emblem, it just needs a bit of cleaning up:

It'll be on a stone background on a 1.25 inch circular chipboard token.

For the Fallen, I'm still having trouble capturing the look/feel that I want. I shared this sneak peek earlier in the week:

Wings swept down is important, but it just looks... wrong.

Continuing to play around:

Revision #1

Revision #2

Revision #3

And then, what if the red highlights were scrapped for the original gold:

Gold #1. Yes, wings are up here, but I was toying with the evolution of the Fallen from the Guardians...

Gold #2. Wings back down.

I'm still playing around. Honestly, I feel like any/all of these new attempts are better than my first try at the Fallen's emblem which just continues to look wrong.

My other big task for the week has been a return to Unlucky Spirits. Ironing out the rulebook, writing campaign material, and fixing the TTS.

The new TTS workshop is almost ready. Hoping to push the update over the weekend.

And that's been my week :geek_grin:. How's yours? Anything exciting?

Happy Friday and happy playing!
-Rachel

P.S.
I'm hosting SGOYT for June! So excited! It's been a while since my last time hosting (June 2024!) Be sure to stop on by and say "hi."

Thank you for reading my blog. If you liked it; then please click the green thumb [microbadge=23724] at the top of the page. If you really liked it; then please subscribe. And follow me across social media with my Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/rachelncarpenter

by Jonas Soderstrom

Support for Apocthulhu has been added to Cthulhu Forever, the Cthulhu Eternal Character Creator

Check the tool out
Cthulhu Forever (a Cthulhu Eternal character creation tool)

Super excited to announce that I have added Apocthulhu as an ERA.



All the Archetypes are added as well



I plan on breaking these up in Recent Apocalypse Archetypes and Post‐Apocalypse‐Born Archetypes later

New Nightmarish Upbringing only for Apocthulhu





This took a while to implement, and a lot of testing because of the new things, mainly Nightmarish Upbrining, that Apocthulhu added.

And of course it got it's own font on the Character Sheet





Bug Fix

There was a bug when you adapted to Helplessness that your Personal Bonds got reduced twice

That's fixed now.



What's Next?

I got some quality of life improvements that I want to add.

I am considering adding the other games that Cthulhu Reborn has published, at least the quickstart as they are under OGL.

Is that something you'd enjoy? Let me know?

Got feedback, or found a bug, please comment or send me a message.



Take are, and play a horror RPG

by Eric R.

I stumbled upon Dolly Thorne recently because this is quite new, and it immediately gave me a strong sense of nostalgia I couldn't completely put my finger on. There was a vibe I felt like reading choose your own adventure novels in the 80s with the radio on. But then at least one thing came to me. This song reminds me of Born This Way by Lady Gaga. And Born This Way reminds me of Express Yourself by Madonna. There may be other throwback elements in the song I'm just not placing, but the Gaga reference at least scratches that itch. And the song's a banger. I could keep listening to this one on repeat. I hope to hear more from Dolly.

Youtube Video

by Damdael

I got interested in gamebooks a few years ago. First I found joy in playing books from Season 4 Graphic Novel Adventures and then I fell in love with Legendary Kingdoms books. Since then I've played through nearly sixty gamebooks. I try to write reviews of the books I've played in order to lure others into this rabbit hole. In my reviews I try to have comparisons to other gamebooks and place the books I review onto my ranking list so that readers can find other books to try out.

My copy of the book is a 2025 softcover edition printed by Amazon Distribution. The covers are coloured but the pages are black & white.

First Impressions:
- The softback book looks neat. Most of the gamebooks I have feature some kind of terrible creature on the front cover like a dragon, lich or demon. The front cover of this gamebook has an erupting volcano and the dark ashen colours together with the molten lava achieve a dramatic effect that doesn't need to be ashamed when compared to covers with creatures. What is a really nice thing is that the cover wraps around and continues on the back of the book with some roaming dead and what I would guess to be Hades' palace in the background.
- With 832 paragraphs the gamebook is of pretty outstanding length. For comparison the 'standard' length for gamebooks seems to be the 400 paragraphs introduced by Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.
- I think it has been a wise decision with this paragraph count to design the gamebook large-ish (20 x 25 cm). The book isn't too thick and/or unwieldy like some gamebooks I've played.
- Since I ordered a basic version of the gamebook and the printer is what it is the paper quality is pretty average. The covers have a some kind of protective coating that gives them a sheen and make tham smooth to touch but the edges are already showing white.

Rules:
Fairly standard rules for a gamebook. You start from paragraph 1 and proceed to other paragraphs from there based on your choices. Sometimes a paragraph checks if you have some codeword on your character sheet or if there's a ticked box attached to the paragraph (for example some paragraphs allow you to search for random loot three times) and if the conditions are met the book directs you to immediately to turn to some other paragraph.

