Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[sunrise089]

“I'm now at home looking on the Internet for old dodo drawings. I'm furious at the people who made them extinct in the 17th century.”

Wait, is this you or the character?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Part 2


Let's go to Mauritius in CHOICE #1.  That will allow me to learn about this alleged dodo.  Besides, that was where Gordon was last seen according to the text.


Three days later, Sheila, Arthur, and I arrive at the Sir Seewoosgar Ramgoolam airport in Port Louis, Mauritius. 


"You all don't know what you would have done without your video game systems for all that time".  Sounds like a certain Realms Beyond poster, no?    


I immediately feel the hot and humid tropical air when I get out of the plane, and I wonder if I can stand this climate.  Sheila and Arthur like it much more than I do.


The "British High Commission" promises to help us during our stay in Mauritius because of our connections to Gordon.  Mr. Goodwin is the commissioner, and we ride a taxi to his colonial style house in Port Louis.  He says Gordon left a "very special guest" with him 6 weeks ago.  He smiles when he hears several scratches against his office's double doors.


It really is a dodo!  The bird isn't afraid of us at all.  It has the nickname "Dude".  Sheila hugs the dodo around the neck, and Dude starts eating my plate of "galletas" (either cookies or crackers). 


Mr. Goodwin warns us of "unscrupulous people" in Mauritius who would want to sell the dodo as an exotic pet to some collector.


CHOICE #2 is to try to take the dodo to London, or to go to the professor's hotel to look for clues. 



Might as well guard Dude on the way to London.  The professor's probably long gone from the hotel, and I might not find any important clues there.  Besides, news of a dodo reaching London will probably draw Gordon out of wherever he's hiding.


I ask Mr. Goodwin to send the dodo to the Zoological Society in London.  Arthur and Sheila are disappointed that they won't get to play with Dude for much longer, but this is probably the best way to ensure the bird's safety.


But tonight in the hotel, someone slides a piece of paper under the door to my room:


"BRING THE BIRD TO US AT THE HOTEL DINA AROBI OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN.  YOU HAVE 24 HOURS.  DO NOT CONTACT THE POLICE, OR YOU WILL REGRET IT".


(How polite that they use the formal "usted" in their threatening letter!)


I run to Sheila and Arthur's room, but they aren't there.  Their cell phones are on a night table inside, though.  The note was true, and they've been kidnapped!


Some knocks on the door concern me, but it's neither the kidnappers nor the police.  When I open the door, a "youngster" (jovenzuelo) named Vijay appears.  Vijay says he works for the hotel, and claims to know who kidnapped Sheila and Arthur.  He wants to introduce me to someone who can help.


"Rivers of sweat run on your back.  Mafiosos.  Guns.  Death.  Vijay awaits, "jumping from one foot to the other".


CHOICE #3 has 3 options.  Either I go to the police, accept Vijay's help, or deliver the dodo to the kidnappers.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Part 3:  The CANONICAL ENDING


Going to the police will likely lead to Sheila and Arthur's deaths.  If I give the dodo to the kidnappers, they'll no longer have any use for us, and might kill us anyway to cover up the dodo story.  (Hey, reading La Prisión will make you paranoid about obeying villains!)  So let's see what Vijay has to offer in CHOICE #3.


According to the narration, I still have 24 hours, and I have nothing to lose by talking to Vijay's contact.  If that doesn't work out, I'll go to the police.


At midnight, Vijay and I leave through the hotel's emergency door.  I sit in the back seat of a mysterious car.  The driver is concealed due to some shadows, and Vijay sits beside me.


The car takes turns throughout different streets to shake off any potential pursuers.  At the end of a long road, we arrive at a "rickety shack" (casucha desvencijada).  I'm in the Port Louis slums, but the book calls it a "suburbio".  Evidently, suburb has a broader meaning in Spanish.


Vijay pushes me so I'll go into this house.  4 suspicious people are seated at a table.  One of them is "thin as a matchstick".  (cerilla.  Only in Spain does it have this meaning, and elsewhere, it's wax or earwax).


