Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Alternate Endings Part 11


Stalking the Stalkers after they rob my cabin leads to the 2nd major story branch.  After following them for a while, I pass out leaning against the Stalkers' house.  Why doesn't this happen in the other paths where I'm still active for long periods of time?  An Echo snapping branches wakes me up, and Wolf saves me by pulling me into the cellar.


Raven thinks I'll be useful, unlike the other paths involving the Stalkers.  "But we're not cruel men.  We'll let you pick your fate.  A group of survivors are living in the nearby city.  They have tons of food and supplies, but they also carry weapons and ammunition.  You can infiltrate their group and help us 'borrow' some of their goods".


The CHOICE #12 alternative to thievery is this:  "Although Echoes hunt in packs, they are territorial creatures.  One whiff of a fellow Echo, and the others scatter.  That's why it pays to have an Echo nearby.  And because those things shriek like banshees to communicate, it's safer to have a dead one.  You'll be our bait, and if you survive, we may even let you go".


Becoming bait for the Echo is justified by my character as preventing harm to other people in some dialogue.  The plan is for the Stalkers to hook me up to a pulley, and I'll be pulled out of danger after attracting the Echo with some noise.  If I "clam up", Raven will probably kill me with a "jagged machete".


CHOICE #13 is to make a noise to obey the Stalkers, or stay quiet and risk a machete slash.


Staying quiet is a way to survive here.  Bulldog pulls me around a few times trying to force me to make a noise, but he's the Echo's target instead.  Bulldog reaches for his gun, but the Echo pounces on him in an illustration.  "Bloodcurdling screams pierce the night air".


I escape the pulley and are presented with CHOICE #14.  Either go into the Stalkers' house, or run into the woods.  The former route ends the story.


"You remember Raven saying that Echoes hunt in packs.  If that's true, there may be more of the creatures nearby.  As  much as you don't want to go back into the Stalkers' house, it's the safest option you have.  You open the back door, cringing as the rusty hinges squeak.  You slide through the opening and shut the door as quietly as you can.


You go from room to room, looking for something to defend yourself.  You come up empty but notice a map on the kitchen counter.  One of the blocks in the nearby town has a note scribbled next to it:  BRICK HOUSE ON BOULDER AVENUE.  AT LEAST 8 SURVIVORS.  LOTS OF LOOT.


This must be the group of survivors Raven was talking about.  You snatch the map off the counter and settle in a dark corner to study it by moonlight.  Hours pass, and the light of the rising sun starts to peek through the windows.  You don't plan to stick around to find out what happened to Raven and Wolf.  You exit through the back door and bolt for the trees.  Then you run along the map route, now etched in your memory.  Before long you reach the house on Boulder Avenue.


A voice stops you dead in your tracks.  'Wolf and Bulldog are dead because of you!'  You spin around to see Raven charging at you with an axe.  Before you can react, a gunshot stops Raven in his advance.  'Drop the axe!'  a woman shouts from beside the brick house.  Two others emerge behind her.  The woman walks over to you as the others advance on Raven.  'We'll take care of him', she says.  'Go up to the house and tell them Andi said you could stay with us'.


You smile, allowing yourself to hope for the first time in as long as you can remember.  THE END".


What seems to be a deus ex machina makes sense when you realize the Stalkers have been enemies with Jason's group for a long time.  And two of the Stalkers meet a grisly end.  Though many of these paths seem rather similar to me. 


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

5 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Alternate Endings Part 12


Running through the woods is a bad idea when you're dealing with komodo dragon panthers that can hunt in packs.


"You sprint for the trees, adrenaline racing through your veins after the close encounter.  I hope I can find another house in the dark, you think.  I might be able to. . .


A growling noise coming from your right interrupts your thoughts.  You can barely make out the silhouette of an Echo striding alongside you less than 30 feet away.  You whip your head around as another growl eases out of the darkness to your left.  You backpedal a few steps before you turn and make a break for the Stalkers' house. 


Before you can take five steps, one of the creatures rams you with its head and knocks you down.  You try to scramble to your feet, but a searing pain tears through your left leg as the other Echo swipes at you with its clawed paw.  You cower in the fetal position as the two Echoes close in, licking their chops.  THE END".


Yet another Echo death.  


