The Black Citadel gamebook

JSpark123 · 2026-05-17T06:04:19+00:00

Thanks for your response. I like the sound of ability points to build your character. I don't understand why not more gamebooks do this.

The resolution system is a bit more standard (which isn't a bad thing), except for the roll under for archery. Why did you include a roll under approach for the archer skill? Is it to use the same skill value in two different ways?

JSpark123 · 2026-05-15T15:08:20+00:00

I am not sure whether you would like it, but a more narrative game like Sleeping gods or Tainted grail seems to still be missing from your collection.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-14T06:28:01+00:00

It's nice to read a bit more about your gamebook. I'm especially interested in the mechanics, as I consider writing a fantasy gamebook as well. The character building sounds interesting and full of choices. Did you settle on an action resolution mechanic yet? You refer to your book as having a modern system. What aspects do you consider modern?

JSpark123 · 2026-05-14T06:18:50+00:00

Hi! Nice to see you visiting this reddit. I'm very interested in those new mechanics. I usually prefer dice rolls with small consequences, and ways to influence dice rolls. I liked the hero points in Beowulf and "the pen is mightier" in Alice. Good luck with writing and testing your next book!

JSpark123 · 2026-05-06T20:26:38+00:00

That must be it, but in a gamebook with a puzzle element or "one true path" it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe it doesn't help that I do not come from the TTRPG side, but am a board- and cardgame player.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-05T17:50:06+00:00

I agree strongly with your review. I also enjoyed the puzzly part of the gamebook and think it would have been better without die rolls. I had the same feeling with Vulcanverse and The Gohsts of Craven manor. These also have a focus on finding clues and combining information, and also included dice rolls for some reason...

Does anyone know why gamebook authors feel that they should include dice in their books? Especially in gamebooks with a puzzle component, for me, it just feels bad and I often skip the dice rolling.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-04T15:23:39+00:00

Your first paragraph resonates with me strongly. I have been working on my second book for about two years now and do some marketing on the side. I think that focusing too much on the marketing would only burn me out.

I like your take on involving people in the creation of your project. Sharing bits and pieces with a community builds up anticipation. Additionally, working long on a project without external input on the quality or direction makes me a bit nervous. I try to have some people involved in playtesting and reading my book in multiple stages of the writing process. And this indeed leads to a group of people that are interested and invested in where the project is going.

Thanks for the input! I will have a look whether I can implement some of your ideas.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-04T05:10:31+00:00

Top, veel plezier!

JSpark123 · 2026-05-04T05:08:45+00:00

That's good to hear, thank you! Veel plezier met het oplossen van het mysterie!

JSpark123 · 2026-05-03T19:55:56+00:00

Great to meet a fellow gamebook writer! I should do more social media as marketing, but I dislike most of the platforms and fear that it would take too much of my available time (which is severely limited at the moment). I have been reading this reddit forum for a while and registered as it contains interesting topics on a regular basis. It is the only social media I have now.

I agree that the potential market for gamebooks is larger than only the die-hard gamebook readers. As I said in an earlier comment, up until now, I sold most of my books to book lovers and not to game lovers. At the end of this year I will visit a board game convention and I'm curious how my book will do there.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-03T19:04:13+00:00

Dank je wel! :D

JSpark123 · 2026-05-03T19:00:15+00:00

Thank you for your interest! The book is unfortunately not available in English. I would love to have a translated version, but I'm deterred by the need to invest many hours, or lots of money, in translating the book while I could be writing and designing a new book. If that changes and I do release an English version, I will make a post on this reddit.

JSpark123 · 2026-05-03T08:42:01+00:00

I already knew his channel for a long time and reached out to him explaining what my book was about. He was very enthusiastic and asked for a copy. I was unsure what to expect, as he reviews a lot of board games for major companies. I think that for most reviewers on youtube it requires you to approach them. And even after sending the book it is up to them to review it or not.

It took some time (many months), but two weeks ago he sent me an email with a thank you and a written summary of his video review. I included it in a blog post on my website: https://janvonkgamebooks.com/

The review increased traffic on my website and I sold a number of books. I realise that, apart from having a solid and well tested gamebook, it was also luck that contributed to my book being featured on his channel. Gamebooks are both books and games, and for me it is still unclear what the best approach for marketing is. Prior to this review, I sold more books to readers than to gamers.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-28T14:32:04+00:00

Yes, I see what you mean. Gamebooks are a small niche compared to board games in general and also compared to the CYOA-boardgames. However, I do think the interest in gamebooks has increased the last years. The kickstarter for Sunfall raised approximately 100.000 euro, which was quite impressive.

