In 1987 I picked up a second-hand copy of a Fighting Fantasy adventure game book called The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and was completely hooked. The idea of the book was (and still is) simple, you read a paragraph and choose which path/action to take next by browsing to relevant numbered paragraphs – attempting to complete the book in the process. For a 10 year old boy this level of pre-video game escapism was very addictive. I seem to recall that the book cost me a mere 10 pence, a small sum that lead me to  read nothing else but the entire Fighting Fantasy range for the whole of that school year. Today whilst Googling I discovered that 22 years on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is being released as a Nintendo DS game in October 2009!

Now it won’t have passed you by that my company is called Firetop Ltd, a name which enabled me to take a childhood addiction to choosing your own destiny, and apply that tenuously to search engine optimisation (’Fire’ ‘top’). Indeed in the office here there is an autographed copy of the Warlock of Firetop Mountain signed by authors Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (as well as many other original books). I’m pleased that with the help of Canadian developers Big Blue Bubble, Ian and Steve have decided to take their brand into the Nintendo DS era for a new generation. I’m also pleased to report that the original books still cut it with the modern generation anyway (having recently converted a 10 year old relative to the books as a gift).

From what I’ve read online the DS game doesn’t have a UK release date yet but does come out in the US and Canada around the 26th / 27th October and some time later as an iPhone game. Here’s the game trailer (embedded from YouTube); quite different to the books that inspired me but given my Firetop obsession I couldn’t resist a posting of this modern version.

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: Nintendo DS Game

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