They say my friends have been kidnapped by a rival gang called the Three Skulls (Tres Calaveras).  Sheila and Arthur can be rescued for the price of $10,000. 


The narration says I can get $10,000 in a couple of days, but I don't trust these people.  I want to leave immediately.  I ask to be returned to my hotel. 


"The boss laughs cynically and says something to the others.  Immediately, you are surrounded by his thugs and taken to another hovel (cuartucho), where you are gagged and tied to a chair.  They leave Vijay behind to watch you.  While you are outraged and worried about your friends, you manage to feel compassion for your young captor, who had no choice.


After 24 hours, you realize that you're in the middle of a gang war.  Sheila, Arthur, and you are pawns in a game of mafia chess.  END".




What an awful CANONICAL ENDING!  Unlike La Prisión, this is not the kind of CYOA where you can win by interacting with shady characters.  Death is never mentioned in this ending, and it doesn't make sense for the gangsters to kill me if they can get ransom money.  Note that I was never given the option to pay the mob at all.


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

0 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending


0 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Alternate Endings Part 1


Let's give Dude the dodo to the kidnappers in CHOICE #3!  An ending that goes to 1 page right before another CHOICE #3 option can only end well!


"You don't have any other option than to give the dodo to the kidnappers, so you go on the road to the commissioner's house.


While you're concentrating on thinking of excuses to make Mr. Goodwin give you the dodo without raising suspicion, you don't realize that a car is following you.


The last thing you hear is the screech of its wheels before being run over (ser embestido) at 80 kilometers per hour.  END".


Distracted walking leads to an unexpected hit-and-run before even meeting the kidnappers.  It seems La Isla de los Dodos is much less fair so far than either Deadline Delivery or La Prisión.  Then again, seeing pointless death scenes is half the fun of CYOA!



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

1 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Alternate Endings Part 2


For CHOICE #3, I'll contact the police even though the kidnappers warned me not to.  There's no way Laura Andreu would be so cruel as to give me 3 bad endings in one CHOICE, right?


"You close the door in front of Vijay.  In the movies, the kidnappers always warn you not to contact the police, but you don't believe you should obey them.  You speak about your case to the hotel director, who after confirming that no Vijay works there, contacts the police.  In 15 minutes, inspectors Shanker and Doix introduce themselves in the hotel."


Wait, a police officer is named Shanker?  That should be a character in La Prisión who kills you with a toothbrush!


I hope that I don't have to mention the dodo, but the cops' questions are "incisive".  They take notes and investigate me as if I were guilty instead of the kidnappers.


They say they'll do everything possible to rescue Sheila and Arthur, but then tell me that they may accuse me of "trafficking protected species".  I don't know what the justice system is like in Mauritius, but any competent lawyer would say that since nobody knew that dodos still existed, no law was passed to protect them.


They tell me not to talk to anyone or leave my hotel room.  They will assign someone to me for my protection.  The hotel staff suggest that I eat a light dinner, but I don't want to eat.  TV in Mauritius is boring according to the narration, and I don't want to play video games either.


But while lying in bed, an idea comes to me "like a thunderbolt".  It involves a video game console! 


I quickly go to Sheila and Arthur's room, and Arthur's console isn't there.  Perhaps he has it with him.  I start the game I played with Arthur on the plane and send a message:  "TELL ME ALL THAT YOU CAN ABOUT THE PLACE YOU ARE IN".


For hours, there's no response.  After a day, still nothing.  My message possibly endangered their lives instead of giving me a clue.


"Finally, a message arrives.


'WE ARE FINE.  WE ARE INSIDE A BOAT.  WE HEAR A BELL.'


You provide this information to the inspectors, and hours later, the Mauritius police manage to find Sheila and Arthur in a boat anchored in the port.  They arrest a dangerous criminal gang.