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

6 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Alternate Endings Part 13


Never go along with the plan to be live bait for a trio of gangsters who have a reputation for taking no prisoners.


"Over here', you shout as you spin at the end of the rope.  'Um-food on a rope, come and get it!'  The only sound is the wind gently moving through the trees.  When you spin and face Bulldog, he furrows his brow and nods at you.  'I'm-uh-hanging out here, waiting for an Echo!'


You know you sound ridiculous, but you don't know what else to say.  As you rotate away from the house, you see a pair of eyes shining at you from across the yard.  It's an Echo!  It walks toward you, curiosity on its face.  'There it is!  Hoist me up!'  you shout.  But nothing happens except your continued spinning.  You struggle, which only makes you spin faster.  The Echo lowers its head and advances.  'Hey!  Bulldog!  Pull the rope already!'


The black creature moves within two body lengths of you.  It sits back on its haunches, ready to pounce.  He'll pull me up any second now, you think, trying to convince yourself you'll be safe.  But as the Echo launches in the air, you realize the Stalkers had no intention of you surviving.


The Echo's claws pierce your right shoulder, and the rope immediately snaps.  You grunt in pain as you hit the ground hard, the Echo's full weight on top of you.  Without hesitation, the beast sinks its teeth into your neck, causing a wave of intense pain that seems to shoot through your entire body.


A series of gunshots explode in the air.  The Echo cries out briefly before tipping over lifelessly on its side.  You press your hand against your neck to stop the flow of blood, but your eyelids are too heavy.  Your vision starts to fade, but in that last moment you see Raven.  'You did great, kid', he says with a chuckle.  'Best bait we ever had".


I like this ending.  You know from the beginning of the book that the Stalkers are up to no good, so even if there isn't an explicit clue right before CHOICE #13, it doesn't feel like a cheat.


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

7 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Alternate Endings Part 14


"Some choice.  I'd never survive as Echo bait", says my character after opting to infiltrate the survivors' house in CHOICE #12.


Wolf tosses a "wet, moldy pillow" at me, which I don't use when I fall asleep.  Eventually, they wake me up and tell me to trick the survivors into letting me in their house.  Then I'll open the door for them at night.  To ensure I follow through, "Wolf's a dead shot" with a sniper rifle.  Does he have military training?  I doubt sniper rifles are easy weapons to use compared to their video game counterparts.


Andi is probably the one who greets me, but her name isn't mentioned yet.  I give her my cover story about running away from Echoes when I saw someone enter the house.  She probably knows I'm lying.  CHOICE #15 is to either stick to the Stalker plan, or try to warn the survivors about them.


Once again, confiding in the Stalkers is a terrible idea.


"Where did you come from', asks the voice behind the door.  'I traveled here from Chanhaster', you respond.  'I've been staying in the woods, but the Echoes found my camp last night.'  'Sorry, kiddo, but we've got enough people to care for already.  It's best if you keep moving.'


'If you don't let me in the house, they'll kill me!'  you blurt out, desperate.  Someone inside the house gasps.  'You were going to help them rob us, weren't you?  Get out of here!'


A gunshot rings out as a bullet splinters the wood in the door frame six inches from your head.  The door slams shut as a second shot echoes through the air.  A sharp pain stings your neck, and you slump onto the porch.  You wonder if Wolf missed his mark or if the Stalkers had no further use for you.  It doesn't really matter now as a black haze clouds your eyes.  THE END."


At least this book uses more imaginative Death text than "the last thing you see is. . .".


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

8 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Alternate Endings Part 15


Trying to convince Andi's group of the Stalker danger in CHOICE #115 is successful.  Jason suggests everyone would have been better off if I went with the Echo bait option.  Andi tells him he would have done the same thing in my place.  Jason says we should shoot them directly so "they'll take the hint".  But Andi is more clever and tells everyone the Stalkers probably still think I'm sticking to their plan.  So we can set a trap.  CHOICE #16 is Team Jason or Team Andi.


Trying to fight off sniper rifles with an assault rifle ends like this.


"The Stalkers wanted to send me in first because they're afraid of your firepower', you say.  'If you show them you mean business, they might back off.'  'The kid's got the right idea', Jason smirks.  'I'll fire a few shots from the upstairs window.'  'They've got a sniper rifle, Jason!' cries Andi.  'They'll see you!'


