1963 / Audiobook / 191 pages / USA
***
The game isn't the most important thing here, being more a gag to highlight the desolation and futility of life on this barren future Earth. The rules are simple, it's the plot that's complicated. Written during PKD's most prolific period, this might pack in more of his customary tropes than any other book. I'd think more highly of it if he hadn't kept going and improving.
Christopher Manson, The Practical Alchemist: Showing the Way an Ordinary House-Cat May Be Transformed into True Gold
1988 / Ebook / 95 pages / USA***
Not the engulfing enigma that Maze was, this elaborate word and picture puzzle with cryptic clues probably goes on a bit too long for most people's attention spans, but the answers are in the back if you're getting frustrated. Full of Manson's distinctive crosshatching, this time more quirky than sinister, I have the feeling he was more into it than anyone else was.
1994 / Ebook / 256 pages / UK
*****
Dave Morris wrote the Knightmare gamebooks that introduced me to the eternally satisfying genre as a kid. With customisable characters, flexible morality, untrustworthy NPCs, multiple choice endings and weird developments hidden down obscure paths, this apocalyptic eco cyberpunk adventure is a tad more complex. It's tied with the Lone Wolves as the best gamebook I've played, even if I never did end up flying that bloody shuttle.
2001 / Audiobook / 355 pages / USA
***
I never paid that much attention to the storyline when hacking 'n' slashing through the Diablo games, but the setting seemed like a fertile ground for derivative dark fantasies. This elaborate prequel to Act II Quest 5 is largely generic, but tailored more specifically towards the lore than a copy-paste of proper nouns would achieve. It's also a bit like The Wrong Trousers.
Dave Gorman, Dave Gorman vs. the Rest of the World: Whatever the Game — Dave Takes on All Comers!
****
Dave's off on another themed odyssey (what's he like!), but this time he's in it for the sheer fun (wouldn't say no to a book deal, mind) and with less rigid rules (except for all the complicated rules). An optional side quest in the Gorman canon, he doesn't amusingly suffer or meet as many dangerous weirdos as you might hope, but there's still one or two. And not as much fun as playing a game, obviously.