The greatest danger has passed, but now you are on probation waiting for them to try you for trafficking protected species.  Damn it!  END"


This ending will probably go in the Neutral ending category.  Sheila, Arthur, and I are alive, but we never find Gordon or the dodo island, and I'll likely face jail time for violating endangered species laws.


The probation sentence in the ending was particularly hard to translate for me.  It's weird when a book made for kids gives me more language difficulties than one meant for adults.  "Probation" is "libertad condicional" in the text, which could also mean "parole" if SpanishDict is any indication.  "A la espera de te juezguen" is the phrase I rendered as "waiting for them to try you".


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

1 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

1 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

“I'm now at home looking on the Internet for old dodo drawings.  I'm furious at the people who made them extinct in the 17th century.”

Wait, is this you or the character?

I didn't see this response before I made more posts.  The line you quoted is referring to the player character.


"Ya en casa buscas en Internet antiguos dibujos de los dodós.  Eran unos pájaros realmente enternecedores y los masacraron sin piedad.  Te enfurece lo inconscientes que pueden ser las personas".


Yes, there are a few typos in this book.  That last line should say "Te enfurecen los inconscientes".

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Alternate Endings Part 3


Time to go back to CHOICE #2 and look for clues in Gordon's hotel.  But chances are the Three Skulls gang will be there. . .


"By means of a good tip to the hotel receptionist, you all are allowed to go to his hotel room.  The dodo leaves the bag where you were hiding it and happily runs arround.  You don't know what you're looking for.  You look in the closet (armario) and under the bed.  A squawk (graznido) draws your attention."


(Note:  "Graznido" is a generic term for all sorts of bird sounds.)


Looks like the dodo is a better investigator than the rest of us put together, and has a wrinkled piece of paper in its beak.  Dude then proceeds to peck Gordon's pillow.  The paper is only a brochure with a map of the Indian Ocean on it. 


But there are also red circles on the map.  One is around the Seychelles, and the other is in the exact center of the Indian Ocean.  Sheila asks if her uncle could have gone to one of these areas.  My character says that new species are discovered in the Seychelles constantly, but the other place is closer to where the dodo was originally found.


CHOICE #4:  Go to the Seychelles, or look for the uncharted place on the map?  We know our only chance of fulfilling the title's promise is to pick the latter.


We decide to go to the center of the Indian Ocean.  This might be a suicide mission, because it's 1000 miles east of Mauritius and 1500 miles south of the Maldives.


Mr. Goodwin lends us his own boat, the Resolute.  It's a "luxurious Wauquiez Centurion of 17 meters that stands out (resplandece) in the port".  With the map, I identify the place with a margin of error of 15 miles.  I program the autopilot (timón automático) with the GPS coordinates and set out to the northeast.


Don't ask why this boat and map uses miles while the cars run me over with the power of the metric system.


After 2 days of sailing, I receive an emergency signal on the radio:


"PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN

CQ CQ CQ

HERE

FEHURIHI FEHURIHI FEHURIHI


AT 50 MILES TO THE EAST OF VINGT-CINC

WE HAVE SUFFERED A FISHING ACCIDENT

CREW WITH WOUNDS AND FRACTURES.  WE ASK FOR URGENT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE"


No clue what PAN and CQ mean in this message.  SOS appears to be used in Spanish, so PAN probably isn't that.


The fishing boat Fehurihi is asking for help from any boats that have a doctor.  My character happens to be a veterinarian, as mentioned at the beginning.  But it will take a day to reach the Fehurihi, and perhaps it might be better to stay the course and only help if no one else is available.



CHOICE #5 is to either take a detour help the Fehurihi's crew, or stay the course.  The latter will probably punish me and deliver a heavy-handed moral, as it leads to page 18.  The "help the Fehurihi" option goes to 19.


Let's ignore the Fehurihi and get our last quick ending for the night.


"You stay the course (sigues el rumbo) and move at full speed (a toda marcha).