Jason scoffs and tromps up the stairs with an assault rifle hanging at his side.  The other people in the house look at each other nervously while a few look upward at the creaking floor above them.  You hear the window upstairs click open, followed by the boom of half a dozen shots fired.  'The kid's with us now!'  shouts Jason.  'You best move on if-'


Jason's words are cut off as a shot rings out in the distance.  A thud overhead sends Andi rushing to the stairwell.  You follow Andi up the stairs and find Jason on the floor with a hand on his throat.  You drop to your knees next to him just as his hand falls from his neck.  He's gone. 


You jump as gunfire erupts downstairs.  Andi is frozen in fear, so you grab her arm and pull her into the closet.  Two muffled voices travel up the stairs and head directly to the room you're in.  Andi squeezes your hand as you hear someone walk to the window and pick up the assault rifle.


'You think the kid ran off?'  The voice belongs to Bulldog.  You shudder when Raven replies, 'No, the kid's not far. . .'  The closet door swings open to reveal Raven's snarling face.  He levels his gun at you and says 'This is a world of second chances, kid.  You don't get a third'.


'Sorry, Andi', you whimper, as Bulldog walks to the closet and cocks his shotgun.  THE END".


Probably the worst ending of all.  Not only do I get killed, but I also doom Andi's group with my tactical incompetence.


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

9 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Can You Survive in a Dystopia? Finale


The last path for Can You Survive in a Dystopia? is another mostly standard Good Ending, acquired by telling the survivors to set a trap in CHOICE #16.


'Andi's right', you say.  'These guys are ruthless, and they won't be scared off by a few gunshots.  They'll be in the backyard next door by nightfall.  The plan was to wait until everyone fell asleep.  Then I would let them in through the back door.'


'They're going to be armed to the teeth', says Jason snidely.  'Even if we catch them off guard, how do with disarm them?'  'They're only coming for the supplies', you say.  'Their leader flat-out said they didn't want to take on your entire group, even in an ambush.  Once I load their arms up with supplies, they won't have time to reach for their guns once you spring into action'.


Jason opens his mouth, then shuts it.  He raises his eyebrows and nods.  'All right then.  Sounds like we have a plan'.  Andi organizes the group and gives each person a place to hide when the Stalkers enter the house.  As night falls, Andi approaches you.  'Good luck.  And be safe.  You're risking a lot to help us.'  She pats you on the shoulder, then retreats to a small space behind the stairs.


You let out a big sigh before going through the back door.  You slide along the fencing separating the two houses and almost let out a yelp when a hand grabs your arm.  'You ready, kid?' asks Wolf.  You nod, and the three stalkers follow you back to the house.  You can feel Wolf staring at you, and it makes the hair on the back of your neck prickle.  You lead them to the room with the supplies, and Bulldog and Wolf start to stack items in their arms.  Raven pulls a pistol out from his waistband and eyes the rest of the house.  Your heart races.  What do I do?


When Bulldog and Wolf finish loading up, the Stalkers move toward the back door.  'NOW!'  Andi screams.  Bulldog and Wolf freeze in surprise, but Raven immediately swings his pistol around.  Without thinking, you rush toward him and lower your shoulder.  The gun fires.  A stinging pain shoots through your leg.  You collapse but knock Raven to the ground in the process.  Andi's friends swarm the Stalkers and overpower them.  'Are you OK?'  asks Andi, kneeling next to you.  'Jacqueline!  Get over here!'


A woman rushes over and rolls up the leg of your jeans.  'The shot just grazed the calf.'  She looks up at you and smiles.  'You're going to be fine.'


Andi helps you lay back gently as Jacqueline wraps a bandage around the wound.  After tying up the Stalkers, the others take turns thanking you.  You've certainly earned a place in their group.  THE END".


What does Andi's group do with the Stalkers once they're bound?  It's clearly dangerous to leave them alive. . .


Thus ends Can You Survive in a Dystopia?  According to the CANONICAL ENDING, that answer is "yes".  Despite the fact that the setting is rural post-apocalyptic anarchy rather than the totalitarian society the word "dystopia" would imply.


