Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 13


The hint in CHOICE #18 lies!  Even in a Spanish prison you'll survive if you can take a hint.  Always follow the Genesis symbol of promise, I guess.  And just after I wrote a digression about flood stories. . .


"You head down the slope and reach an area shielded by thick juniper bushes.  You gather fallen leaves and try to make a bed for yourself.  Now you have some protection from the wind, but you feel colder than ever.  A cold hard rain begins to fall.  You become steadily more chilled.  In the next hours the rain turns to sleet, then to snow.  By morning you're frozen stiff, food for the vultures when, too late, the sun begins to warm you.  THE END".


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

7 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 14


Back in CHOICE #17, the Neanderthal tribe packs up animal skins, flint, roots, nuts, "spices and oils", and stone weapons.  (Where would they get spices in Ice Age Europe?)  We can ford a river, but the current is so fast that I might be swept away.  Vor is next to me, and he looks like he might push me in.  CHOICE #19 is whether to ford the river in spite of Vor on Page 110, or return to camp and hope to catch up with Azog on Page 60.


My character's suspicions about Vor are correct.  He thrusts a stick towards my stomach, but I fall into the water after blocking it.  Our hero knows the "breaststroke and frog kick", so they must have been trained in swimming.  A few minutes of struggling and being hit by rocks later, and I reach the shore. 


"Ug mroosuma', the chief says as you sit up.  Vor is standing in the back of the group, his head bowed.  It is obvious that everyone is impressed that you survived your ordeal.  Although the Neanderthals are stronger than modern humans, they are poor swimmers, and none of them could have done what you did.


The chief puts an arm around you.  'Ug soma voorum', he says.  He points to the sky, then to you.  The other Neanderthals nod in agreement.  As usual, you can't understand the exact words, but you can guess the meaning:  The chief believes that you have magical powers and has chosen you to be the shaman-the wise person of the tribe.  You need not fear Vor any longer, and you don't think it will be hard to meet the chief's expectations.  After all, you're planning to invent the wheel.  THE END".


And so I become Caveman Benjamin Franklin.  The chief is right about me having magical powers, narrator!  It's not just a belief.  I came out of the Cave of Time and can teleport with the spell "Calypso".


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

7 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 15


When I run away from Vor and the rest of the tribe in CHOICE #19, he yells something at me.  X marks the spot where two trees had fallen, but Azog is gone along with his raft.  What may be a copperhead snake is about to attack when a raven's cry warns me of it.  "Continuing at a slower pace, you reflect on the price to be paid for living in a beautiful, unspoiled world:  You must be ever alert for danger".


It's almost winter, and I haven't been trained to light fires without matches.  CHOICE #20 offers three decisions for the price of two:  go south for the winter on Page 126, stay at the autumn Neanderthal camp on Page 74, or look for the Cave of Time on Page 46.  Entering the Cave of Time here teleports the player to the Mutiny on the Bounty, if you want to approach it a different way other than being trapped in a space coffin.


Edward Packard astounds me once again when an option which should kill the player does not.  I'll summarize the first part of this ending to avoid quoting it in full.  I climb on to the ledge which was previously forbidden to me since it was sacred to the Neanderthals.  It has a spring and is stable enough to avoid falling.  The tribe abandoned a few animal skins, so I make them into "warm clothes and blankets".


"The weeks wear on.  You find nuts and berries, and even kill some small game, but you're not getting enough calories to maintain your weight.  You tire easily.  But you're determined not to give up.  Even when you don't feel like stirring, you force yourself to hunt.  You become better at it.  One day you hit a rabbit thirty feet away with a rock.  You haven't learned to make a fire, so you have to eat raw meat.  You don't like it, but eat it you must if you're to survive.


In time, you notice that the days are getting longer.  Each day the sun rises higher in the sky.  The snow is beginning to melt.  One day, at dusk, you hear voices.  The tribe has returned from their migration, bearing litters heaped with frozen reindeer meat!  You run out to meet your old friends.  'Ug moogar wooam!' they keep saying.  You're not sure you understand the words, but you can tell that they are amazed that you survived the winter.


You are glad to see that Vor is not among them.  You learn that he was trampled to death by a mammoth.  It's a shock to hear this, but not something you'll shed tears about.  That night the chief comes up to you, smiling.  'Ug magwa win', he says.  Later you learn that the words mean 'One day you will be chief'.  THE END".


Not only does our hero survive, but they take over a Neanderthal tribe.  Their Stone Age rival dies with the perfect alibi for the protagonist.  You'd think they'd learn more of the language after spending months with Neanderthals.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

7 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 16


I'm an inventor again after heading south in CHOICE #20:  a backpack is made with a "bear skin and vines".  I use the sun as a compass and walk for a while, only to run into a pack of five wolves!  Wolves are inevitable in the early game of a "Western RPG".  The wolves only hesitate because there's a sabertooth tiger looking down on them from a rock.  CHOICE #21 is to play dead on Page 131, stay alert on Page 142, or sidestep on Page 150.


Playing dead doesn't work, but also doesn't kill me for real.  One wolf's still watching me.  CHOICE #22 is whether to walk toward the sabertooth tiger on Page 132, or "stand tall and talk loudly" on Page 133.  This branch must occur in short intervals, like in 22 Minutos:  Tibicenas.  Except with much higher quality in this book.  CHOICE #23 after walking toward the sabertooth tiger rock is whether to go sideways away from the beasts on Page 134, or go for a sharp rock on Page 135.


