Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 6


"Annihilate both queens" takes the reader back to CHOICE #10, so the only decision left in that branch is to "seal peace with a handshake".


"I propose peace to you, a stalemate (tablas).  We'll simultaneously let go of the control rooms of our respective kings and go down the stairs, finding ourselves in the cell that's in the middle of our two kings and give each other a handshake', you propose to him.


'And what do you believe that Antakira Software will do with us?  Will it give us congratulations for our beautiful resolution?', your rival asks.


'Two don't fight if they don't want to.  They can't obligate us', you respond.  'Who will the prize go to?', he asks you.  'I propose that we both renounce the prize, so we will both be free', you respond to him.


Your rival pauses.  He is probably evaluating his changes of winning and losing.  Finally, he speaks and says to you 'Treaty made, gentleman'.


You both descend from your kings in unison.  You find yourselves halfway between your kings and give each other a firm handshake.  Upon doing so, you hear two thunderous explosions, and when you turn around to see what it must be, you find out that your two kings just jumped into the air.  You are alone on planet Tigran Petrosian, without pieces to control or win, without a rival.


The voice you heard at the beginning speaks again:  'Antakira Software declares a stalemate.  The prize will not be awarded to either rival.  A ship will proceed to pick you up shortly and carry you to the nearest rest stop so you can continue your journey.  Many thanks for having participated in this fight'.


Shortly afterwards, a ship appears on the horizon, which approaches your position.  When it arrives in front of you, it stops, opens a compartment, and two uniformed people descend to invite you to climb on board and abandon the planet.


The adventure has ended with a partial success:  you did not win, but neither did you lose.  You continue to look for your uncle, who surely must be worried because it's been a long time since he's seen you, and he's waiting for you.  END".


How is this not the Spanish version of the Ultimate Ending?  "Partial success"?  You know CYOA authors love their sappy "friendship before treasure" conclusions.  I guess Lorenzo is supposed to find a way to free all those players who are bad at space chess.


And if this were more of a Heart of Ice style of gamebook, both players would be enslaved for a draw.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

4 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 7


What happens if you protect the king in CHOICE #9 instead of "initiating hostilities"?


"You decide to begin to defend yourself, to protect the king in which you feel so secure.  But every time the situation on the planet-board is more difficult, you begin to feel a certain paralysis.  Moves which look good are are.  Each turn, you need more time to reflect, as moves threaten you with losing the game.  You begin to carry out hasty movements that make your position even worse.


The decisive moment is when your queen is indefensible.  It's surrounded by enemy pieces and cannot escape.  When it explodes through the air, you understand you're going to lose the game.  That tragic move accelerates your defeat.  In five more moves, you hear your rival say the dreaded word:  "Checkmate".


Immediately your controls stop functioning.  You go down the stairs running with all your strength, trying to escape.  But you hear a sound behind your back, and when you turn your head to see where it comes from, you see a control ship that's landing 10 meters away.  The ship descends and three uniformed people climb out of it.


You decide to continue running, but one of them shoots you with a paralyzing laser.  You continue perceiving reality, but you feel as if you've been turned into a statue, with your limbs absolutely immobile.  When the three uniformed soldiers are together with you, they shoot you again so you can move.  But they also handcuff you by force, and carry you to their ship.


Another enslavement ending, though the paralyzing laser at least reveals what kind of weapons Antakira Software soldiers use.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

5 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 8


A passive strategy seems to fit the planet's namesake better, but this CHOICE #8 option goes off the track, so the game master punishes you for it.


"Upon opting for a passive strategy, surrounding your king with pieces, you cede all your space to the rival, who begins to occupy it with active moves.  Initially, it doesn't seem a bad strategy, because you feel secure.  But little by little the cession of space becomes asphyxiating.  Because the movements which are allowed for you are dwindling, you feel even more harassed by the black rival pieces.


