Tin Man Games has been applying their considerable gamebook know-how to the Fighting Fantasy series for a couple of years now, so far releasing eight of the most popular and noteworthy installments of the franchise. While there are a couple of conspicuous absences remaining, the developer has shown a good eye in its selections thus far. The latest release, Fighting Fantasy: Bloodbones ($5.99), is an interesting choice for a few reasons. This is the first of Tin Man’s Fighting Fantasy releases that isn’t written by either Ian Livingstone or Steve Jackson, instead being the work of Jonathan Green, one of the writers from the later days of the series. Bloodbones was considered a lost book for several years, as it was initially planned as the 60th entry in the series before publisher Puffin canceled Fighting Fantasy with the 59th book. Like its titular character, death didn’t hold it back for long. In 2006, fans could finally put their hands on Bloodbones as the 26th release in the Wizard Books revival of the line.
Of course, all that history and hype is of little consequence to today’s primary consumers of gamebooks, mobile gamers. For us, this is just the follow-up release to the grand adventure of Caverns Of The Snow Witch ($5.99). While Bloodbones takes place in the same fantasy world as many of the other Fighting Fantasy books, its supernatural pirate theme is definitely something we haven’t seen yet from Tin Man. It introduces time as a mechanic, and I can assure you that you don’t have a lot of it to spare if you want to win, giving you one more thing to consider as you weigh each choice. It’s an interesting idea, in theory, but in practice, it’s just one more thing that contributes to Bloodbones being a mixed bag.
The story is a classic revenge tale, with the protagonist on the hunt for the pirate that killed his family. Things get very complicated along the way, but the ultimate goal doesn’t change. You have to put Captain Bloodbones into his grave and make sure he stays there. Broadly speaking, the game can be broken into two halves. In the first half, you’re searching for clues around the city of Port Crab, and in the second, you’re exploring an island. Time is a serious factor in the first half, but once you’ve made it out of Port Crab, the mechanic is mercifully tossed aside. Both areas involve a considerable amount of exploration, and in usual Fighting Fantasy tradition, it’s hard to know which items you’ll need until the story actually calls for them. This makes the first half of the game tremendously punishing, because you don’t have the time to be thorough, but if you aren’t, you likely won’t have everything you need for the second half. There’s one particular item that acts as a gatekeeper for the back end of the game, and you’d never realize its importance at the time it’s available to you.
The second half of the game feels a lot like Island Of The Lizard King ($5.99). It’s exploration-heavy, almost ridiculously so for what was once a paper book. It’s a bit less stressful than the first bit, provided you picked up the right items, but just as in Lizard King, you’d best be ready for a lot of fighting. You’ll also be testing your luck constantly, so I hope you didn’t settle for a low roll at the beginning of the game for any of your stats. Even with the best stats, you’re very unlikely to survive Bloodbones without learning the best route and having a lot of luck with your dice rolls. That could be said for any gamebook, but it’s particularly true here. Bloodbones is, without question, the most difficult gamebook I’ve played so far. It’s a long adventure, packed with frequent combat against strong enemies, plenty of instant deaths and situations that hinge on you passing a luck or skill check, and is very particular in its solution. It’s possible to get nearly to the end only to find out you didn’t pick up something you needed back in Port Crab and have to start over.
It sours what is otherwise a nicely varied gamebook. It never leans too heavily on one thing or another, and its pacing is excellent. While the writing isn’t quite up to snuff with inkle’s similarly-themed Down Among The Dead Men ($2.99), it’s still enjoyable to read and wonderfully evocative of classic swashbuckling stories. I’d go so far as to say that it’s even worth cheating your way through using the free read difficulty just to experience all of the interesting events Bloodbones has to offer. It’s a great way to scout for a proper run through the game on a higher difficulty setting, and it’s really only half-cheating. Even with the solution in hand, you’ll still have to contend with numerous battles and stat checks, so there’s still merit in a playthrough of the other two difficulty settings. You’ll have spoiled the surprises of the book by doing this, but that cuts both ways, since not all of the surprises are pleasant.
As usual, Tin Man Games has lavished this conversion with loving care. In addition to the extra difficulty settings, there’s also the usual art gallery, a list of fun achievements with some amusing names to seek out, and several little touches to add to the atmosphere. When you turn pages, instead of a usual page flip, a chain clears the page for the next one, and the game makes excellent use of background audio to enhance the mood. Naturally, since this is an electronic version and not a paperback, you don’t have to keep track of passwords or crack codes using ciphers, but you will occasionally need to type in puzzle solutions using the keyboard, so don’t get too lazy. Fans of the original book will certainly be elated with its treatment here.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a stiff challenge, but there are good and bad ways of going about that. Bloodbones uses a few too many of the latter, and it spoils what is otherwise a very nicely-designed gamebook. If you don’t think you’ll mind the nasty difficulty or just intend on cheating your way through it using free read anyway, you’ll find Bloodbones to be a meaty, interesting quest that feels a bit different in tone and pacing from any of the other Tin Man Fighting Fantasy releases so far. I suspect few will have the patience to see everything it has to offer, unfortunately.
Cool story bro
Well, at least some compensation for those who paid (myself included).
Not overly happy with the decision though.
They did, reread the article.
