Dragon Fate

You know, people who grew up with gamebooks, like I did, often wax nostalgic about the medium. It's not as common to see someone try and bring those simple pleasures back to life, even for a glimpse. That's why I was excited to hear that Kris was working on Dragon Fate -- a good old-fashioned fantasy adventure where you, an adventurer, investigate claims of a dragon sighting off a small mountain village, hopefully getting rich in the process. But there's more up there than you bargained for...

Briefly put, Dragon Fate does everything right. The writing is to the point, but pleasant (Kris is a writer, and it shows). You can choose what kind of character you play. There's a diceless rule system that allows for freedom in how to tackle the various challenges, and you even get to decide the meaning of the mysteries you uncover, which will have an impact on certain endings. (The story features transformation themes.) The game is non-linear; you can explore in any order, and you'll want to visit everywhere multiple times to catch everything as you level up. The game also boasts no less than 14 endings (not counting death from injuries), but isn't judgemental about them -- you decide whether they're good or bad. All in all, a very replayable game.

All that makes the game more of an RPG than some titles actually claiming to belong in the genre. And to think it's made in plain old Twine! It's not exactly some deep meaningful story, either, but still entertaining, definitely head and shoulders over most of the classic gamebooks it reminds me of. Even the size is just right -- not so large as to require multiple play sessions, but neither so small as to leave the reader disappointed. There are places where there's nothing to suggest that coming back later might be fruitful, but that hardly impacts the enjoyment. So, enjoy!