Does the Peanut Gallery want to see any more books in the Interactive Doomsday Adventure series?  Or do you want me to go back to a few more You Say Which Ways?  As far as the former series goes, Anthony Wacholtz didn't write many of them.  The Blair Polly and DM Potter of Interactive Doomsday Adventure are Blake Hoena and Matt Doeden.


Anyone reading this thread will miss out on the illustrations and general doomsday survival tips at the end of the book.  Despite the fantastical Echoes, this book attempts to be educational.  (But can you really prepare for B movie experimental monsters?)


Can You Survive in a Dystopia is certainly harsher than the You Say Which Ways.  In that series, you might get 2 Deaths per book at most.  The lower amount of Good Endings reminds me of some Spanish CYOAs.


Final Results


6 Good Endings

9 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Once Upon an Island Part 1


"The arms of the giant squid slither and tighten around you.  You struggle to pull yourself free, but the squid is strong.  You gasp for air before it tugs you down into the depths of the sea.  You hold your breath, but how long will you last?  How did you end up like this?  If only you'd made different choices.  If only you could start again.


Wait a minute-you can!  You are about to enter a story that depends on YOU.  You make the decisions.  You shape the story.  It's up to you, so what will you do?  Here is how it starts-but you will decide how it's going to finish:


You have been invited to New Zealand to spend the school holidays with your cousins, Stella and Max.  They are going to stay on an island called Arapawa.  If you don't want to go, you can stay with your mother's friend."


A Death similar to one from No Me Llames Tami, and before I get to make a CHOICE?  Not even 22 Minutos:  Tibicenas was that cruel.  But it's just a Chrono Cross or Fire Emblem Awakening premonition opening.


The Choose Your Own Adventure recidivist D.M. Potter strikes again!  Could this be a New Zealand book that's set in New Zealand for a change, instead of "vague English-speaking country"?


CHOICE #1 is to go to Arapawa, or stay with my mother's friend.  In the tradition of La Isla de los Dodos and "Danger" on Dolphin Island, I'll be forced to lug 2 kids along if I go with the former.


My next post will probably be either tomorrow night or Monday morning.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Once Upon an Island Part 2


Let's go to Arapawa Island with Arthur and Sheila Adam and Jane Max and Stella.  I must be stuck in Choose Your Own Adventure samsara, because the "kid siblings" companions keep reincarnating in these island books.


Max and Stella are my twin cousins this time.  "Both have thick dark hair and large green eyes" and wear t-shirts and shorts.  We take a ferry to New Zealand's South Island, and then ride on another boat to get to our destination.  South Island's harbor has "green hills" and "colorful houses stacked along steep, curving streets". 


Stella seems to be the environmentalist of the group, similar to Adam from "Danger" on Dolphin Island.  "I've been working after school at a bird sanctuary for two years".  She also won a swimming competition, which may come in handy in some future CHOICE.  Max prefers riding dirt bikes and playing the guitar and trumpet.  Sometimes drawing too.        


Stella warns me that Arapawa Island has one side with dangerously deep water, with the hint that something lives there.  Perhaps our giant squid from the premonition? 


We see a headline saying "Tuatara missing from sanctuary".  We'll probably have to find it in some storyline.  I ask Max who we're staying with.  Max says she's Madeline, or "Aunt Maddy".  She isn't really their aunt, just a friend of their parents.  Maybe they played too many Japanese RPGs and started calling random unrelated people "aunt"?  Madeline teaches "science" at an unknown university, and is said to be "very nice but a bit eccentric".  Stella and Max once visited Arapawa Island before, but don't remember many details because they were too young at the time.


A woman at another table is stuffing food into a handbag.  The reason for this is that she's concealing her fox terrier Trixie, and the rules say dogs have to be "caged or stowed in a car below deck".  The woman agrees to put Trixie in her car. 


Arapawa Island's coastline has pastures and houses, but there are some forested areas further from the shore.  Max wishes he had brought his dirt bike along.  Stella points out Madeline's house.  "Do you remember it from when you were young?' you ask.  She laughs.  'No-I looked it up on Google Earth".  Kids these days and their Google!  (A gag like the Google Earth line is the last refuge of a comic strip writer.)


