Editing Gamebook (section)

===Breakthroughs and popularization===
<!-- Please note this page concerns ALL gamebooks, including "adventure gamebooks". Do not shunt off Fighting Fantasy to the "type" section - it is a central series to this article -->

In the US, ''The Adventures of You'' series appeared in 1976–77, with two titles that would later become part of the groundbreaking ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' series: ''Sugarcane Island'' by [[Edward Packard (writer)|Edward Packard]] and ''Journey Under the Sea'' by [[R. A. Montgomery]].

[[Tabletop role-playing games]] such as ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' were another early influence that would contribute in major ways to the development of the gamebook form. The first module which combined a branching-path narrative with a set of role-playing game rules was ''[[Buffalo Castle]]'' for the ''[[Tunnels & Trolls]]'' system (1975). Buffalo Castle was innovative for its time, as it allowed the reader to experience a role-playing session without need for a referee. It has been followed by many other solitaire adventures for the T&T system, as well as solos for other tabletop role-playing games.

The first commercially successful series of gamebooks was the ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series establishing the "American" gamebook tradition. The "British" tradition, as exemplified by the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, was, by contrast, slightly younger. British gamebooks differ from the American tradition by having rules more strongly influenced by the game mechanics of roleplaying games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gamesvsplay.com/a-brief-history-of-gamebooks/|title=A Brief History of Gamebooks &#124; Games Vs Play}}</ref>

====The US (late 1970s–)====
''The Adventures of You'', a two-book series, authored by [[Edward Packard (writer)|Edward Packard]] and [[R.A. Montgomery]] and initially published by Vermont Crossroads Press, laid much of the groundwork for the later surge in popularity of the gamebook format<ref>https://gamebooks.org/Series/28/Show</ref><ref>http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2022/03/retrospective-sugarcane-island.html</ref><ref>http://edwardpackard.com/cyoa/</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2025}}. ''Sugarcane Island'' by Edward Packard was written in 1969 but did not see publication until 1976. This became a series when ''Journey Under the Sea'' by R. A. Montgomery was published in 1977. Two standalone gamebooks authored by Packard would follow, both published by Lippincott: ''Deadwood City'' (1978) and ''The Third Planet from Altair'' (1979). While these early efforts apparently achieved some popularity with readers, they (and the gamebook format in general) still did not have a publisher with the marketing strength required to make them available to mass audiences.

Packard and Montgomery took the idea of publishing interactive books to [[Bantam Books|Bantam]], and thus the ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' (CYOA) series was born in 1979, beginning with ''The Cave of Time''. The series became immensely popular worldwide and several titles were translated into more than 25 languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=30 |title=Choose Your Own Adventure |publisher=Gamebooks.org |date=2004-06-09 |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129070809/http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=30 |archive-date=2013-01-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The series reached the peak of its popularity with children in the 1980s. It was during this period that Bantam released several other interactive series to capitalize on the popularity of the medium (a few examples are: ''Choose your Own Adventure for Younger Readers'', ''[[Time Machine (novel series)|Time Machine]]'' and ''[[Be An Interplanetary Spy]]''). Many other American publishers released their own series to compete with CYOA.

One of the most popular competitors seems to have been [[TSR (company)|TSR]], who released several branching-path novels based on their own role-playing games. The most famous TSR series was ''[[Endless Quest]]'' (1982–). Another strong competitor was [[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] with their ''[[Find Your Fate]]'' series, which featured adventures in the [[Indiana Jones]], [[James Bond]] and [[Doctor Who]] universes. Famous author [[R. L. Stine]] wrote several books for this line, including ''The Badlands of Hark'', as well as for other series such as Wizards, Warriors and You. Several ''Choose your Own Adventure'' spin-offs and many competing series were translated into other languages.

====The UK (early 1980s–)====
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2019}}<!-- Please note this page concerns ALL gamebooks, including "adventure gamebooks". Do not shunt off Fighting Fantasy to the "type" section - it is a central series to this article -->

One of the most influential and popular gamebook series was the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' series, which started in 1980 when a [[Puffin Books]] representative saw a hall full of 5,000 people playing ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and asked Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson to make a book about role-playing games. They instead offered the idea of a book which simulated the experience of roleplaying games. Within a year they presented a book under the name of ''The Magic Quest'' to Puffin which Puffin agreed to publish. Having spent six more months developing the concept it was published under the name of ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28865399|title=The retro cult around Fighting Fantasy gamebooks|date=2014-08-25|website=BBC|access-date=2018-07-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fightingfantasy.com/fffaq.htm#Concept%20created|title=Fighting Fantasy FAQ |date=2005-11-27 |access-date=2011-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127132716/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/fffaq.htm#Concept%20created |archive-date=November 27, 2005 }}</ref>

