So, I just got this interesting email about Deathtrap Dungeon, and, actually, there is a Fig Backstage happening
For sure its my favorite CYOA book, ever.
The early '80s were a golden age for gamers: videogame arcades were on every corner, all your friends were playing Dungeons and Dragons, and every personal computer had Adventure or Zork on it. And you—and your imagination—were at the center of the story.
Even if you were lucky enough to be a kid then, getting that sweet fantasy roleplaying fix still wasn’t easy. You could beg siblings and neighbors to play D&D [Quest failed!]. Or, after your mom threw all your D&D books in a fire because they looked satanic [Quest failed!], maybe you could convince your dad to buy an Apple IIe for his business...so you could play Zork and Wizardry and Ultima II [Quest complete!]. Or maybe that's just me. Regardless, there was a simpler way: gamebooks.
Gamebooks were a convenient (solo! portable!) way to get that old-school roleplaying experience. Among the best was Deathtrap Dungeon™—a fun but deadly tournament maze designed by Ian Livingstone (who later launched Warhammer, Tomb Raider, and Hitman games) and Iain McCaig (who later designed iconic characters Darth Maul, Rocket & Groot, and other concepts for Star Wars, Avengers, Harry Potter, and other films).
Sentient Play is teaming up with Ian and Iain and a superteam of both the usual suspects (game industry talent) and the unexpected (like Alex Gygax, son of D&D’s co-creator, Gary Gygax) on a group quest to bring you the most convenient way to experience the very best parts of old-school roleplaying.
Enter, if you dare, a vast tournament labyrinth for a game of high-stakes decisions, where your educated guesses could lead to grave peril or fantastic rewards. In this single player roleplaying game, explore, fight monsters, craft items, solve puzzles, outwit opponents, and skill up your hero to be the first to conquer Deathtrap Dungeon.
Ideal for both veteran roleplayers looking for convenient solo play and new players looking for an easy intro to the classic pen-and-paper RPG experience, The Hero of Deathtrap Dungeon uses the Storybook Hero RPG engine to bring the best parts of "old-school" roleplaying to life in a modern, cinematic way. With the convenience of a gamebook, replayability like a survival roguelike, and the wide wonder of pen and paper roleplaying, this is a revolutionary “Novel” RPG where your actions quite literally write the book as you play.
For those that don't know, Deathtrap Dungeon is a deadly tournament maze in the world of Fighting Fantasy. But something has changed... "First, there was smoke..." Watch the video below to know more:
Once a year, hopeful contestants, spectators, and gamblers from near and far descend on the city when it opens the doors to Deathtrap Dungeon for the Trial of Champions. Competing for a fortune in gold, champions face monsters, traps, and eventually each other—for only one can exit the dungeon triumphant. But this year, the dungeon is twice as large and twice as deadly:
Train, craft, trade, explore, fight, and uncover secrets to become powerful and experienced enough to be the first to make it all the way through the new expanded Deathtrap Dungeon. You have one month to master the dungeon, so use your time wisely: decide when to train and craft items, and when to journey into the dungeon to fulfill quests or attempt a final run all the way through the dungeon.
Jump Right In
Jump into the game immediately as a "level 0" character with a classless skill system. Build your character over time as you play, making more important decisions about your character once you’re further in and you have a better idea how you want to play.
Expeditions: Venture into the Dungeon
Adventure into the dungeon to solve myriad quests. There are more potential missions than you can solve in one play-through so choose which ones best fit your goals. On expedition, move from encounter to encounter, stopping only to camp and rest in between as needed.
Encounters: Many Types; Many Solutions
In encounters, put your skills, items, and relationships to the test facing challenging situations. Procedurally-adapted encounters (combat, dialogue, and roleplaying) can often be handled through a broad set of play-styles and solutions.
Encounters: Cut to the Action
Your equipment and skills grant you insights and enable additional actions in encounters.
Combat & NPC Encounters
Combat and negotiations are tactical and turn-based. Skills give you information and options even in combat, negotiation, or social situations. Tells are clues to your opponent’s next action and their current state of mind and physical condition.
Go Big (or Go Back)
The further you go on expedition, the harder it gets...and the greater the potential rewards. Decide after each encounter in the dungeon whether to head back to safety with what you’ve gained so far or keep going and risk it all—there are no game saves in the dungeon.
Back in town, buy better equipment and convince mentors to teach you skills to provide new insights and actions during encounters so that you can go further in the dungeon.
Win or lose, you wrote your own story. Play again to change your fate.
