The last year or so has been a bit of a drier spell than usual for mobile gamebook fans, and much of that can be attributed to the relative absence of new Tin Man Games releases. Facing an increasingly challenging market for this sort of game in the App Store, Tin Man took some time to try a few new ideas. There was the subscription-based story hub Choices That Matter (Free), a visual novel based on Miss Fisher ($3.99), and the board game-like Warlock of Firetop Mountain ($7.99). Having stretched their legs a little, Tin Man is ready to come back to the gamebook format that the company was built on with Fighting Fantasy Classics (Free), now available in the App Store.
Tin Man is no stranger to Fighting Fantasy; you can still find many of the stand-alone apps they produced based on the series of popular role-playing novels on the App Store, in fact. But having so many different gamebook apps was likely starting to be a hassle when it came time for updates. The fact that they shared the same engine probably made that work even more frustrating, as they likely had to do similar work and submissions for a few dozen apps every time. Fighting Fantasy Classics solves that problem by giving players a single hub from which all of Tin Man’s future conversions can be played. That makes things more convenient for players, and easier for Tin Man when it needs to update.
The launch line-up is a mix of previously-released conversions and a few new faces. Everyone gets Bloodbones for free, and six additional books including The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos, The Forest of Doom, and more are available as one-time purchases via IAP. Each book will set you back just a few bucks. Unfortunately, previous purchases can’t be migrated into the new app, but the original stand-alone releases will continue to receive support and updates for the foreseeable future. The new titles will only be available through this app, however.
I’ve been told by Tin Man Games that there are a couple of unexpected bugs in this launch version, specifically involving the maps, but a fix is apparently already on the way. So hey, that seems to be working out well already. I’m going to be putting together a full review of the app and the launch line-up of gamebooks after I’ve put them through their proper paces, but if nothing else, you’ve got little to lose by checking out the free version of Bloodbones that’s included.