Your character has four attributes (charm, grace, ingenuity and strength) ranging typically from -1 to +5. Items in your inventory can boost the attributes with +1/+2. When you need to check an attribute (for example to fight an enemy) you roll 2d6 and add your applicable modifier and see if you met or exceeded a target number. You can find godly blessings (you can have up to three) which allow you to reroll a failed attribute check once.

Your character doesn't have health, like in most gamebooks. Instead you often simply die if an enemy manages to hit you or else you get a wound and if you ever would get a second wound that means immediate death. Dying means you get a 'Scar' (having too many scars make some NPCs shun you for example but there are other repercussions too), dump all your carried items to a special vault and then you get resurrected at a random location in the game world (from a few of possibilities). You'll have to traverse to the vault to get your items back.

Your character can carry up to 20 items in their inventory. You can sometimes gain special titles, companions and glory (renown in the game world and certain amounts of it are required to access late game areas).

Artwork:
- As I wrote in the first impressions I like the artwork on the covers but honestly speaking the images on the pages of the book just don't work very well. The watercolour style images probably look great and dreamlike when printed in colour but in black&white it's hard to see what's even going on in half of the images. And if you ask then why didn't I get the colour printed book I'll answer that the b&w cost 13€ and the colour version a whopping 46€.
- There are only 18 unique pieces of art on the pages of the book. A couple of them take half a page but most just an eighth. Most gamebooks I've played feature small 'filler' images between paragraphs here and there in addition to 'full' images but this gamebook doesn't have those. With 152 pages chock-full of text it's rare to glimpse an image. Most of the time you are just looking at walls of text.
- Hard to say for sure but I'd estimate that roughly half of the images on the pages of the book relate to paragraphs next to them and the rest are kind of generic and not specifically made for the paragraphs which they are next to. I prefer art in gamebooks to relate to paragraphs which are next to them.
- It's good that there's a map of the playarea (the Underworld of Hades). It makes finding your bearings much easier while playing.

A few examples of the images on the pages of the book. These probably look great when printed in colour but in black&white they just don't work very well.

Playing:
This section is reserved for my notable thoughts while playing the gamebook. I've kept my observations purposefully somewhat vague in order to avoid any big spoilers but I've spoiler tagged my notes just in case.

[o]- Took a bit under ten minutes to read and internalize the two pages of rules.
- Ended up with Apollo as my god.
- I ended up exploring the City of the Dead. It was quite a sleepy place. Where are the gods?
- Feels like a Greek mythology lesson. You encounter famous characters from the stories behind every corner.
- I got a nice haircut. You need to to be stylish in death too, right?
- I got an offer for some very nice prime real estate... in the Necropolis. Who wouldn't like that?
- At first I felt like I was wandering aimlessly but after some time searching I found a couple of quests which to work on. It seemed like proceeding in those quests would take a lot of wandering around; the book didn't provide any hint at all where to find the things that would push the quests forward.
- I ended up meeting some Argonauts, robbed them and then with their coin hired a leisurely barge ride up the river Acheron. While lounging on the barge and chatting with the bargeman a great bubble rose from the depths of the river and burst over the barge tossing a treasure chest onto the deck. Like the bargeman commented, the gods really were favoring me in this random encounter roll.
- The first 'quest' I managed to complete was to restore a shrine to Artemis. The reward wasn't very good.
- Next I managed to locate Klytemnestra and have a talk.
- Most of the choices the gamebook has offered me have been pretty inconsequential; maybe you'd get different descriptions of events in paragraphs but that's that. However there are a couple of important decisions, like one relating to a certain sceptre...
- After those developments I was again a bit aimless. There was no hint of what would sound like a main quest. I did have a couple of what sounded like minor sidequests so I decided to aim for one of those and that took me to the Black Bayou. With a few close calls I slew a monstrous beast there and looted its lair.
- I had a place with a locked door to visit but on the way I reconsecrated an altar and helped a painter to make a masterpiece.
- The place I wanted to visit burned to the ground. Ooops.
- After that I was again a bit lost where to go so I decided to go explore some of the locations I hadn't yet explored that much. That led to an abandoned workshop and that led to a need to go visit a volcano.
- I managed to fully die at the Slimeswamp due to a bad choice and the book instructed me to erase out all codes and make a new character but since I already had played for seven hours at this point I decided it was too much time to toss away. Instead as a penalty I decided to resurrect myself at the City of the Dead.
- I made my way back to the Slimeswamp, explored it some more and I guess I got to the boss fight there... and then I fully died again after some bad dice rolls. Another resurrection at the City of the Dead.
- Ten minutes later... another full death at the Slimeswamp. Sheesh, this is frustrating. I don't see any method (like an item) that would protect me from this result if the dice rolls go awry. I guess I'll keep trying until the dice favour me.
- I managed to conquer the Slimeswamp with my next attempt.
- After that slight detour I was back on track in getting to the volcano. Unfortunately on the way I encountered a mysterious ruined tower and I just had to explore it.
- After the tower I had to traverse to my dwelling to unload some items because I had reached the carried item limit. Unfortunately I got an unwanted house guest and the dice gods didn't favour me so I died.
- I resurrected at The Gate of Tears which meant I had to traverse quite a bit to first refresh my blessings and then get back to where all my gear was waiting for the new me. By that point I had forgotten I was supposed to go to the volcano and instead I went to complete a quest that required bronze items.
- After some twists and turns and some more travelling around I managed to complete the last part of the main quest for this book. I'm purposefully vague here in order to avoid spoilers.
- After that I tied some loose ends and visited some locations I hadn't yet been to like the south western corner of the play area and a certain lake with a fishing spot.[/o]
Playing time: 13h 27min

