Free "demo" available - Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories

[Sir Knight]

Looking around the forum, I've seen occasional mentions of gamebooks like Fighting Fantasy, Fabled Lands, and even some "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style stories created by members. Would anyone care to download a new free (and illustrated) gamebook? And, possibly, help bring a larger one into the world?

My name is Richard S. Hetley, and I'm trying to spread word about Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories, which I and have on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/161 ... ll-color-g

It puts the player in control of a team of paranormal investigators in 1930's New York City, and we tried to innovate within the text: it's written in third person ("he," "she") instead of second person ("you"), which is a departure from other gamebooks, and allows you to control multiple characters at once (like an adventuring party in print book form). We also do those little stunts that you can only manage in a book, like "Go to the page number that matches the combination on this lock," making play more interesting and challenging than just a series of paths (and avoiding "Darn, wrong path, I'll cheat and take the other one"). You can download a free "demo" (prequel, really) over here:

http://www.megara-entertainment.com/Arc ... review.pdf
http://richardhetley.files.wordpress.co ... review.pdf

(Both links are the same file.) This download, The Case of the Unghostly Ghost, links up to the Kickstarter gamebook at the end. It contains all the rules for the system.

Some images:







Is this the sort of project that interests people here? We think the book stands on its own merits, but outside of being run as games themselves, gamebooks can be useful aides in roleplaying. A review site discussed this once (), and apparently , so we hope you might consider our book.

Thanks for reading!

[misterecho]

I love fighting fantasy and choose your own adventure books. I'll have a little look. thanks.

[Sir Knight]

Well, great! The thing may be closest to Fabled Lands, at least in terms of mechanics (not content), but of course we're fond of gamebooks in general.

I attempted to submit our sample game to the main site here, given that it is a "free RPG," but I'm not sure that I did it correctly. I'm glad that posting it here means it's being seen.

[Sir Knight]

Good day, everyone. Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories has surpassed 50% (and is now at 60%) with one week left in our project. We've seen backers coming from all over (and I've now submitted our blurb over private message, misterecho) who are interested in the sort of classic gaming experience that RPG gamebooks represent. If a printed solo adventure you can hold in your hands sounds good to you, or you just want a download with pictures you can swipe for free ( and ), then please take a look now:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/161 ... ll-color-g

We're almost done, and we're hoping to have a few more nice surprises before we get there, so please come on by. Thank you for reading!

[Rob Lang]

Good luck with you Kickstarter, SirKnight!

[Sir Knight]

Thank you! I really, really hope we get to bring people the finished product. Gamebooks are encountering a bit of a resurgence, but still there aren't nearly enough games like this out there today.

[Sir Knight]

Once more, with feeling!

Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories is now in our last full day of funding on Kickstarter: 12/12/12. The end comes tomorrow, and we need your help now in order to reach our goal!

Funding has jumped from 60% to over 85% in just a week. We've been reviewed by (thanks to our iOS connection) and , and we've partnered with gamebook author Jonathan Green's "history book" of the Fighting Fantasy series, . But we're not funded yet.

If you haven't taken a look at our project and/or our free demo, please do:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/161 ... ll-color-g

And if you don't know you want to pledge, but you know other people who might, then please pass the link on to them. There are only so many gamebooks/solo adventures like this being published today, and we really want to help this type of gaming experience thrive. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!

[Sir Knight]

Arcana Agency: The Thief of Memories is FUNDED with one or two hours left! Thanks to all of you for looking into our project, and thanks especially if you backed us. We can't wait to get this book finalized, printed, and shipped out to the gaming public. We think you'll enjoy it!

If you haven't backed it and weren't sure whether it were worth a pledge, there's just a little time (as of this post) for you to take another look. It's a sure thing that this book will exist now, so it's just a question of whether you want to pre-order. If you do, and if we reach our first stretch goal (less than $1000 away now!), then we can add even more to the book: we'll be able to turn that into an extra "case 0" in the print book itself! The link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/161 ... ll-color-g

This will be the last time we post "for promo," so if you read it after our deadline, let me just say "thank you" one final time. We couldn't have made it without you!

[Evil Scientist]

Good job!!

[Sir Knight]

Whew, sorry for the slow response: you can understand how we are a) exhausted and b) still inundated with work for the Kickstarter.

But thanks! It's been great, and now we can finally print this book. The Kickstarter community is a remarkably positive one, and we've met a lot of people who like this sort of game. The demo will continue to be free, so I think it should be hosted on this site when possible; we put in a lot of effort and I hope newcomers will enjoy it.

Thanks again for reading!