Classic Fighting Fantasy book Starship Traveller is now a game – this is very good news

Way back in the day when computer games were in their infancy and the only other real options were hardcore efforts such as Dungeons and Dragons, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson created the Fighting fantasy series of adventure game books where you made decisions, created your character and had a lot of fun. I was obsessed by the and while the first three were pretty much your standard wizards and goblin affairs, the fourth book came out and it was set in the future. This was my memory in 1983 of Starship Traveller. I can almost remember seeing it on the shelves for the first time as a 10-year-old.  I still have my original copy. Happy days.

Fast-forward 40 years into the future and Tin Man Games out of Melbourne, Australia have recreated it in all its glory and if you, like me, remember the original, you will be heading to download it as we speak.

Starship Traveller is out now on Steam, the App Store, and Google Play

Tin Man Games has brought Starship Traveller into the modern era using the Gamebook Adventures Engine, enhancing the original adventure with a feature-rich digital experience:

• Crew Management System – Control up to seven crew members, sending them on dangerous planetary missions.
• New Artwork – Experience the gamebook with beautiful cosmic illustrations by Simon Lissaman.
• Adaptive Gameplay – Play with classic dice rolls, adjust difficulty settings, or enable ‘Free Read’ mode for a casual, story-driven experience.
• Adventure Tracking – Automated stats management, ship-to-ship combat tracking, and a mapping system keep your journey smooth and immersive.
• Physics-Based Dice Rolling – Feel the weight of fate in your hands with realistic, interactive dice rolls

Starship Traveller is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by Peter Andrew Jones. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the fourth gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002.

• The series was created by British game designers Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, co-founders of Games Workshop. The first book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (1982), combined branching narratives with dice-based combat, pioneering the “gamebook” genre.
• In the late 1980s, there were plans for a Fighting Fantasy video game adaptation for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), but it was scrapped before release. The series would eventually see digital adaptations decades later.
• In 1983–1985, Sorcery!, a four-book spin-off by Steve Jackson, introduced a deeper magic system and a more complex storyline. Unlike the main series, it let players carry over progress between books, pioneering the idea of gamebook continuity.
• The books were notorious for their brutal difficulty, often punishing players with sudden deaths for taking the “wrong” path. Some books, like Crypt of the Sorcerer and Trial of Champions, were infamous for their unforgiving nature, leading to much frustration (and probably some sneaky cheating!).

The post Classic Fighting Fantasy book Starship Traveller is now a game – this is very good news appeared first on ReadWrite.