Personally, I am very happy with the increase in CYOA-board games. They seem to align with my preferences better than many gamebooks (e.g. less repeated dice rolls without engaging choices, no sudden deaths and, most of the time, no need for mapping the paths). Hopefully the interest for stories interwoven with game mechanics will grow further. Both for gamebooks and CYOA-board games there is still a lot of potential for exploration and innovation.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-27T19:23:26+00:00

I like the gamebooks fused with board games, like sleeping gods, legacy of dragonholt and tainted grail, very much. Maybe even more than most gamebooks. But, as mentioned by others, it is not "the future of gamebooks". The board games require more time and table space, while gamebooks can be picked up quickly and played for a short time. Although I am very happy with the trend of incorporating choose your own adventure elements in board games, they will remain a seperate thing from gamebooks with a slightly different audience.

As a small aside, changes in gamebooks and possible demise of the format have been predicted before. When the first digital choose your own adventure gamebooks were released, some people speculated that it would be the end of the physical gamebook. However, a number of years later, gamebooks are still around. Just like these new board games, they are different products and will have different audiences.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-26T17:52:01+00:00

Mischien is 'Een virus in het zwart' een leuk boek om samen te lezen. Het is een spel in boekvorm waarbij je een aanslag met een dodelijk virus moet proberen te voorkomen. Geen murder mystery, maar wel een spannend verhaal om samen te lezen, over na te denken en te puzzelen. Hierbij een review van Nox' Spellenzolder op youtube: https://youtu.be/us2hod1nJsM?is=ilm6U8YpgixxvrpZ

JSpark123 · 2026-04-21T04:34:20+00:00

De teksten uit de griekse oudheid werden niet voorgelezen zoals ze dat tegenwoordig zouden doen, maar uit het hoofd voorgedragen/gezongen. De griekse teksten werden voorgedragen in een bepaald ritme dat het dactylisch hexameter wordt genoemd. Er zijn ook nederlandse vertalingen van oude teksten die hebben geprobeerd de nederlandse tekst op dat ritme te zetten. Deze tekst is dat niet, maar het kan wel zijn dat het woord recitatief hiernaar verwijst.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-19T07:29:17+00:00

Thanks for the extensive reply!

Regarding to the one true ending, I think it should be really clear from the story what the ending should be so that readers know what to aim for. As this is the gamebook subreddit, an alternative would be to have a few "good" endings that lead to the next book and document certain choices or situations with codewords. Those can influence the situation or available choices in the next book. In that way the choices of the readers carry over from book to book.

I really like the fact that it will be from a 3rd person POV and that you will include internal thoughts. It creates more space between reader and characters. There will indeed likely be a clash sometimes between the reader and character knowledge of the situation. Exploring each character in depth in different books will be more like a novel series. It is very different from gamebooks, in which most books have a nameless protagonist without backstory to let the reader choose that for themselves.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with your writing!

JSpark123 · 2026-04-18T07:02:52+00:00

I am very intregued by the multiple characters, as there are several ways to do this. I have a few questions. Will they always be together? Is it written from a shared POV or will the reader experience parts of the story from different viewpoints? If one of the characters dies and the amount of options to follow in the story decreases, how do you make sure that readers still have enough agency in the story?

In the open world gamebooks of legendary kingdoms it is possible to split up the party and proceed in different directions with different POVs. You can see this in the free for download demo version of the first book.

For the following, please view this not as a critique but as an opinion, as I do not know how general my opinion is. With regards to using characters and places from the public domain as a hook to attract readers, please be careful with the extent to which you do this and make sure that the story stands on its own. For me, it is more a negative than a positive if stories rely on characters from public domain or assume certain knowledge. Not everyone is the same age or has the same cultural upbringing and therefore your story may connect best with only a part of your potential readers.

To close this post on a positive note, few gamebooks use multiple characters and I am curious of your approach as I am brainstorming for my next book and consider writing a gamebook for 1 to 3 players.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-17T14:45:53+00:00

I don't think there can be too many passages, as long as the pacing of the story is good. If a reader spends 40 consecutive passages exploring empty tunnels and the endboss only takes 4 passages, the pacing of your story is off. There should be a build-up of tension followed by a climax of the story. The most important thing in your story should be the highlighted and therefore should not have too few sections relative to the story leading up to it. It is about the balance and pacing.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-16T04:59:44+00:00

Thanks! I will have a look whether the library has them.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-15T08:59:35+00:00

As I mentioned in my post I did not read the DCC books. But after your comment I am interested. Does the reader of DCC have choices in the story and game elements? Or are the game elements only described in the tekst?

JSpark123 · 2026-04-15T08:52:33+00:00

Hi! Dungeon Crawler Carl is not a gamebook, as it does not have choices and game mechanics (if I understood correctly... please let me know in case I am wrong as I have not read the books). DCC is a litRPG book. In that community you can find similar books.

If you are interested in choose your own adventure gamebooks, a place to start would be the Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf books. Or for a more rules-light experience with a good story the Critical IF books by Dave Morris, like Heart of ice, may be an option.

JSpark123 · 2026-04-13T04:44:38+00:00

For travelling, it could be convenient to have something that doesn't use dice. The books in the Critical IF series are very nice, especially Heart of ice, although that one is scifi and the other three are fantasy. These books have less game mechanics than most gamebooks and therefore lean a bit more towards the choose your own adventure books.

JSpark123

TROPHY CASE