At the first opportunity, you decide to break the tension by interchanging pieces, but the rival does not easily allow it.  He desires to maintain all the pieces on the board, to maintain the tension for his attack on you.  At a determined moment, however, it isn't possible to maintain the coordinating pieces defending each other, and they begin to fall as if they were cards from a castle of cards.  First is the white rook that explodes before your eyes, later a pawn, a knight. . .


It's a slow agony of pieces that disappear, that end with your absolute defeat.  When only your king remains and you hear your rival say "Checkmate", you only fear the form in which your defeat will materialize.


The control screen goes black.  You see from the panoramic control room that a ship is approaching you from the north.  When it's 20 meters from the king you're still installed in, it stops, lands, opens a door, and you see three uniformed people that head toward your king.  There they inform you that you will be part of the property of Antakira Software, handcuff you, and carry you to the ship which they have reached (?)".


Javier Nodras seems to overuse the phrase "cada vez" in this book.  It literally means "each/every time", but it's an intensifier that means "even more".  Spanish writers in general like their run-on sentences, so when translating them I have to put in a few extra periods.


These translation notes are more interesting than this duplicate ending.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

6 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 9


When selecting the rook instead of the pawn in CHOICE #6, we learn a bit more about planet Tigran Petrosian.  "There are no animals, there are no birds, there is no wind, there is no breeze".  If there are no animals or birds, by definition there can be no birds or breezes!


The rook is "made of a material that is neither stone nor brick, but something similar to plastic, but lighter".  Maybe it's plastic explosives, going by what happens to them in the games.


CHOICE #11 is to either approach the rook's square, or ask permission to approach the rook.


Approaching the rook's square does NOT make Lorenzo fall asleep and die, but instead makes the piece rise 5 centimeters off the ground.  Lorenzo thinks it may be a mirage caused by exhaustion or hunger.  CHOICE #12 is to either put Lorenzo's hand under the tower to find out what's underneath, or "stand up and push the tower with all your strength".


"You introduce your hand very slowly under the levitating tower, with all the caution that you are capable of.  You fear that, without warning the tower will fall by its own weight upon your hand, and you know that in that case you'll see stars.


You don't know very well why the hell (para qué diantres) you've introduced your hand under it.  Because there were two options, you reflect:


1.  That the tower falls on your hand, in which case, goodbye to your hand, and probably your life.

2.  That the tower continues levitating, defying the law of gravity.  In that case, you will continue the same as before, because you will not have found out anything, but you will have risked much.


Well, you just convinced yourself, from introducing your hand underneath the tower you've risked a lot for nothing, and it is at that moment the tower stops levitating and crushes your hand".


Does Lorenzo lose only a hand or his life as well?  This has to be an Inconclusive Ending.  If the conclusion looks weird in translation, well, the original Spanish is similar down to the "seeing stars" expression.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

6 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 10


The rook does not move "one millimeter" when Lorenzo attempts to push it in CHOICE #12.  No door or window can be found when he circles the chess piece.  CHOICE #13 is to go to the pawn and CHOICE #7, or ask in a loud voice about why the rooks float, and whether there's a riddle to solve.


Lorenzo's question goes like this:  "I don't understand anything.  There are chess pieces that levitate when I approach them.  There aren't any birds or animals, and there are no trees.  This planet seems dead, and however I tell myself 'Where am I?  What should I do?  Am I alone?"


A voice responds:  "You are on planet Tigran Petrosian, and the game can begin when you desire.  And you're not alone, of course.  Your rival awaits your first move".  Once again Lorenzo is "usted" you instead of "tú" you.


CHOICE #13 has 3 questions:  Ask why the planet is named Tigran Petrosian just like in CHOICE #2, ask what the "game" refers to, or ask who the rival is.


According to the voice, "Tigran Petrosian was a chess player of a small planet named Earth, of a miniscule solar system located 93,000 light years from the place where you are.  That is to say, in the antipodes of this corner of the universe.  In his small world, Tigran Petrosian was greatly recognized for his way of playing chess.  He was named Planetary Champion by his community, and many books were written commenting on the ideas which he contributed to the game."


