At PAX Australia, TechGeek had the chance to look at the latest story from Tin Man Games, The Forest of Doom, written by Ian Livingstone. The Forest of Doom combines the enjoyable choose-your-own adventure novels with basic tabletop role-playing mechanics. For those unfamiliar with the story, you are an adventurer fighting against the clock to recover the missing pieces of the legendary Hammer of Stonebridge. While the story of the game heavily based on Livingstone’s novel; some options are decided by rolling 3D physics-based dice – similar to Dungeons and Dragons; whether your character succeed or fails an action, to whether you are lucky enough to avoid an unfortunate event.
When I had the opportunity to play the game, I had roll for my stats – similar to Dungeons and Dragons. The stats were Skill, Stamina and Luck. Skill was for attack power, and stamina was for health. Afterwards the story had started and so did my adventure. Several pages later, I wandered into a Wizard’s Tower, encountering the owner. I was presented with an option to talk or attack the wizard. I chose the aggressive option leading to my character’s death; thus ending my play-through. Although quick, it was fun combining excellent storytelling with simple tabletop gameplay.
The Forest of Doom is available on iPad, iPhone and Android.