Positives:
- If you like reading heavy gamebooks then you are in for a treat. It took 2h 26min of playing for me to have my first attribute check (yes, you read that correctly, nearly two and a half hours). Before that I travelled around, met characters, read lore and drew a map of where I had been and what codewords I would need to access closed off places.
- 832 paragraphs is pretty outstanding for a gamebook.
- The playing time vs cost of the book equation is excellent (at least for the b&w version). I explored every nook and cranny I could and it took thirteen and a half hours. There were some places I couldn't access and quests I couldn't complete because they require items (like keys and such) and codes from other books in the series.
- Honestly for the first three or so hours I thought the book was a bit tedious. There's so much of heavy reading and you'll need to proceed pretty far into the book before you get to decide anything actually meaningful. You will feel like you are just aimlessly wandering around for the first few hours. I only started to appreciate the book after I learned what is the main quest. In this aspect Legendary Kingdoms or The Dark Moon Rises books are much better: the aim of your adventure is much more clearer in those books. Anyways, once you learn of the main quest the book starts to make sense and the grand scale of it all will make you want to explore it. There are plenty of locations to visit and dozens of characters from the Greek mythology to encounter.
- Dying works weirdly for a gamebook which is a refreshing thing. You lose all items you were carrying at the time of your death, quest items and all, but there is a way to recover them. The items you lost get placed into a special vault (a special empty box on one of the pages of the book) and after resurrecting at a random location in the game world should you find your way back to that vault you can take the items back (that is assuming that I've actually understood the rules correctly). The difficulty of the gamebook is such that it's very unlikely to not die a few times before you can complete the main quest. There are many situations where dying and not dying hinge on simple dice rolls and there's nothing you can do if the dice gods do not favour you.
- Attribute checks carry meaningful consequences. If you fail in an attribute check you either simply die or get a wound and are just one more wound away from dying. I've played plenty of gamebooks where it really hasn't mattered did you succeed of fail avoiding guards for example. You get into the castle anyway so to speak.
- There are a few light riddles. A positive thing because I like detective games / puzzles.
- The codewords, check boxes and title systems work well. The book 'remembers' what you have done previously and events and encounters with characters change based on those. Though it does take a lot of tracking in this gamebook. More so than in any other gamebook I've played.

Neutral:
- I'd say this is not for casual gamebook players. This gamebook takes commitment and patience. It's probably the 'heaviest' gamebook I've played. You need to play for quite long before the book starts to offer you meaningful choices and roleplay opportunities. And if you want to complete the gamebook it's a very long journey with a lot of reading and revisiting places you've already been at (to fetch items needed in quests, access sub-areas previously locked, etc).
- It's not a very challenging gamebook. Yes, you'll die several times trying to complete it but it's pretty much unavoidable because often living and dying hinge on getting good dice rolls. Dice luck aside you really don't need to think hard how to build your character or how to prepare for fights because the game doesn't provide you tools for that.
- I'm honestly a bit lukewarm towards Greek mythology which this gamebook is based on. The main reason is that I've been over saturated with it. There's little surprise in stories using that mythology. For example you'll immediately know what kind of character is in question when you hear such names as Zeus, Icarus or Achilles.
- For some players the lack of combat might be a positive thing, for some a negative thing. I listed it in neutral aspects. Combat is just an attribute check in this gamebook while usually in gamebooks it's a separate thing with separate rules. I can play a gamebook just fine without special combat rules but I can't deny the 'fights' in this gamebook didn't feel very exciting.
- Just a statement so I put this in the neutral aspects: playing this gamebook requires a lot of note taking. You'll be reading a lot (so it's not possible to remember it at all) and you'll have to keep track of a lot of items, codes, quests, check boxes and clues you come upon. You'll also have to visit the same locations dozens of times while you run around doing tasks so it's extremely easy to forget some conditional triggers (for example some locations change the first few times you visit them).
- Ordered from Amazon (and thus printed by Amazon Distribution) the print quality is ok but nothing more. After playing through the book the edges of the covers show noticeable bits of white on the edges and there are crease marks (the protective coating of the cover has wrinkled) where my fingers have regularly held the book.