At night, Arthur and Sheila call you with pitiful moaning.  They are completely covered with red spots and have a high fever.  You believe they've caught measles (sarampión).


You don't have any other choice than to return to Port Louis so Sheila and Arthur can spend many days in bed.  If you were superstitious, you'd think that the Fehurihi is taking revenge on you all.


While you are distracted and scratch your arm, you try to remember if you were vaccinated or not.  END".


If these wealthy Brits weren't anti-vaxxers, they wouldn't have this problem!  I called it when I said there would be bad karma for ignoring the Fehurihi.  (Yes, I write these posts live as I'm reading the book).  Since nobody explicitly dies, I'll put it in the Bad Non-Death Ending list.



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

1 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Alternate Endings Part 4


It's dodo time!  This time, we'll help the Fehurihi in CHOICE #5 instead of continuing on our journey and catching measles as a divine punishment.


My response to the ship's distress call is this:


PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN

CQ CQ CQ

HERE

RESOLUTE RESOLUTE RESOLUTE

WE ARE COMING TO YOUR AID.  DOCTOR ON BOARD.

ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL:  11:50


About half a day later, I see the Fehurihi.  It's a fishing boat 30 meters long with capstans (cabrestanes) on all sides.  For a kid's book, this has some obscure nautical vocabulary.


The Fehurihi crew seems anxious, and we weigh anchor 100 yards from the Fehurihi.  Arthur will be in charge of the Resolute for the time being. 


A young man lies in a "rough old bed" (camastro) in the bilge (sentina).   He has a very red face and glassy eyes.  He has a bullet wound in his stomach, and it's clear that was the cause of his infection.


I say "Captain, what is this?  Why did you make a false emergency signal?  I don't have the necessary materials to treat him!'

The captain responds "He tried to rob me!  You will heal him and you won't say anything to anyone.  Obey and you can leave with your boat".


The lack of hygiene on the Fehurihi concerns my character.  I inject a strong dose of antibiotics into the sick man.  With the aid fo a local anesthetic, I remove the bullet.  (I don't expect the player character to have much practice with this given the veterinarian profession, but perhaps British pet owners and zookeepers often shoot their animals in this world. . .)


However, there's something disturbing on the Fehurihi.  There are several boxes full of dynamite, suggesting that they're fishing using illegal and dangerous methods.


The patient's condition improves, and I say I've completed my part of the deal.


CHOICE #6 is strange.  The options are presented from the Fehurihi captain's point of view rather than the player character's.


One option says "If the captain lets you all leave, go to page 22.  If he doesn't let you all leave, go to page 21".


Are there any other CYOA type books that let you control an antagonist briefly so you can get a bad ending for no reason?


Let's see what the captain has in store for us!


"The captain laughs in a disagreeable manner.  His rotten, yellow teeth are repugnant to you.


No talking!  You've come in handy to us (Nos has venido muy a mano).  I believe I'll have you with me for a little more time.


Soon, his laugh becomes dry, and he looks behind you, alarmed.  Arthur moves the Resolute at full speed and advances toward you both! 


Leaving the captain disappointed (dejando al capitán con un palmo de narices), you run and jump as far as you can.


BANG!


The steel hull (casco) of your boat opens an enormous breach in the side of the Fehurihi, which is going to sink in a matter of minutes.  The mariners throw themselves into the water, grabbing whatever they can.  You feel pity for them, despite them being bad people.


Now in your boat, you throw several life preservers at them and leave.  The maritime police of the Maldives rescue them shortly afterwards and escort you back to land so you can testify in the trial.  At the moment, you mission is postponed for an indefinite amount of time.


'I hope a shark gave that vile captain a good bite', says Sheila.


'He's the real shark', says Arthur.  END".


Some of the expressions and nautical terms used in this book make it more difficult to read than La Prisión.  This ending will fall into the neutral category.  The main characters survive unharmed, but fail to complete their mission to find Gordon and the dodos.


