A cold-blooded assassin has been unleashed upon the iPhone and iPod Touch today as the first interactive book in the Gamebook Adventures series is launched. Tin Man Games has announced that An Assassin in Orlandes, the first in a collection of completely original interactive fantasy gamebooks, is now available to download from the App Store.
There will be six Gamebook Adventures based within the fantasy setting of Orlandes. The first thrusts the reader into a dark and fearful place as nobles are being murdered across the capital city by a ruthless and unknown assassin no one seems able to catch. Immediately the reader is caught within a web of deceit, and must begin the chase to locate the callous murderer.
Before beginning their journey, readers will create a character with individual attributes. This information is accessible at all times and will automatically update when items are collected, stats change or knowledge is gained.
As with the character sheet, rules and layout options can be viewed anytime so readers can refresh their memories, or customise their book by changing fonts, font sizes and paper type. Bookmarks have also been added so progress can be saved at up to three points to assist with difficult battles or other tricky situations.
Tin Man Games' creative director, Neil Rennison, said: “We have developed new gamebook rules and a battle system, which are exclusive to Gamebook Adventures. As with traditional gamebooks, the reader can make key decisions that will dictate the direction of the story and encounter characters and creatures which they must fight using a dice driven battle system.
What's more, by using the iPhone or iPod Touch as a dice shaker, the reader can watch the real-time 3D dice bounce around the scene and off each other. Once they have stopped shaking the device, the dice will land and give a final result.”
Readers can also collect achievements throughout the story and all shields and medals awarded will be displayed on their achievements wall. Each illustration found will also be framed and mounted on the wall so they can be accessed full-screen.
Neil continued: “The first book in the series has been written by S. P. Osborne – a talented and passionate gamebook writer that, like me, has grown up with interactive fantasy books and been creating his own stories for some time.
“As the five other books to be released later this year are also based within the same fantasy world, readers will find themselves becoming extremely familiar with the land. Each book will include "Orlandes Uncovered – a detailed history of the world which will be regularly updated as new books are released.
“With the arrival of the iPhone, iPod Touch and, more recently, the iPad the way in which we absorb what we read is definitely changing. We feel that these formats can only make the Gamebook Adventures more involving and we are extremely excited about developing the series for Apple's latest creation.”
"Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes is available to download from the App Store now, and costs USD$4.99. The next instalment of the series, The Siege of the Necromancer, will be released in March 2010.