"You sidestep, leaving the tiger and wolves to confront one another.  You wish that's what would happen, but the tiger has gotten over its surprise and starts toward you, its jaws open, its saber teeth poised to pierce deep into your flesh.  You have seconds to live, no time to think.  THE END".


No pictures for the endings, but both the wolf and the sabertooth tiger get illustrations on previous pages.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

8 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 17


"Four steps take you to the sharp rock you spotted.  It's heavy to hold, but the added weight makes it a more formidable weapon".  As of CHOICE #24, I can either duck to the side on Page 136, or conk the sabertooth tiger in the teeth on Page 137.  Edward Packard imitates R.A. Montgomery's tendency of including the results of a CHOICE in two pages side by side.


"You duck to one side.  The tiger comes at you.  you still have your rock, but the tiger could brush it aside with one swat of a paw.  It charges!  You bring your rock down toward its nose, but the tiger twists to one side, and you're only able to strike a glancing blow before it sinks its teeth into your shoulder and flips you to the ground.  You throw up your free arm to defend yourself, your last act before you die.  THE END".


Similar to the other sabertooth tiger Death, but I try to block it with my arms this time.



Results So Far


6 Good Endings

9 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 18


Aggressive action cracks the sabertooth tiger's tooth after CHOICE #24, and it retreats.  The wolves are nonplussed as to how anyone could defeat it.  CHOICE #25 is whether to run to the woods while the wolves are dazed on Page 138, or to climb on the sabertooth tiger's perch rock on Page 141.


"The wolves are still sniffing around the spot where the tiger disappeared into the woods.  If you run, it could attract their attention, so you walk sideways until you're out of sight, then break into a jog and head for the river, hoping the wolves forgot about you.  They didn't.  You've gone only a short distance when you hear them coming.  You start to look for a tree or a rock ledge where you could be safe, but in seconds they're on you.  Your last thought is about how odd it is to die thousands of years before you were born.  THE END".


Our hero's tombstone has to have commas on it.  Fictional wolves, especially in Elder Scrolls games, always ignore meatier prey like deer in order to attack humans.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

10 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 19


The winner of the Deadliest Supporting Character award is. . .the sabertooth tiger from Return to the Cave of Time!  This happens if you climb on the rock in CHOICE #25.


"You scramble up on the boulder where the tiger was perched.  Judging by your last look at it-yowling off into the forest-you don't think it will be back soon.  You're still catching your breath when the wolves regroup at the base of the boulder.  They leap up as high as they can, but don't have a chance of reaching you.  After a while the wolves give up and go off, looking for other game.


You wait an hour more, giving them plenty of time to move on, then climb down from your perch.  You're extremely tired and soon fall asleep.  When you wake up, the tiger is standing over you.  You broke its biggest tooth, but it has plenty of others.  THE END".


Did I just enter Lost Jewels of Nabooti?  Don't think I've seen a CHOICE where every ending is Death since that book!  You're doomed since at least CHOICE #23, and possibly before that depending on how the other outcomes of this random encounter go.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

11 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 20


After shouting at the animals in CHOICE #22, the wolves are confused for a bit.  CHOICE #26 is whether to walk to the side on Page 139, or hope to find a rock or stick on Page 140.  This conclusion is ambiguous regarding the Wolf Pack vs. Sabertooth Tiger body count.


"You walk off to the side, hoping the tiger and the wolves will fight it out.  You've gone about forty feet when spiked teeth rip into your leg.  You let out a scream, not sure whether it's a wolf or the tiger that's got you.  Not that it matters.  THE END".


The cause of Death is just semantics to our narrator.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

12 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 21


Score one for the Wolf Pack if you try to find a weapon in CHOICE #26.  If you ever go back in time to the Stone Age, don't play dead in front of a predator.  Do that in CHOICE #21, and you'll be as doomed as a king who ate a pie on a cold mountain.


"You see a couple of rocks that might be good.  One is a heavy one.  You would be able to lift it over your head, but it would be hard to swing it fast.  A small sharp-pointed rock nearby would be easier to swing, but it's too far away to reach in time-the wolves are coming at you. . .


You pick up the heavy rock and hold it above your head.  The first wolf comes at you.  You bring the rock down, aiming for its muzzle.  The wolf ducks to the side, and the rock grazes its shoulder.  The wolf yelps in pain, but by the time you bring the rock up again, the others are on you.  One grips your ankle and twists you to the ground.  Another clamps its jaws on your throat.  You feel the blood gushing out for a second.  THE END".


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

13 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 22


If I "stay alert" in CHOICE #21, one wolf sniffs my feet instead of attacking.  CHOICE #27 is to kick the wolf on Page 144, or talk to the wolf on Page 143.


"You twist your belly and aim a swift kick at the wolf's underbelly.  The wolf yelps and limps off.  The other wolves are growling at the tiger, which is watching them at a distance.  The wolf you kicked seems badly hurt.  The other wolves look over at you, forget about the tiger, and charge you.  You outfought one wolf, but you can't outfight four.  THE END".


This is a fair Death since the book does hint at what you should do.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

14 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Chance Endings