(Catching measles was a "karmic punishment" for refusing to help illegal dynamite fishers who kidnap random sailors who answer their distress call?  This dodo CYOA is much crueler than the previous books featured here!)


 
Results So Far


0 Good Endings

1 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

La Isla de los Dodos Alternate Endings Part 5


In CHOICE #6, the Fehurihi's captain will be mind-controlled into letting Sheila, Arthur, and me go.


The Fehurihi sailors break our radio equipment and take away our cell phones before letting us leave.  Fortunately, they didn't check the place where we're hiding Dude. 


But there's a young pirate inside!  Dude pecks him and runs behind me.  The pirate says "Please, bring me with you" in "bad English".  His name is Ramzi, and Captain Karnak of the Fehurihi tricked his family into taking him on board the ship.  Ramzi was forced to committing misdeeds (fechorías).  He wants to travel with us, because he'll be arrested if he goes home.


I say "Sorry, but you will disembark on Vingt-Cinc.  The authorities will send you back home.  Although you may have done bad things, I'm sure everything will work out."


Dude approaches Ramzi and pulls on the edge of his pants in a friendly manner. 


CHOICE #7 is to give Ramzi to the Vingt-Cinc authorities, or "pay attention to the dodo's intuition".  The dodo found the map earlier, so obeying Dude is obviously the right thing to do!


Ramzi turns out to "never loaf around".  He cooks delicious meals for us, and learns more English by talking to Sheila and Arthur.  He says he wants to be a doctor like me when he learns I'm a veterinarian. 


Three days later, Dude begins to make. . .whatever noise a dodo makes.  There's a gray structure with something green on top.


It's not a boat, but an artificial island 3 kilometers in diameter covered with forests.  It also has a small beach. 


There are two ways to investigate this artificial island.  CHOICE #8 is to walk on the wooden plank road (Page 25), or walk through the woods (Page 24). 


The book wants me to pick the latter because it says this:  "There is a road made of wooden planks that goes into the forest.  If you follow it, you all might call the attention of the island's inhabitants.  You could be able to look for the professor with discretion if you travel across the forest".  But it also has the old CYOA "1 page before the other route of the same CHOICE" trap.  Let's see what happens!


"You enter the tropical forest, cutting through enormous fronds of ferns (helechos).  Soon, you all hear a bellowing sound nearby:


MOOOO!!!


'Is it a cow?', asks Sheila.


'Both of you should stay here.  I'm going to investigate', you say.


You advance tens (decenas) of meters through the dense jungle and arrive at a clearing.  In front of you is a large mound of fresh feces (estiércol).  It can't be a cow.  It's a much larger animal.


You've invaded the territory of an immense brontotherian (brontoterio), an animal similar to a rhinoceros that lived millions of years ago.  Now it gores you with its 2 meter horns.  There is no way you can survive.  END"


See what I mean when I say this book hates its players?  In La Prisión, for example, Félix will warn you not to crawl around in the ventilation shaft.  If the fan grinds you up, it's your own fault for picking that option.  In Isla de los Dodos, the narration suggests that you go to through the forest because it implies the inhabitants who built the wooden road might be hostile.  If you follow that advice, a rhino relative from the Eocene kills you.


This may be fun to read for the purpose of writing snarky Realms Beyond posts, but it's not a good gamebook.



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

2 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral/Inconclusive Endings

[RFS-81]

It's less suited for your Let's Play format here, but did you ever play the Fabled Lands series? I played that a lot as a kid, and in retrospect, it's really impressive: they tried to make a series of open-world gamebooks, the absolute madmen! Every book represents a different part of a fantasy world. You pick one to start with and can then move around between them.

I don't know how much of it actually holds up. One thing I remember is that it had relatively many stats, but since combat is what's most likely to kill you, classes with low combat skill are at a serious disadvantage. But they made a 2nd edition of the original six books (I still remember going to book stores to ask if the last two were released in German yet - never happened as far as I know) and a seventh one by a different author so apparently there are enough people who still like it.