Another notable UK gamebook series is ''[[Lone Wolf (gamebooks)|Lone Wolf]]'', developed by Joe Dever in 1984. Like ''Fighting Fantasy'', the writer was an experienced ''Dungeons & Dragons'' player who developed the setting of Lone Wolf for his campaigns.<ref>{{cite web | last = Blake| first = Jonathan | title = Joe Dever | work = The Kai Monastery | date = 1998-01-01 | url = http://web.ncf.ca/as300/dever.html| access-date = 2006-07-03}}</ref> However the books were also inspired by medieval texts such as ''[[Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' and ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]''.<ref>{{cite web | last = Denver| first = Joe| title = Lone Wolf: Joe Dever Frequently Asked Questions| work = Joe Dever Letter| date = 1993-08-28 | url = http://www.projectaon.org/en/pdf/misc/LW_misc.pdf| access-date = 2006-07-15}}</ref>

''[[Grailquest]]'' is a series of gamebooks written by J.H. Brennan (also beginning in 1984) that were also inspired by the Arthurian legends. Set mainly on Avalon they make use of a dice based system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/864782.Castle_of_Darkness|title=Castle of Darkness|website=Goodreads|access-date=2019-04-09}}</ref><ref>https://mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=grailquest</ref><ref>https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/grail-quest/46378/</ref><ref>https://cwickham.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-14-museum.html</ref><ref>https://gamebooks.org/Series/188/Show</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2025}}

''[[The Way of the Tiger]]'', a Japan-themed gamebook series by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson (starting in 1985), is also a notable UK publication.<ref>Green, Jonathan (2012) ''YOU Are the Hero'' Snowbooks Ltd, Haddenham, p. 106</ref><ref>https://gamebooks.org/Series/1650/Show</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2025}}

==== Outside the English-speaking world (mid 1980s–) ====
Branching-path books also started to appear during the 1980s in several other countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Chile, Denmark and Japan.

Despite the domination of works that have been translated from English in most non-English-speaking countries, a sizable number of original gamebooks—both individual books and series—have been published in various countries; this is especially the case in [[France]] (e.g. the ''La Saga du Prêtre Jean'' series) and in Japan (e.g. [[Tokyo Sogensha]]'s ''Super Adventure Game'' series and [[Futabasha]]'s ''Bouken Gamebook'' series).

In some other countries, publication both of translated series and of original books began in later years. For example, the first original books in Brazil and Italy seem to have appeared in the 1990s.

==== Eastern Europe (late 1980s–) ====
Translated editions of ''Choose your Own Adventure'', ''Fighting Fantasy'' and other English-language series only appeared in Eastern European countries after [[Revolutions of 1989|the fall of Communism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamebooks.org |title=Demian's Gamebook Web Page |website=Gamebooks.org |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref>

Since the mid-1980s, about 90 gamebooks have been published in [[Poland]], not only as printed books, but also as comics, e-books or mobile applications. The author of the largest number of titles (20) is Beniamin Muszyński. Polish gamebooks are regularly written by their fans and published online by "[https://masz-wybor.com.pl/gry-ksiazkowe/ Masz Wybór]" (publishing house which has been operating since 2010).<ref>Beniamin Muszyński „Gry książkowe”, [w:] Literadar #16, s. 12.</ref>

In the 1990s, the gamebook genre became highly popular in [[Bulgaria]] for approximately ten years.<ref name=list>{{cite web|author=Hakop & J0K3RA |url=http://www.citadelata.com/index.php?show=63 |title=Цитаделата |publisher=Citadelata.com |date=2006-11-15 |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref> Whilst internationally well-known series such as ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' and ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' were translated for the Bulgarian market, the works of numerous Bulgarian gamebook authors were most popular with readers.

During the popularity peak of gamebooks in Bulgaria, Bulgarian publishing houses believed that only Western authors would sell and, as a consequence, virtually all Bulgarian gamebook authors adopted English pseudonyms.<ref name=list/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_country.php?id=18 |title=Items Published in Bulgaria |publisher=Gamebooks.org |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129125352/http://www.gamebooks.org/show_country.php?id=18 |archive-date=2013-01-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This tradition persisted after their nationality was publicly disclosed. A smaller number of [[Hungary|Hungarian]] authors also adopted Western pseudonyms, in addition to "official titles" that were also in English.<ref>{{cite web|title=Items Published in Hungary|url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_country.php?id=21|work=Demian's Gamebook Web Page|publisher=Demian Katz|access-date=27 May 2012|author=Demian Katz|year=1998–2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508210604/http://www.gamebooks.org/show_country.php?id=21|archive-date=8 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several adventure gamebooks have been released in the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Russia]]. In [[Azerbaijan]], Narmin Kamal's novel, ''Open It's Me'', offers the reader a choice to either read the book as a random collection of thirty-nine short stories about the same character, or as a single novel. A photo of the book's hero is published on the final page and the author asks the reader questions about the character.