Will You Be My D&D Valentine? Rediscovered Realms is exploring TSR’s short-lived D&D HeartQuest interactive romance gamebooks from the wayback of 1983-1984
You're welcome, Jonah! I hope your campaign does amazing. And thanks for encouraging me to keep spending my money, er, time, on finding semi-obscure fantasy products.
As you know, I'm in the catergory of really enjoying these books. They are my favourite of the Endless quest spin-offs as they feel much like the original series with a few extra "Kiss him or not?" choices.
Like you, I'd have never considered buying them as a kid, but as an adult (with 3 daughters) my tastes have evolved. Noteably, there is no reference to D&D on the covers. (The quickest way to become unpopular among females was D&D or comic books in the 1980s, in my experience).
I managed to buy the first 4 (with only one torn window), but the last two are prohibitavly expensive (a pity as book 6 is the best in my opinion). And I'm in total agreement that Val Valyusk's renaissaince art really fits the genre.
Thanks Kveto! I appreciate your insight on these and so many other old school fantasy products. 🛡🗡 (I haven't been able to get a hold of books 5 and 6 either - too rich for my blood!)
My pleasure, Geoffrey. I've been waiting nearly a year to write about them. It's funny whenever I do research before penning an article, I'm always finding several others online who have written about the same exact topic - often just a year or two before me. I guess my rabbit-ears-brain-antenna is a little slow. Time to get out the aluminum foil . . .
For the New Edge Sword & Sorcery Kickstarter wrapup party stream we did last year, our editor pulled out a copy of Secret Sorceress that he had found and we did a playthrough of the book through votes from the audience etc. They do seem adorable for what they intended to be, but some of the writing still can't help but get wisecracks from us.
I knew gamebooks were big at one time, but I’m always surprised by the variety that’s out there. Great find as always!
And thanks again for the shoutout!
You're welcome, Jonah! I hope your campaign does amazing. And thanks for encouraging me to keep spending my money, er, time, on finding semi-obscure fantasy products.
Hey, great review and thanks for the shoutout.
As you know, I'm in the catergory of really enjoying these books. They are my favourite of the Endless quest spin-offs as they feel much like the original series with a few extra "Kiss him or not?" choices.
Like you, I'd have never considered buying them as a kid, but as an adult (with 3 daughters) my tastes have evolved. Noteably, there is no reference to D&D on the covers. (The quickest way to become unpopular among females was D&D or comic books in the 1980s, in my experience).
I managed to buy the first 4 (with only one torn window), but the last two are prohibitavly expensive (a pity as book 6 is the best in my opinion). And I'm in total agreement that Val Valyusk's renaissaince art really fits the genre.
Great post, keep up the good work, JQ.
Thanks Kveto! I appreciate your insight on these and so many other old school fantasy products. 🛡🗡 (I haven't been able to get a hold of books 5 and 6 either - too rich for my blood!)
Love these weird little US fantasy artefacts you keep finding! :D
LOL - thanks Alec! (What makes you think you're an authority on "weird", anyway? 🙄🤔😁)
I’ve always been curious about this series. Thanks for the overview!
My pleasure, Geoffrey. I've been waiting nearly a year to write about them. It's funny whenever I do research before penning an article, I'm always finding several others online who have written about the same exact topic - often just a year or two before me. I guess my rabbit-ears-brain-antenna is a little slow. Time to get out the aluminum foil . . .
For the New Edge Sword & Sorcery Kickstarter wrapup party stream we did last year, our editor pulled out a copy of Secret Sorceress that he had found and we did a playthrough of the book through votes from the audience etc. They do seem adorable for what they intended to be, but some of the writing still can't help but get wisecracks from us.
That's awesome, Kevin! I do find myself spontaneously guffawing at many points reading these and other gamebooks from that era.
Great stuff
Hey, thank you, Jesse! I appreciate your comment - Keep the Adventure Going Strong!