Fantastic Fights

This episode is a very special bonus episode in which HJDoom plays through the opening of Lone Eons, the solo play rules for the Lost Eons RPG by David Blandy. This solarpunk game imagines a future society 8000 years in the future. I recently had the opportunity to help develop a supplement for Lost Eons called Land of Iron, a system agnostic setting created by residents of Northamptonshire in col...

Curiouser and curiouser, t’s bonus episode time again! This time, and with kind permission of the author, we’re taking a look at a 2015 gamebook by Jonathan Green and Kev Crossly based on some of the finest children’s literature of all time. Join your host HJDoom for a strange tour round Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland. This is a steam punk riff on the Lewis Carroll classic and makes for one of th...

It’s a massive episode to start off 2022 as HJDoom takes on the new and improved Deathtrap Dungeon in 1986’s Trial of Champions. This book also sees the welcome of Ian Livingstone to the franchise, having not penned a gamebook since Temple of Terror. Baron Sukumvit’s eviller sibling Carnuss is determined to find a worthy challenger to beat his brother’s monstrous creation no matter how many people...

HJDoom tries, and fails to conquer yet another Fighting Fantasy book. There's also an update about the adventure gamebook I have been writing for the last several months.

This episode is very excting for me as I delve into a series that I don't know as well as I would like, the Lone Wolf series by Joe Dever and Gary Chalk. Literally several people have asked me when I'll get around to covering these books and, for them, the wait is over. If you like what you hear then consider supporting the podcast at www.patreon.com/hjdoom. All my patrons will be receiving an adv...

Things take a soggy turn as HJDoom bravely dives into an undersea Fighting Fantasy book written by the American rather than the British Steve Jackson. His last book for Fighting Fantasy was more interesting than good so can he manage to nail the tone on his sophomore outing? Listen in to find out. Demons of the Deep was published in 1986 by Puffin Books with internal art by Bob Harvey and a cover...

Rebel Planet by Robin Waterfield is another attempt to tackle a science fiction setting. That's not been something with a storied history in Fighting Fantasy but perhaps a fresh pen will lead to a better outcome than previous attempts. It's got all the pieces, an evil alien empire, a desperate race against time, spy stuff, laser swords, and more but can the author assemble them into a satisfying j...

It’s bonus episode time again as HJDoom tries an adventure gamebook where finding the correct solution could have won you a holiday to a Disney theme park. Steeleye and the Lost Magic is weird combination of choose your own adventure and crossword puzzle as you fumble around a surreally fantastic world in search of the clues that will unlock the secrets of the magic which can save a mystical valle...

New ground broken yet again in the Fighting Fantasy series as we don our very silliest clothes and commit a variety of crimes against people and property with the enthusiastic support of the local police department. HJDoom plays through this classic Fighting Fantasy book with a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the basic premise. Will he succeed despite his disdain for superheros as a cultural pheno...

Hot on the heels of our last bonus episode comes this playthrough of the pirate themed adventure gamebook Seas of Blood by Andrew Chapman. Join HJDoom for a desperate race against the clock and also another pirate as we rob and pillage our way round the Inland Sea. Ships will fight ships! Ships will fight monsters! Excitement and adventure of all kinds will be had! With plenty of new systems to ch...

It’s another bonus episode featuring the work of JH Brennan, author of the Grailquest book we covered in our last bonus episode. This time he’s taking on gothic horror in the form of an ambitious adventure gamebook that you can play either as Baron Frankenstein or his monstrous creation. There’s big ideas everywhere in this one but can he manage to stick the landing and maintain an appropriately g...

Worry abounds as episode 15 takes us into space, the natural home of terrible Fighting Fantasy boos. Worse still, this book is by Andrew Chapman who penned the surreally awful Space Assassin. Is this the book that proves Fighting Fantasy in space can work? The answer is basically yes! But don't just take my word for it, listen to the episde too or I've wasted even more of my life than usual.

Join HJDoom for this playthough of 1985's Temple of Terror by Ian Livingstone as he returns to his comfort zone of rock hard dungeons and beautifully realised wilderness encounters. Will our dauntless hero succeed in finding the five dragon artefacts necessary to thwart a genocidal wizard? Will he even make it alive to the temple portion of the terror? Listen along to find out.

Wizards! Knights! A village! Possibly an actual dragon! This bonus episode sees us adventuring in mythical Avalon as we are dispatched by the wizard Merlin to deal with a pesky Brass Dragon that is terrorising the realm. Featuring a lengthy introduction and then a modicum of actual play. I hope you enjoy. Support the podcast, if you fancy, by going to patreon.com/hjdoom

Broom Broom! We're diving into an armour plated vehicle and jousting with vagabonds in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Join HJDoom on this thrilling excursion into a homage to Mad Max. Will our noble hero succeed in his oddly low stakes mission to bring home some fuel. Listen in to find out.

We're off to Space! But not to actually assassinate anyone. Brace yourselves because this one gets very strange indeed and pushes your host to the limits of his tolerance for old adventure gamebooks. Space Assassin was written by Andrew Chapman with internal art by Geoffrey Senior. Listen to the end for some insights into the somewhat strange origin story of this quirky and unique entry in the Fig...

Join me as I play through a gamebook written by the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax, and a key creator of many 80s cartoons Flint Dille. Monsters and mystery will abound in Sagard's quest.

Fantastic Fights is back in fantasy territory but keeping things fresh with a new pair of creators to the franchise. Matt Smith and Jamie Thomson, creator of the Way of the Tiger series of adventure gamebooks, take us on a tour of their own fantasy world Orb. How badly will I mess this one up? Listen along to find out.

Join HJDoom for a spooktacular journey into the insane rabbit warrens of Earl Drumer’s crumbling family home, a home that is rammed to the gills with all manner of occult shennanigans. This episode marks the first Fighting Fantasy book to tackle horror head on and it’s a straight up classic. Vampires, ghosts, lots and lots of zombies. The House of Hell has it all. If you’d like to help me make mor...

In this bonus episode I'm taking on the most powerful man in the universe in the form of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. This is pure self-indulgent nostalgia but I hope you enjoy. This episode is made possible by the generosity of my patrons. If you'd like to join that august body and ensure a steady stream of bonus episodes you can do so at patreon.com/hjdoom

Join HJDoom as he attempts to deal with some unfinished business with Ian Livingstone's Caverns of the Snow Witch. Will he succeed? Listen along to find out. You should probably listen to the first episode of Caverns of the Snow Witch before diving into this one.

Join your ever optimistic host HJDoom as he embarks on a freezing journey through some of the most inhospitable terrain yet featured on Fantastic Fights. Mammoths, Frost Giants, and surly dwarves abound in this deadly quest to defeat the abominable yeti and plunge into the mysterious lair of the even more mysterious snow witch. Will our hero make it out alive? What is the best flavour of crisps to...

It’s bonus episode time again and this time we’re taking a look at Raid on Nightmare Castle, part of the Endless Quest series released by TSR in the 1980s as a kind of introduction to the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Will we survive our trip into a world of talking animals and portly elves? Listen in to find out.

American game designer Steve Jackson, cursed from birth with the same name as English Fighting Fantasy creator Steve Jackson, wrote Scorpion Swamp, the first entry in the series not to be written by either of the creators of Fighting Fantasy. Will a fresh approach provide a welcome change of pace or will messing with the formula lead to chaos? Listen along to find out. If you'd like to support the...

A full playthrough of the Doctor Who: Decide Your Own Destiny book featuring the tenth doctor and Martha.