CHOICE #15 is to either ask who the proprietor of the planet is, or where visitors can go to get food.


On the proprietor of the planet, the voice says:  "Antakira Software, a business with important activities in every corner of the universe.  For example, it has a division of artificial intelligence, and another for organized journeys.  It's the owner of hotels on different planets, always of its sole ownership.  The planet on which you find yourself is one of them, and it's focused on travelers who wish to put themselves into play to obtain a very important prize".


CHOICE #16 is either to ask about the activities Antakira Software organizes, or to try to flee to Lorenzo's small spaceship.  The latter is obviously another Bad Non-Death Ending, so let's get it out of the way:


"You don't like this planet one bit.  You've finished visiting the place.  The rooks are very pretty.  Everything is very pretty, but the games where you gamble yourself to end up as a slave to a gigantic corporation, you don't think are cool in the least, however big the prize may be.


You run like you've never run before to the small ship you arrived in, you enter, you sit in the driver's seat, you close the hatches, you turn on the ignition, you listen how the motors turn on, and. . .how they turn off.  The fuel supply is almost exhausted, and with that absurd attempt you've consumed it all.


You open the hatch, you get out of the driver's seat and you walk outside again.  Outside you see three uniformed guys who are waiting for you.  One of them tells you, while the others immobilize and handcuff you:


'We inform you that those who try to flee planet Tigran Petrosian are penalized.  You have ended your game.  From that moment you will the property of Antakira Software".


If Antakira Software is an intergalactic business, why are they wasting all that money on these chess slavery schemes?  Maybe nepotism is involved, and the CEO gave some chess obsessed relatives this operation.



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

7 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 11


It appears I made a mistake in the previous post.  CHOICE #16 is the Bad Ending, while CHOICE #15 is the one about asking for food or about the owner of the planet.  Asking where to find food is another path to CHOICE #3, while the other question goes to CHOICE #16, and then CHOICE #17 once Lorenzo makes a query about activities.


"The planet Tigran Petrosian has been designed to the last detail so all the time that you spend on it will provoke an experience of a fight to the ultimate extreme.  A fight were not only strength, but intelligence will be carried to extremes that one didn't know they had.  Tigran Petrosian is a planet based on the game of chess.  Any traveler in the universe is welcome, but landing here obligates one to play a very particular game of chess.


If you win, you'll obtain a succulent prize and an intergalactic spaceship with every comfort, so you can continue your journey and visit your uncle or whoever you prefer.  However, if you do not manage to win the game, you will pay with your liberty for life.  You will become the property of the business that owns this planet, and you will have to carry out the activities that you are entrusted with or that your owners determine.  It's for that reason that this planet is only visited by extraordinarily audacious people, or the extraordinarily desperate".


CHOICE #17 is to ask about the rules, what the nature of the "succulent prize" is, or try to escape and fail once more.  Guess I wasn't kidding about the number of "try to flee" endings rivaling an R.A. Montgomery book.


The last option has the same Bad Non-Death Ending as CHOICE #16.  Here's the "succulent prize" for the winner, showing just how much it costs Antakira Software to enslave one person:


"The prize for the winner of a game on planet Tigran Petrosian consists of 20 million Euros, a genetic modification to improve your DNA in the sense that you prefer, valued at another 20 million Euros, and an intergalactic Casius XVI ship, the latest model, with every comfort, so that you can carry out intergalactic trips with every comfort".


Besides the cost, you have to wonder why Antakira Software uses European Union currency.  Usually interstellar settings settle for "credits" or something.  Now I want a science fiction story where they decide the island of Yap had the right idea with their giant stone coins.


CHOICE #18's first option seems to be the same as CHOICE #17's, but the text for choosing not to play is different.  The latter decision leads to the same Bad Non-Death Ending as CHOICE #8.  I was suspicious as soon as I saw the word "monólogo".


The voice doesn't tell Lorenzo about the sudden death rules like the red spaces, but does mention that the number and proportions are the same as real chess.  How the squares work on a sphere, I'm not sure.  Lorenzo had been taught the basics of chess 5 years ago by his uncle, but he doesn't know much more than that.