Btw, Ya I know it sucks, I was also a paid customer.
Reread his comment.
Hey, one of the devs here - hopefully we've F2P in a way that people don't mind. We've tried to give people options in how they want to play - wait, watch a video, or spend some coins. I'm keen to get feedback on what people think though. We want to make the best experience we can for everyone.
"Let's not just go free-to-play, let's throw in timers to really tick off people who bought a game and want to actually play it, not to mention it seems really backwards to literally make people play a different game-"
*sigh*
Why can this be done? To this far? It's basically a scam. They bought a game, not coins in a timer-game that doesn't let them play the thing they bought in the first place.
This is not what they paid for at all, they bought a game that is supposed to work, to be played, what a game is.
This is wrong. Maybe turning it into a freemium thing could be understandable, maybe, but this far? No. That's too much.
(And before someone possibly claims "the timers aren't that bad" these people didn't buy a timer game in the first place. It's not acceptable.)
(And, okay, while my annoyance at this is understandable, I apologize for being at least somewhat rude.)
This is a fair complaint. It's quite difficult to know how best to handle existing users when making a F2P conversion, especially when you're a developer working with very limited resources trying to turn a project around.
I didn't want to just throw in a timer, which is why we went timers, but with video ads to get around it. You can skip all of the timers by watching a video.
The coins we gave the existing players are a way to skip the refuelling for a long time to come, and also to buy and fully upgrading every plane. Each plane has it's own fuel system, so you end up with a lot of races once you've unlocked everything.
It's not the best solution, I know, but it should be enough for existing players to not really be that affected by the timers, unless you want to play it four hours on end.
We're certainly listening to what people want (which is why I'm here), and looking at other options for players that want a more premium experience, probably through an IAP that removes the fuel system for a plane.
The thing that really annoys me is that I can't use the update all button in itunes if I want to keep the status quo for this app. Make an IAP for infinite fuel and give it to existing customers for free. Then the most intrusive thing we have to do is hit restore purchases in the app instead of having to contact a developer because we uninstalled and reinstalled the app. There is no certainty any given publisher will stay in business (good luck btw) and some of us may want to hang on to the game as it is.
You either start at f2p or premium and stick to it. U've made a ridiculously stupid and inconsiderate decision, my ill advised non friend.
You cld't pay me to play your game now.
I'm also one of the devs. We're really not trying to scam existing players. Out stats showed that only a handful of people were actively playing (honestly, less than 10) and we discussed options for weeks - being fair to existing customers was on top of the list of our concerns. Really, we love you guys. The bonus coins you get are worth heaps more than the previous app price in IAPs and should see you playing for at least 4 hours straight before seeing a timer. For what launched as a $1 game we hope thats ok and we're super happy to see people playing it that much!
In all honesty, we really should have launched as a F2P title. We talked with the community here and know they wanted premium and we tried really hard, but the sales were really low even with some Apple features. Trying to release a new IP as a premium game is really dang tough for a small indie team. Turns out most people just don't want to pay for games on mobile unless it's already well known (like a movie or super hero franchise or something). So yeah, apart from a small blip at launch we were doing about 3 to 4 sales globally per day, at least now that it's free more people get a chance to experience what we created and maybe with a bit of luck the in-game videos and IAPs will let us include more than instant noodles in our diet again. :)
Of course we always welcome feedback so thanks heaps for taking the time to comment. It's great to know that people care about our game. If you have any more concerns or suggestions don't hesitate to post them!
No, you are rlly not trying, but you are. Lol, oh the ironic self-contradiction. Fail-strong, no? YES!¡
It's very noble of you to talk with your customers like this, but it's futile--they'll crap on whatever you do, no matter how much respect you show them. I applaud the decision. I think going F2P is smart, and will only expand your user base.
To everyone who already paid a buck for the game: Seriously, how much do you think a dollar entitles you to?
Anyways, I'm just the composer. I don't have to be civil and tactful, unlike these fine gentlemen who have worked tirelessly to bring some gamers some free/cheap very high quality entertainment. :) You guys are awesome, and you know it.
I fully agree that a dev should not retroactively add an energy mechanic to a paid game. Product not as advertised. If you bothered to keep the sale email you could "report a problem" and maybe get a refund. But it's really awkward.
I just got the game and it's pretty fun. Definitely an interesting game. But about going freemium, these decisions are always tough, and some customers will be understandably angry. One of the very few things I've paid for was Asphalt 8, and it became free soon after. Oh, and Gameloft didn't compensate me with anything. So my main point is that I hope this goes well for everyone involved, and I'm excited to play the game more.
Isn't it all about learning for new developers?
Not necessarily liking what the dev did but surely they got to make a living too and if sales are low it's not surprising they make it f2p... Or do you suggest they stick with the failing 'plan a'?
Be glad they are so honest and try to compensate existing users, big a** companies wouldn't give a dime in compensation unless a 100.000+ petition is signed or 'sumthin''
Pretty nice game, good luck devs!
Seriously you 'paid' customers need to pull your heads in - the amount of 'InGame' currency versus your $1 paid for the game is more than enough. Take a look at what it would cost in real money and do a comparsion of what you would have to spend to get what you have now.
Also thanks to the Devs for commenting here and not hiding behind email like 99.99% of others do.