The Keep of the Lich Lord returned from the dead this week as another visually arresting app from Megara Entertainment. If you're a Fighting Fantasy fan, you may remember this book as my and Jamie's contribution to the classic UK gamebook series. The Megara version comes with new art and new text - I know, because (see below) I never put "a" Cerberus in anything! So, even if you played the original book, it's obviously worth picking up the app for all the new material. I'm told there are over a hundred illustrations, all in full colour. All Megara's excellent work paid off and the app shot up into the charts in both the UK and USA. Oh, and you might like to know that, as an added bonus, Megara has relocated the action from FF's world of Alan to our own Fabled Lands universe!
The Lich Lord app is for iPad and iPhone only, but we're aiming to change that with our future gamebook releases, which will ideally be available on as many platforms as possible: Android, Kindle, Windows, iOS and whatever else we can manage. Big plans. I'll tell you when I know more.
Interesting news, because not all gamebook readers own an i-thing (I'm one of them unfortunately), but many of them, or a quite higher quantity of them, could have access to one of the different sources which you mentioned. Anyway, I still prefer fresh paper. :)
ReplyDeleteI still buy print books myself, and would have liked a print edition of Frankenstein. It looks fantastic on iPad, but it'd be nice if everybody else could read it too. Unfortunately, not enough people pestered the publishers for that - so it's iOS only, I'm afraid, at least for the time being.
ReplyDeleteI wanna see more of these iPad gamebooks ported over to PC as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd as if by magic: a browser version is another thing we're planning to do.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious really. If you're only on iPhone, you're missing out three-quarters of your possible market. Enhanced digital books only make sense if they're put out on all the platforms at once.
ReplyDeleteI'll buy any Android stuff released immediately. :)
ReplyDeleteIs that how you pronounce 'lich'? I always thought it sounded like 'leech'. I'll be honest, the word doesn't come up in common parlance in the social circles round my way. I think there's a World of Warcraft expansion where I'm sure you can hear it bandied about? But then, I fear the addictive lure of such online games, and consciously steer clear.
ReplyDeleteFor the moment, I own an iPhone, but not an iPad. I'm guessing the iPhone version of Keep of the Lich Lord will be out in the near future? I'll put that on my shopping list.
Sad news that Fabled Lands 3+ won't be coming to the Apple products any time soon. The heroes of my various save games will have to get comfortable hanging about in Golnir - in the Paladin's bedchambers at Castle Ravayne, almost invariably.
"Lich" rhymes with "itch", yes. I know because the house where I grew up had a lichgate - see, it's not just used in D&D and WoW circles, it actually is a proper word.
ReplyDeleteWho says FL3+ won't be on iOS? We are trying to agree a deal for all our old gamebooks that will cover *all* platforms. So we will get there, hopefully. Don't get too cosy in that bedchamber :-)
Returning, however, to the subject under discussion, here is a great review of Keep of the Lich Lord on 148Apps:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.148apps.com/news/clean-house-die-lichlord/
That is very good news. :) I do not want to purchase iPhone nor iPad but by Jingo, I will purchase print versions.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I am very pleased to see that Megara Entertainment is going well. Hope they will do well!
Cheers
Joe
Great news from Megara, Joe: they are working on an all-new fantasy world - a similar concept to Fabled Lands, but all-new. We wish them every success!
ReplyDeleteCool to see KotLL out again - despite the sadness at having to wait for it's release on a non-i-fail format.
ReplyDeleteParadoxically, Lich Lord may be the last to appear in non-iOS format as the developer partners we have lined up won't want to go to the trouble of adapting it just for Android, Windows & Kindle. But that does leave 30+ other gamebooks to adapt first!
ReplyDelete