Being brave, in a world of bandit, is foolish and unwise. The premises of The Diamond Key are those of bravery, yet I failed the task. Wasn't able to defeat the foe. I will surely come back for another attempt.

Ulysses
Mon Feb 21 14:15:09 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

I've just finished reviewing all of the entires to this years competition and sending in my votes.

There was a great variety of genres, gaming mechanics and writing styles. There were a few entries that I thought were really great, others were enjoyable, and a few with great ideas that I hope will be reworked into more complete gamebooks.

I won't mention any particular entires here as voting is ongoing, but below is the approach I took to assess the entires.

I scored each entry using 5 factors (with different weightings):
Length - while writing a good short adventure is its own challenge, generally more references means a longer more complicated adventure, and so the first factor was the number of references. The entires ranged from 39 to 100 references, with an average of 80.
The second factor was writing quality. I didn't judge this too harshly, and just looked for easy-flowing language without any pauses to try and work out what was being said. I marked writing quality out of 10, and I deemed more than one to be 10/10, there were also a couple of 4s, but overall the average score for writing was 8/10.
The next factor was Story Quality where I considered the premise and how the plot unfolded. While some had far less story than others, I tried to judge each according to what it seemed to be trying to be. The scores I allocated again ranged from 4 to 10/10, with an average of 7.
Gamebook Mechanics was the next factor I looked at, which scored the combat system, implementation of tests, etc. in the text, whether choices made sense, and the extent to which the choices lead to the best ending(s). These scores ranged from 4 to 9, with an average of 6/10. There were quite a few examples of combat systems that were unfortunately poorly explained and/or complicated to use.
The final factor I looked at was 'Challenge', which was a review not only of difficulty, but if the difficulty made the adventure more enjoyable. Adventures that are too eay or too hard can both be less enjoyable that one that offers an interesting challenge. This is where there was the greatest variation, with scores from 2 to 8, and an average of 5. For this factor 5/10 is actually an ok score.

So overall, I judged the entires as ranging from 46 to 83, with an average of 66/100.

Well done to all of the authors, and good luck!

Ulysses
Tue Feb 22 14:56:40 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

Just noticing I spelled 'entries' as 'entires' multiple times above. Wanna say it was a typo but...

First Time Reader
Tue Mar 8 12:19:45 2022
The Diamond Key
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

Long sword is a trap :(

Thnes Maeswara
Tue Mar 8 15:16:28 2022
The Word Fell Silent
Star - optimum ending reached

lol

Stuart Lloyd
Sun Mar 20 15:50:59 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

16 days left to cast your vote for the 16 books entered for Lindenbaum! The deadline is 10pm GMT on the 5th April. So if you start now, you can read 1 a day before getting your vote in!
http://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/p/voting-is-now-open-for-20212022.html

AC
Mon Mar 21 16:41:55 2022
Nye's Song
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

Well written and absorbing

AC
Mon Mar 21 16:50:30 2022
Nye's Song
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

Play 2: Excellent. Ever thought of writing for 2000 AD?

Robert Douglas
Mon Mar 21 21:32:36 2022
Nye's Song

Hi AC, not really my scene. I did once try with a short story to Interzone, but no luck. However, I have had a local story published in a local newspaper, and another broadcast on the local radio. Oddly, I find it easier writing gamebooks rather than straightforward stories - and they're more fun to do! The story kind of falls into place, some parts I plan prior to starting, but much of what I write slots into place, much like a jigsaw puzzle. However, I do enjoy reading the occasional short story and I've got quite a few favourite authors on the shelf, such as Bernard Cornwell, Peter F Hamilton, and John Wyndham. Saying that, my own writing has been on temporary hold over the past few years due to a Bookwormathon (not sure if that's an actual word, but if not then I'd like it to be) that has, thus far, encompassed thirty two books over the past five years! Although someday I might return to the alternate history steampunk horror setting, personally I don't think Nye's Song is my best effort, but thanks for the kind comments though :)

Stuart Lloyd
Mon Apr 4 03:16:51 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

Just today and tomorrow left to vote!

Stuart Lloyd
Tue Apr 5 14:42:53 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

Vote for your 3 Lindenbaum books! Lindenbaumprize@gmail.com 6 and a bit hours remaining!

Stuart Lloyd
Sat Apr 16 12:46:09 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

Winner announced for the 2021/2022 Lindenbaum Prize

Stuart Lloyd
Sun Apr 17 12:16:55 2022
Lindenbaum Competition

Lindenbaum post competition analysis

Kirs
Tue Apr 19 19:20:59 2022
Bad Moon Rising
Skull - non-optimum ending reached

At least I tried tho- Very entertaining

ffproject
Mon Apr 25 19:54:19 2022
Waiting For The Light

I've used NeuralBlender.com which apparently "uses state-of-the-art AI technology to generate images from text input" to come up with some pictures for Waiting For The Light.

Alpakka Sat Apr 30 16:27:22 2022 Isle Of The Cyclops	I’m mid play through and enjoying it! Does anyone know which gamebook The Valley of Bones refers to in instruction 47?
	It was one that Andrew Wright planned but never wrote. See here and here.

Narmer
Thu May 5 00:56:21 2022
Tomb Of The Ancients
Star - optimum ending reached

This was a fun little adventure.

ffproject
Sat May 14 10:07:12 2022
Escape The Asylum

Escape The Asylum

Growing stronger by the second, you spy the full syringe and gently lower yourself to pick it up. You grope at the orderly's fat neck until you feel a throbbing artery and plunge the needle into it, expelling the drug into his system. Now he will be out for... well, you don't know. For long enough to escape... you hope!

Ulysses Ai's recent Lindenbaum competition entry is ready to play. Ulysses has now added some pictures that illustrate the sign puzzle.

Play it here

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