The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a Games Workshop adventure board game published in 1986, based on the Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain . The game can be played by 2-6 players. [1] A typical game has a length of two hours. [2]
The game consists of the players roaming a labyrinth, fighting creatures and finding treasures. The players have three basic scores which affect combat and how a player can react to traps: SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK, mirroring the system in the original gamebook. The object of the game is to travel across the board to the end of the dungeon and open the treasure chest of the evil warlock Zagor. However, whilst doing this the players must work out the combination of three keys which will allow them access to the treasure chest at the end of the game, and obtain these keys, either by finding or stealing them. Players do this by using a system similar to Cluedo, asking other players if they have any key cards of a particular number and secretly noting the answer given. [1]
The contents of the game are: [1] [2]
The first player to deduce the correct key combination of the Warlock's treasure chest, obtain those keys and open the chest is the winner.
In 1982, the British game designer Steve Jackson (not to be confused with the American game designer of the same name) and Ian Livingstone created the first Fighting Fantasy book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Four years later, Jackson designed the game. The box was illustrated by Peter Andrew Jones and the interior illustrations were created by Dave Andrews. [1] [2]
In the November 1986 edition of White Dwarf (Issuer #83), Robert Neville assured players that "There's nothing childish or simple about this game! It requires deduction, determination, some skill, and quite a bit of luck to get all the way to the end without losing your character." He liked the game components as well, stating "Production quality is up to GW's increasingly excellent standards, with fairly clear rules and some very pretty pieces." He did wish that zip-lock bags had been provided for counter storage, but concluded with a recommendation, saying, "On the whole this game is very neat and stylish, and deserves to do well. The slight resemblance to Cluedo is actually no bad thing, as it adds a degree of depth that most dungeon-bashing boardgames have never had. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is the sort of boardgame I'd probably buy for my little brother and end up playing myself!" [3]
Andi Lennon gave a retrospective review for the website There Will Be Games, and found it very reflective of games of the 1980s in its style of play — "Defiantly and unapologetically a product of its era." Lennon especially admired its components, commenting, "The artwork, although stymied by the minuscule scale of the cards, is awesome. The sculpts of the plastic minis are squat and static in just the right way. The whole package has a certain allure to it." He concluded that while it did not measure up to more modern games, "The fact that this one didn’t receive the same new edition and iteration treatment as Talisman , Dungeonquest and other titles of its vintage ilk is pretty telling, but by remaining trapped in amber it perhaps does a better job of encapsulating and defining an era [...] And while it might fail as game in 2020, as a collector’s piece, curio, slice of history, and a tattered box of object d’art, it’s nigh-on essential." [4]
Fighting Fantasy is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982.
Sir Ian Livingstone is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of a series of role-playing gamebooks, Fighting Fantasy, and the author of many books within that series. He co-founded Games Workshop in 1975 and helped create Eidos Interactive as executive chairman of Eidos Plc in 1995.
Talisman: The Magical Quest Game is a fantasy-themed adventure board game for two to six players, originally designed and produced by Games Workshop. The game was first released in 1983 and has gone through three revisions. As of 2021, the fourth edition (2008) is the latest version. The board game sold over 800,000 units by 2000.
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Steve Jackson is a British game designer, writer, game reviewer and co-founder of UK game publisher Games Workshop.
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the title is the first gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002, and Scholastic Books in 2017. As well as launching the Fighting Fantasy series, the gamebook inspired two direct sequels and five novels, and has been adapted into a board game, an audio drama and a video game.
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The Citadel of Chaos is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the second gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. The gamebook was also adapted into a video game.
Deathtrap Dungeon is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Iain McCaig. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1984, the title is the sixth gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002.
The Endless Quest books were three series of gamebooks. The first two series were released in the 1980s and 1990s by TSR, while the third series was released by Wizards of the Coast. Originally, these books were the result of an Educational department established by TSR with the intention of developing curriculum programs for subjects such as reading, math, history, and problem solving.
Legend of Zagor is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Carl Sargent, although it is credited to Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1993 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2004. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 54th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-036566-4) and 20th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-551-4).
Clash of the Princes is a boxed set consisting of The Warrior's Way and The Warlock's Way, released by Puffin Books in 1986, written by Andrew Chapman and Martin Allen and illustrated by John Blanche. They can be played as standard Fighting Fantasy gamebooks or combined for a two-player experience. In the two-player game, two scores are kept track of on a piece of paper in order to keep both players' game experiences synchronized.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a game originally published by Sleuth Publications in 1981. Multiple expansions and reprints of the game have since been released.
Return to Firetop Mountain is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Martin McKenna. It was originally published in 1992 by Puffin Books and was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. The gamebook forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series, where it is the 50th volume in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-036008-5) and the 16th in the later Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-481-X).
Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a first person action RPG developed by Big Blue Bubble for Nintendo DS on November 25, 2009, and for iOS on January 3, 2010. The game is loosely based on the roleplaying gamebook of the same name.
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is an action game published by Crystal Computing in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It is loosely based on the adventure gamebook of the same name written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and published by Puffin Books in 1982.
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain refers to a franchise created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone:
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