Lose Your Own Adventure

Haha! I would probably try one of those out, but not at the price they're asking. Maybe if I happen to see one in a used book store (Abe Books, anyone?).

But man, do I remember those and Twist-A-Plot books.

Oh, good. It's not just me, then, about the price. I might wait for used, too, but the problem is, I would like to buy something to support them so they keep putting books out. Guess I'll subscribe to the mailing list and wait for a bulk discount. The calendars seem to have one.

I still enjoy going to a library and flipping through gamebooks and making sure to see all the endings.

This group has actually been around for a year or two. I remember when they first got started as a joke, without actual books.

I love the illustrations. Perfect!

... I do have to say, though... I remember losing my adventure quite a lot in the original books! Am I the only one who got murdered in horrible ways or ended up as a slave/food on some distant planet in half the books?

I doubt you were the only one. The endings were generally pretty random, unless you did something that totally defied common sense, like go under a tree in a thunderstorm. Or maybe you drank salt water on a life raft. Then the game got almost educational.

But I think part of what I liked about the books was that they didn't have to make sense, unlike homework. Years later, reading a few of them, I was appalled at how random they were. But I'm glad I got to enjoy them before common sense kicked in. And a lot of the endings had some cool imagination.

Actually, though, the book LyoA 1 reminds me most of is Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey, which is IIRC one of the best CyoA's. It's a sort of murder mystery with several ways through and some good characters. Wish I could find it cheap. I'm baffled why they did not include it in the republished series.

I agree. I read Harlowe Thromby a number of times. It was actually a pretty easy book, but there were some (as you say) incredibly random deviations.

I'm also reminded of... crap, can't remember the name. It's something to do with this house you are called out to discover it burned down years ago but is somehow standing now... it's another random one where what starts as a haunted house story turns into something involving intelligent chimpanzees.

Hm, I don't know which that would be, and a quick search didn't turn up anything, but I bet you can eliminate a lot of titles early. I'd guess remembering a rough number would help, too.

http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=30

I remember losing interest in CyoA once Interplanetary Spy came out:

http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=6

Now there was a series! I bought a bunch of them on eBay as my first few purchases. Used Alibris/Abebooks too. Had to wait for some prices to drop.

I also remember, before discovering eBay, going to a library that had BaIS in Spanish. That rocked.