Old-School Roleplaying
- All the good RPG stuff: Loot, exploration, quests, combat, puzzles, character customization, skills progression, equipment, crafting, base-building, and more
- Continual Progress, Increasing Depth: Feeling of constant Progress and Unlocks as you level up, recruit new mentors, learn new skills and crafting recipes--letting you solve harder challenges.
- Danger looms and success is not guaranteed: Characters are exceptional individuals, not super heroes. You can encounter challenges you are not yet ready for.
- Creativity encourage with multiple Solutions/Approaches:Encounters can be overcome in multiple realistic ways: combat, stealth, negotiation, sleuthing, etc. In addition, you will be challenged, not just your character. Solutions will require your creativity, wit, and strategy to succeed (but no twitch skills or split-second timing required)
- Old-school Art: Black and white hand-drawn illustrations and maps come to life with animation and parallax motion.
Modern Play
- Cinematic Reading: you've never read like this before! Ink swirls, illustrations move, and a dynamic soundtrack adapts to what's happening in the story.
- Learn as you play: No google needed. More critical decisions come later in the game when you already understand what’s going on. The virtual GM handles all the record-keeping and calculation behind the scenes, delivering narrative and illustrations so you can stay immersed in the story world.
- Easy to Start, Pause, Pick Back Up: You already know how to “operate” a book and we remind you of controls. Pause for real world interruptions and later just pick right up where you left off. Easy to come back later—everything you’ve done has written a story you can reread. Game waits for response. Play for five hours or five minutes; pause to deal with real-life.
Ian Livingstone co-founded iconic games company Games Workshop, launched Dungeons & Dragons in Europe, co-created the multi-million selling Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, writing 15 of them personally including the classic Deathtrap Dungeon. As Executive Chairman at Eidos, he launched global video games franchises like Tomb Raider and Hitman. He co-authored the a review for the UK government and helped introduce a new Computing curriculum in UK schools in 2014. He has received a BAFTA Special Award for his services to the video games industry, and was awarded a CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list.
Iain McCaig is an internationally recognized and award winning artist who created all the magical illustrations in the original Deathtrap Dungeon book. Since then he's been busy: designing Queen Amidala and Darth Maul at Lucasfilm, continuing on as a principle artist for four more Star Warsfilms, two Avengers films, Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...and more!
Brad Becker is a futurist, designer, storyteller, and songwriter. He is the CEO of Sentient Play, bringing interactive storytelling to life through art, artifice, and artificial intelligence. His previous game, KOMRAD, garnered a 4.78 star review average from players and made CNET’s Best Mobile Games of 2016 list. Brad was formerly the Chief Design Officer of IBM Watson, can be partially blamed for bringing streaming video to the web with his work at Adobe and Microsoft, and played over 600 shows in a band signed to Universal Records back when being in a band was almost a viable career.
Finn Staber cut his teeth in the world of crowdfunding working on no less than Shroud of the Avatar with Richard Garriott. He has a penchant for cutting-edge game tech as evidenced by his next role as CTO for The Wave VR. His sense of humor is on display both in the name of his studio, Chicken Waffle, as well as in their latest game, Babyhands. Finn (and the others at Chicken Waffle) will be helping to bring our game engine to life.
Alex Gygax grew up playing roleplaying games with his father—who, as co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, knew a few things about how to create a great experience for players. He also racked up a lot of XP playing video games and is a multiclass creative consultant on this project to help us ensure we capture the best parts of old-school roleplaying in a modern videogame.
Gray Rogers spent seven years as a concept artist at Telltale Games, working on critically acclaimed games such as the The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Batman, and The Wolf Among Us.
Misty Beee is an amazing cartographer from France, specializing in beautiful illustrated fantasy maps for books and roleplaying games. We’re excited to have her creating a killer map or two for us.
Glynn Seal, 2018 ENnie award-winning designer and cartographer, will be creating all the hand-crafted dungeon/castle/cave map tiles that represent the player's exploration of various encounter locations. Sure, it’s all stuff trying to kill you but Glynn makes them look great doing so.
- The ease and solo play of Gamebooks like Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, and CYOA
- The old-school mystical feel of Dungeons and Dragons (especially Blue box—1E and 5E)
- The core loop of Darkest Dungeon and other “town and down” survival + base building roguelikes
- The interactive narrative of Zork and other classic text adventure games.
- Living books like the maps and diary in Harry Potter, the high-tech Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, the Neverending Story, etc.
- The depth of systems-based modern RPG’s like Pillars of Eternity, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Divinity: Original Sin, Witcher 3
- The streamlined systems-based storytelling of modern board games like Gloomhaven.
For sure its my favorite CYOA book, ever.