Suddenly, Trixie falls over the side of the boat!  "Standing at the rail, you look for any sign of her but can't see her anywhere.  Then a short yap draws your attention to a thick rope that is hanging from the rail directly beneath you.  Trixie is balanced precariously on the rope!"


CHOICE #2 is to save Trixie myself or let the crew do it.  This is quite a dilemma.  On one hand, if the crew fails to rescue the dog, we won't have to hear any more yipping.  But if I save Trixie, we can use her for bait for any monster that approaches.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Once Upon an Island Part 3


Trixie's no wonder dog!  Attempting to save her ends disastrously for both of us.  "As your fingers brush against her collar your leg slips and you and the dog are falling into the sea".


"The water knocks your breath away and you are barely aware of the cold as you hit the sea and go under.  For a moment you think you will keep sinking and never breathe air again, but then you kick towards the surface and start to rise".  Meanwhile, "Trixie is swimming beside you, her head held high and small paws paddling".  She doesn't even try to help me?  If we end up on a deserted island, Trixie will be the first meal.


Someone throws me a life preserver, and I can find Trixie.  But she was swimming beside me in the previous paragraph.  This book must have some editing issues.  "She is not far away, but the waves block her from view every few seconds.  The little pendant at her throat seems to shine in the water".  Trixie licks my face once she reaches the life preserver.  Insert a clip of Lucy van Pelt complaining about dog germs here.  The ferry is nowhere near us.


A sailing boat with a boy appears, and he tells me to pull myself aboard.  CHOICE #3 is to climb into his boat, or stay away.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Once Upon an Island Part 4


Trixie gets us into more trouble than we previously imagined.  The boy's name is nick, and he gives me a dirty blanket that still makes me feel better.  My character must hate Trixie almost as much as I do.  "This is Trixie-it's thanks to her I was in the water".


The captain is my age, and is "tanned a dark brown and wears a dirty shirt and torn trousers with a piece of rope holding them up.  His legs and arms are covered with bruises".  My character suspects he's dressed up as a pirate to go to a party.  No one understands when I explain about the ferry.  Arapawa Island no longer has farmland, only forests.  I ask Nick what year it is, and he says "Are you mad?  It's 1895, of course.  Did you bump your head?"  Nick relates to me not having anywhere to go, because he ran away from his uncle who beat him. 


We come to the conclusion that touching the pendant on the dog's collar sent me back in time.  I made a Chrono Cross reference at the beginning, not suspecting the author may have actually played Chrono Trigger. 


When we touch Trixie's pendant again, Nick shouts that Fowler's farm is gone.  Nick sees a boat that he recognizes as Captain Cook's ship, the Endeavour.  Nick explains that Cook was the first European to explore New Zealand in any significant way. 


The Endeavour's crew pulls us up onto the ship, and one of them points a musket at us.  They ask if we're French, and Nick says we're lost.  He mentions he's a good sailor.  Captain Cook's cabin has so many plants it looks like a greenhouse.  He has a "blue jacket and a white wig".  He notices Trixie isn't starving, and neither of us have scurvy.  He asks me if I can read and "reckon", and I say yes to both.  ("Reckon" in this case means math.)  Cook thought this was the case because my hands are soft.


A sailor touches Trixie's pendant, and the whole ship travels in time.  Nick notices Haast's eagle, a giant extinct New Zealand bird of prey.  I actually know what these are out-of-character because I once watched a show called Land of Lost Monsters.  There was an inside joke about yelling at the New Zealanders to "point up your stick", because the actors in the dramatization could have at least tried to fight it off using ones they were holding.  Haast's eagle probably died out around 1400.


We don't get to observe ancient/medieval New Zealand for long, because a sailor touches the pendant again.  We see what is possibly Nick's sail boat, which hints that we may have reached 1895.  Captain Cook says "The talisman is dangerous.  I don't want it on my ship.  You must make a choice-you can throw it overboard now and stay with the Endeavour, or you can try to journey back to your own time in Nick's boat".  He glares at Trixie too.


EDIT:  It's probably the 18th century because Nick's sail boat traveled back with us, but I made the final CHOICE for the CANONICAL ENDING assuming I was in 1895.  Oops!  


CHOICE #4 is to either stay in this time period, or try to return to the present.