''The Way of the Tiger'' is a series of adventure

gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

s by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson, originally published by Knight Books (an imprint of

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

) from 1985. They are set on the fantasy world of Orb. The reader takes the part of a young

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

, named Avenger, initially on a quest to avenge his foster father's murder and recover stolen scrolls. Later books presented other challenges for Avenger to overcome, most notably taking over and ruling a city. The world of Orb was originally created by Mark Smith for a ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' game he ran while a pupil at

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

in the mid-1970s. Orb was also used as the setting for the 1984

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choo ...

gamebook '' Talisman of Death'', and one of the settings in the 1985 Falcon gamebook ''Lost in Time'', both by Smith and Thomson. The sixth book, ''Inferno!'', ends on a cliffhanger with Avenger trapped in the web of the Black Widow, Orb's darkest blight. As no new books were released, the fate of Avenger and Orb was unknown. Mark Smith has confirmed that the cliffhanger ending was deliberate. In August 2013, the original creators of the series were working with Megara Entertainment to develop re-edited hardcover collector editions of the gamebooks (including a new prequel (Book 0) and sequel (book 7)), and potentially a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

based on the series. The two new books plus the six re-edited original books were reprinted in paperback format by Megara Entertainment in 2014, and made available as PDFs in 2019.

Books and publication history

The original series comprises six books: * ''Avenger!'' (1985) * ''Assassin!'' (1985) * ''Usurper!'' (1985) * ''Overlord!'' (1986) * ''Warbringer!'' (1986) * ''Inferno!'' (1987) The sixth book ended on a cliffhanger, which was not resolved until 27 years later. Interviewed in 2012, Mark Smith explained: "Our publishers Hodder and Stoughton originally had signed for seven books but they cancelled the last in a fit of pique, which is why ''Inferno!'' ends so unsatisfactorily – they re-wrote the end themselves to kill the series. The story here is that the then CEO of Hodder, Eddie Bell, left to become CEO of Harper Collins ... He took us with him so that we could write the DuelMaster series for Harper Collins and Hodder revoked the contract for Book #7 in revenge. They said it was for commercial reasons, but the series was still successful and reprinting." ''Ninja!'' (a prequel by David Walters) and ''Redeemer!'' (by all three writers) were added in 2014. The books could be played in sequence or as standalone adventures, although playing them in sequence preserves the continuity of the storyline. If played in sequence, any abilities, bonuses, penalties or special items Avenger had acquired carried over to the next book.

Publications in other languages

The original 6 books were published in French (''La Voie du tigre'') and Italian (''Ninja''), and partly in Spanish (''La Senda del tigre''), Swedish (''Tigerns väg'') and in Bulgarian (''Пътят на тигъра'', Patyat na tigara). In Japanese only the first book was published as "Taiga no ansatsukyo".Series - The Way of the Tiger
Demian's Gamebook Web Page, visited on 25.5.2025

Features

The series featured a combat system based on unarmed fighting moves with colourful names, such as the Cobra Strike punch, or Leaping Tiger kick. Avenger could also choose from a list of ninja skills such as Acrobatics or Poison Needle spitting, and used a variety of appropriate weaponry, such as a garotte and

shuriken A is a Japanese concealed weapon used by samurai or ninja or in martial arts as a hidden dagger or '' metsubushi'' to distract or misdirect. History The origins of the ''bo-shuriken'' in Japan are still unclear, despite continuing researc ...

. Luck also played in part in the form of Fate tests to see if

Fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...

smiled on you, or turned her back. Avenger could also enhance his skill by using "Inner Force", similar to qi energy. During the series Avenger could learn new skills, such as "Shinren," a means of understanding people's intentions by observing subtle clues.

Characters

The books had a large number of opponents and recurring characters, both enemies and allies. There are also planty of Gods with their avatars. See List of characters of The Way of the Tiger (gamebook series).

Video games

Two video games based on the books were released. The first, ''The Way of the Tiger'', is a

beat 'em up A beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in Side-scrolling video game, scrolling, 2D c ...

released by Gremlin Graphics for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. This game has Avenger fighting with staves and swords as well as utilizing

unarmed combat Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of ranged weapons.Hunsicker, A., ''Advanced Skills in ...

(Avenger rarely used weapons apart from shuriken in the books). '' Way of the Tiger II: Avenger'' is an action-adventure made by Gremlin Graphics in 1986, for the computers Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and

. In the game's story, Yaemon the Grand Master of Flame has killed the player's foster-father Naijish and stolen the Scrolls of Kettsuin. To recover the scrolls, the player has to find enough keys to penetrate the Quench Heart Keep, and then kill each of the three guards. The game is viewed from top-down perspective and superficially resembles '' Gauntlet''.

Reception

Chris Elliott reviewed ''Assassin!'' and ''Avenger! for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'' #71, giving it an overall rating of 8 out of 10, and stated that "Plot and atmosphere may be a bit 'Kung Fu meets ''AD&D''', but both add a few new twists to the adventure gamebook formula, and deserve credit for that. Overall, good entertainment value." In the inaugural issue of ''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published '' CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History ''The Games Machine'' ran head ...

'', John Woods noted that "the great appeal of these books is the detailed unarmed combat system. The rules have illustrations of the great variety of kicks, punches and throws available, and the player selects the best move to use against each opponent."

References

External links

''Way of the Tiger'' at gamebooks.org
* * * {{Authority control Books by Mark Smith (author) Books by Jamie Thomson Fantasy gamebooks Gamebooks Ninja fiction Book series 1986 video games Amstrad CPC games Commodore 64 games MSX games Video games about ninja Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games Japan in non-Japanese culture