(Why are so many CYOAs obsessed with avuncular relationships anyway?)


CHOICE #19 is either to ask where the white king is, or to look for it on your own.  Despite having found it in other endings, failing to ask for directions is fatal in this path.


"Without knowing where to head to, you begin to walk across the planet.  Most of it is empty, and only after a certain time do you see an isolated piece of gigantic size, whether black or white.  You feel enormous pangs due to hunger, but you continue advancing, with difficulty, ever more slowly due to exhaustion.


The buildings that appeared so much on the surface of this planet, always in the form of chess pieces, begin to blur your eyes and now you don't know if they're real or products of your imagination.  Shortly afterwards, a slow mist extends throughout the planet, hiding them.  You feel extraordinarily weak.  When you no longer have the strength to keep walking, you fall to the ground.


There you repose, hungry and tired, until the weight of your eyelids conquers what will you have left to stay awake".


If the chess pieces are rare, then shouldn't Lorenzo hallucinate about the empty space?


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

2 Deaths

7 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings


EDIT:  Asking where the white king is in CHOICE #19 is an alternate path to CHOICE #8 with the "passive" and "active" strategies, minus the possibility of fleeing.  It's also suggested that the planet is artificial.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 12


Asking what the game is in CHOICE #14 is just another route to CHOICE #17.  The response to asking about the rival is vague, too, because the author couldn't be bothered to give him a name.  Much like the grand-uncle in the 1st Ultimate Ending book.


CHOICE #20 is either to ask more about the game, or "inform the planet that you don't even like Parcheesi, nor checkers, nor any other type of game, so it's better that they don't count on you to play any game".


(Trivia:  Checkers is called "damas" in Spanish, which is also used for chess queens.)


The "Parcheesi and checkers" option is another "run away and get captured" ending, but the text is different enough that I have to record it.


"You hardly inform them that you have no interest in any type of game, when you feel the sensation that no one has listened to you, because you feel no response, so you repeat:


'I'm not playing.  I quit.  I only want to continue my trip.'


But no one responds to you again.  However, you see that from the planet's horizon that a ship approaches you at maximum velocity.  When it's nearby, it lands on the ground softly, without making a sound.  A hatch opens, and from the ship three armed humanoid robots descend.  On the front, a logo appears, and below it some small text:  'Security service of planet Tigran Petrosian'.


One of them begins to speak to you, while the others immobilize and handcuff you:  'My dear sir, we inform you that declining to begin the game on planet Tigran Petrosian means accepting defeat.  From that precise instant you will be part of the personnel assigned in an indefinite way of the the business Antakira Software, proprietor of this planet.



'Personnel assigned in an indefinite way' doesn't sound good.  It seems like a euphemism for 'slave'.  While they move you to the ship, you hear through the megaphone that you're the assigned personnel indefinite number 15,231 of the company.  Now you know how many guys have lost games on this damn planet".


Why does Antakira Software use such an awkward expression as "personal adscrito de forma indefinida" here when they openly say "esclavo" (slave) elsewhere in the book?  And now they have android slavers instead of humans.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

2 Deaths

8 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 13


Asking more about the game in CHOICE #20 reverts to CHOICE #17, since half the options in this book seem to be "run away and lose, or move forward with the plot".


Going back in time to CHOICE #11, asking permission to enter the rook unlocks CHOICE #21.  The first option of approaching the rook square moves to CHOICE #12, the same as if Lorenzo had not asked permission.  And asking for the rules punts the player to CHOICE #19 where you either ask where the white king is or look for the piece on your own and die.


Now there can't be many more endings left because El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo is a linear story that punishes any deviation.  Let's return to CHOICE #5 and ask about the capsule.  According to the voice, it's "a food capsule of high nutritional value".  It really is a food pill from an old science fiction story!  CHOICE #22 is to "swallow" the capsule or "not to ingest the capsule".


