''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by

Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the '' Fighting Fantasy'' series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that ...

, and illustrated by

Iain McCaig Iain McCaig (born March 19, 1957) is an American artist, writer, and filmmaker. He was involved in the ''Star Wars'' franchise and many other iconic film and book projects, including an album cover for Jethro Tull's ''The Broadsword and the Beas ...

. Originally published by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs to ...

in 1984, the title is the sixth gamebook in the ''

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 ...

'' series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002.

Story

''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a fantasy adventure taking place in a hazardous labyrinth in the city of Fang. The player takes the role of an adventurer who decides to enter Baron Sukumvit's "Trial of Champions" and brave "Deathtrap Dungeon". Competing against five other adventurers, the player must defeat monsters, navigate the maze of dungeons and collect certain gems, which are the key to escaping and winning the Trial.

Rules

Sequels

The title was followed by two sequels, ''

Trial of Champions ''Trial of Champions'' is a single-player roleplaying gamebook, written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Brian Williams and originally published in 1986 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Ste ...

'' (21st title, 1986), and '' Armies of Death'' (36th title, 1988).

Reception

Marcus L. Rowland Marcus L. Rowland (born 1953) is an English author in the field of role-playing games, particularly games with Victorian era content. Biography Marcus Rowland owned a copy of the original boxed set of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as early as 1977, th ...

reviewed ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' for the May 1984 issue of ''

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 ...

'', rating the title 8 out of a possible 10. Rowland stated that the format of ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' was "extremely simple, and resembles the plot of many early ''D&D'' scenarios".

Reviews

*''Coleção Dragon Slayer''

Other media

In 1998, a ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' video game was released, developed by Asylum Studios and published by

Eidos Interactive Eidos Interactive Limited (formerly Domark Limited) was a British video game publisher based in Wimbledon, London. Among its franchises were '' Championship Manager'', '' Deus Ex'', ''Hitman'', '' Thief'' and ''Tomb Raider''. Domark was founded ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The gamebook was also converted into a 40-page

d20 System The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, originally developed for the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The system is named after ...

role-playing adventure by Jamie Wallis. It was published by Myriador in 2003 and reissued in

pdf Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

format by Greywood Publishing in 2008. In 2010, the title was re-released in electronic form for the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

Big Blue Bubble Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is a Canadian video game company headquartered in London, Ontario, founded in 2004 by industry veteran Damir Slogar, Renata Slogar, and Claudette Critchley. The company has developed over a hundred games and gained interna ...

. When Big Blue Bubble later lost the license, all its apps were withdrawn. In 2011, Mark Holdom Inc. announced a project to adapt ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' for the cinema, "a cross between ''

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws. Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...

'' and ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

''". In 2018, the audio company FoxYason Music Productions, known for their work with

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

announced that they would be releasing an original, full-cast audio drama based on ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' in a CD boxset with ''

The Citadel of Chaos ''The Citadel of Chaos'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the second gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series. It wa ...

'', ''

The Forest of Doom ''The Forest of Doom'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Malcolm Barter. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the third gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, and the ...

'', and ''

Creature of Havoc ''Creature of Havoc'' is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by British game designer Steve Jackson (not to be confused with the US game designer of the same name), illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1986 by Puffin ...

'' for summer 2018. It will be written by David N. Smith, directed by Richard Fox and will feature Rachel Atkins returning to the role of Vale Moonwing from FoxYason Music's first release based on ''

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson (UK game designer), Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the titl ...

'', sub-titled The Hero's Quest. In 2020, an interactive video game called ''Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Video Adventure'' featuring narration by

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). Early life and ...

was released, developed and published by Branching Narrative Ltd on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

for PC and Mac, iOS and Android.

References

External links

Official sites: * * {{Fighting Fantasy 1984 fiction books Books by Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy gamebooks