Negatives:
- There's no big bad evil sending minions to defeat you. There's no desperate last-ditch mission to defeat a terrifying lich king like in Domain of the Deathless King. You don't need to carefully decide which faction to ally with in order to defeat a great criminal organization like in The Raiders of Dune Sea. The game world feels... empty of motion. The foreword says the gods are sleeping and the lands have fallen into staleness and you'll need to search the empty halls and fields for... something? Perhaps by playing all the books in the series you'll break this state of the world? ...The plot is not the most exciting plot ever.
- My experience based on the Kickstarter campaigns I've partaken is that you roughly sell four regular gamebooks per one collectors edition gamebook. As such I feel you should prioritize the book you are making works fine as a regular edition even if you add some colour or better paper or binding to the deluxe version. In this book the art on the pages of the regular book printed in black&white doesn't look very good. The watercolour images are probably very pretty in deluxe but look messy in black&white.
- A lot of the quests are of the traditional search-and-fetch type. Usually from the opposite side of the game area. Those aren't very exciting quests.
- Pretty much always when you need to choose something meaningful the book offers you just two choises. You can either be good (help someone in trouble for example) or evil (steal the gear of someone in trouble for example).
- The inventory management is a hassle. The rules say that you can carry a maximum of 20 items. You are running to that limit quite soon meaning you'll have to traverse to and back to where you can store excess items. Honestly it gets very boring after the 50th round you've done that. You can almost never know when the book will ask are you carrying some specific item and if you don't have it with you at that specific time you simply die or miss out on a side quest (which feels especially bad). I think gamebooks where you can only equip a certain amount of items but otherwise have unlimited inventory space are way more player friendly and respect the time players put into the game more.
- There are a lot of situations where the gamebook states you either chose poorly or rolled dice poorly and now you must erase your character and start the whole book (and series) from the beginning. Personally I find that acceptable for a gamebook in which it takes at most an hour to get back to the same point but with a long gamebook like this I'm just going to resurrect my character if death should take him. I don't have the free time to re-do five or ten hours of playing.

Minor Issues:
- The link to the adventure sheet printed in the book is outdated and doesn't work. This link works: https://sparkfurnace.com/wp-content/uploads/Adventure-Sheet-...
- I've read the rules for dying and resurrecting a dozen times over but I'm still unsure have I interpreted and played them correctly. If you die you get to dump all you money and items to the vault in 444 and then you go to paragraph 666 where you gain a scar and then you choose where you want to resurrect? So basically the penalty for dying is getting a scar (the amount of your scars sometimes intimidates people you encounter or makes them admire you) and having to traverse back to the vault to collect back your gear?
- I'm not completely certain, but perhaps paragraph 376 is supposed to give you 'shade warriors' so that you can't farm infitely paragraph 26?

Summary and Verdict:
So, I'm now done with my first excursion into the world of VulcanVerse. Four more books to go. This series seems like really slow to open up and I have to admit I'm feeling a bit daunted.

The positive aspects for this book are: a treat for those who love lengthy reading, excellent playing time vs cost (for b&w version of the book), a grandiose game world all ready to be explored, a novel mechanic for dying and resurrecting, meaningful attribute checks, some fun riddles and a working codewords system.

Neutral aspects include: the book is not for casual gamebook players, the book requires a lot of note taking, the book is not very challenging: it just takes a lot of patience, if you are already familiar with the Greek mythology then the story of this book doesn't offer much surprises, combat is just a regular attribute test, print quality is ok at best.

Negative aspects include: a bit stale game world, the art doesn't look very good in the black&white version of the book, a bit too many search-and-fetch quests, almost always just two choices in decision points (good/evil), inventory management that takes a lot of time and energy, a lot of 'you die, erase your character' results for bad dice rolls.

Based on this first foray I would rather recommend trying out Legendary Kingdoms (even though it's not a complete series yet) if you are looking into trying open world gamebooks. VulcanVerse may be a complete open world gamebook series but it's definitely a heavy read and a tough starting point. I'll have to see if my opinion changes once I've played more books in this series but for now The Houses of the Dead gets a rating of 8 from me using the BGG scale and goes to slot thirty-two on my gamebook ranking list.

~ Damdael

A new issue has been added to the database: The Glatisant (Issue #75)

A new issue has been added to the database: Never Mind the Dice Rolls (Issue 057 - May 2026)

A new rpg item has been added to the database: Legendary Samurai (5.5E)