Refusing to take the food pill means Death.


"You don't trust that they're telling you the truth, and for you food is food, not artificial freaks.  You understand that they have made advances in many fields of knowledge, but not in food.  You suspect very much that what that pill contains is some type of poison, or a substance to subdue your will, and turn you into a puppet in the hands of those who have sent it to you.


You decide not to take it, although you feel ever weaker.  To avoid the temptation of ingesting it at some moment, you throw it far away with all your strength.  A short time later you begin to feel queasy and have headaches, products of hunger.  You move yourself with difficulty to where you threw the yellow pill, and if you find it, you'll swallow it without a doubt and you'll stop inventing more theories about what could be inside.


However, you don't find it while searching for it on the floor, and although you look centimeter by centimeter it seems to have evaporated".


The Spanish prose in this ending is odd.  "Freak" is one translation of "engendro", which can also mean "fetus", "monster", "eyesore", or "idiotic scheme".  None of them seem to be used to describe pills.  "Domeñar" is an uncommon alternative verb for "domar" or even "subyugar", so I rendered it as "subdue".


This isn't an Inconclusive Ending since the epilogue text explicitly states Lorenzo falls unconscious.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

3 Deaths

8 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings


EDIT:  If you do eat the food pill here, you advance to CHOICE #6 with the pawn and the rook.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 14


Protesting about being hungry in CHOICE #3 prompts Lorenzo to say this:  "I wanted food, and I didn't suppose it was going to be potatoes, chocolate mousse, or pistachio ice cream, but I don't know what kind of food's going to be in that box.  I assure you I'm so hungry, I don't think that's going to satisfy me".


CHOICE #23 after that either moves to CHOICE #4 if you do accept the packet, or the same Death as CHOICE #23 if you refuse.


CHOICE #24 when Lorenzo asks about landing requirements in CHOICE #2 is another "advance or flee" decision.  Continuing the plot is another way to CHOICE #17.  If anyone wants to make a flowchart of these stupid obscure books reviewed in the thread, I might like to see it.  The author does have the courtesy to put a "Fin" after our next conclusion:


"You run like you never knew you could toward the small ship in which you arrived.  You enter, you sit in the driver's seat, you close hatches, press the ignition button.  You listen how the engines turn on and. . .how they turn off with a quiet (quedo) sound.  The fuel deposit is almost empty, and with this absurd attempt you've finished consuming it.


You open the hatch, get out of your driver's seat and leave.  Outside, you see three uniformed guys who are waiting for you.  One of them gives you the routine words, while he looks at the infinite (How many times will he have said it?, you wonder), while the other two immobilize and handcuff you:


'We inform you that escape attempts from planet Tigran Petrosian are considered acceptance of defeat.  From this exact moment you will be a part of the property of Antakira Software, conforming to the reserved (recogido) of the operating bases (?) of the planet, Article 43, Paragraph 2.  END"


At least one of the other endings copies some of the Spanish text verbatim.  "Bases del funcionamiento" may be "operating bases", but that doesn't seem right.  "Recogido" can mean "quiet", "tidy", or "secluded", but it doesn't make sense when it appears.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

3 Deaths

9 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

El Planeta Más Extraño del Mundo Alternate Endings Part 15


Observing your surroundings in CHOICE #1 bounces you to CHOICE #25, where you can either look for the first rook you see or walk toward a pawn.  The rook is, you guessed it, another death by starvation.  Chess is the true Hunger Games, not the TV show they have in Panem.


"You begin to walk toward the white tower that is at a certain distance from you, but you feel extraordinarily weak.  You notice a profound exhaustion, and hunger is so intense, that taking only a single step requires intense effort (trabajo ímprobo). 


You feel your body send you calls for help, just like what spaceships do when they're short on fuel.  It's the last thought that crosses you mind when you faint and lose consciousness as a consequence of hunger and exhaustion.  Your adventure on planet Tigran Petrosian has ended in this way.  END"


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

4 Deaths

9 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings