Hey everyone, Iosif here :)
I grew up reading gamebooks and playing interactive fiction on my phone. Over the years, I played a lot of titles. Some were forgettable. Some stayed with me.
Here are the ones that did.
Sorcery!
I remember opening it up for the first time and discovering their spellcasting system. To this day it is one of the coolest I have ever seen in a game.
Sorcery! is a series of four interactive gamebooks adapted from Steve Jackson's original Fighting Fantasy books. You play as a wizard traveling through dangerous lands. You cast spells. You fight. You make choices that actually lead to different places.
The paths get wildly complicated and no ending is the same. Great series.
Fighting Fantasy Classics
These gamebooks were my introduction to the genre. They simulate the pen and paper experience in a way that felt special at the time. I liked them a lot.
They are quite short in my opinion. But they are a good place to start if you have never tried a gamebook before.
Magium
I found Magium by accident, without looking for it.
It is a gamebook written by another Romanian, and I really like the experience. You play as a regular Joe with a device that grants you superpowers. It is a blast.
It is a shame the author passed away and the project is no longer in development. It is a rare gem.
A New Project Worth Watching
I have been playing these games for years. And somewhere along the way, I started wondering what it would be like to build my own.
That is how Trueself: Choice Stories started. It is a mobile interactive fiction game I have been developing for the last 7 months. The first playable story is Soul of Fire - about 18,000 words, dark fantasy. You play as a fire mage named Surif with a spirit wolf companion named Azur.
It is currently in closed beta, and there is a playable demo on the website. If any of the games above meant something to you, I would be curious to hear what you think of Soul of Fire.
If you want to access it, message me.
Signing off,
Iosif