Starship Traveller Reviews

The Fighting Fantasy series are Choose your own Adventure books, with some random elements (you roll dice for several stats at the start of each game, which affects many choices that depend on skill checks), as well as nicer graphics and some sound effects. Most have a pulp Sci-Fi / Fantasy feel to them. They generally have good production values. I prefer them to the Choice of Games series, which seem more hit-or-miss based on the skill of the author. This one was of the same quality as the others I've played, with a distinct Star Trek feel to it. You travel about in your ship, beam down to planets with your choice of 2 to 3 man away teams, and the things you can do as well as your sucess chances are based on who comes with you and your aforementioned stats. If the price seems a bit steep, know that you can get these on mobile platforms for less. There's also a much wider selection on iOS.

I have read a lot of gamebooks in my younger days but not Starship Traveller. I bought this game out of nostlagia but it turns out to be a disappointment. Tedious multiple initial dice rolls which is inconsequential and poor fractured storyline. Steve Jackson had written great stuff like the Sorcery! series (check it out on Steam) but this is a low. If you can get it as part of a discounted bundle, that's fine. (good for easy achievements). But totally not worth it at full price on its own. Out of the FF books game bundle, Caverns of the Snow Witch is the best.

The game isn't flashy, but neither is playing the tabletop version. The game is reminiscent of old text-based games of the early 80's, when computer graphics weren't really anything beyond what a Commodore 64 could offer. The game works as a single-player standalone, and it's a nice little jaunt for a quick adventure. On the PC it works, but like the tabletop game - it's not flashy. If you want a more engaging experience, buy No Man's Sky or something else. If you want an easy-to-digest experience that you can enjoy by yourself without spending hours doing the same pointless repetitive tasks - then Starship Traveller works, and it works well - and best of all, it costs less than the soda you're going to buy while waiting for your friends to show up at the gaming store to actually play Traveller on a tabletop.

As someone who enjoys both Choose Your Own Adventure novels and sci-fi RPGs (Bioware's games in particular), I'm finding myself pleasantly surprised with this title. While I have no prior experience with the IP, the ambience and story are vaguely reminiscent of Star Trek and the like in terms of audio and overall presentation. It's worth noting that this game/novel is quite unique among its genre since most of the CYOA stories I've read are bereft of any graphical (i.e., artwork injected into the text) and/or musical representations. Having these additions is a nice change of pace and helps to establish the atmosphere the developer is trying to create. Furthermore, this also includes a visually appealing GUI along with some customization options, which is yet another treat in this genre. EDIT: The Star Trek references littered throughout this novel are kind of amusing. For example, you carry "phasers," "beam down" to planets, have warp drives, wear the same uniform colors as the classifications in TOS/TNG, and when you select your ground team, the choice is labeled, "Make it so!" Will update once I've finished my playthrough in its entirety.

A great on-screen production of one of the early Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. A change of direction from the usual sword&sorcery style games set in the world of Allansia, this one is set on board a spaceship [i](as if you hadn't guessed)[/i] which has been trapped in a parallel universe to Earth. Steve Jackson's star-trek style original book has been brought back to life [i](beamed down?)[/i] on screen here. The gameplay is just as it woz [i](all those years ago!)[/i] and altho the original artwork has been redesigned with new, colour illustrations, it complements the game perfectly. There are options for futuristic background music and sound effects, as well as a series of 20 Steam achievements ranging from tricky to amusing. There are also Steam trading cards for this game, if you like that sort of thing. In addition to your own skill, stamina & luck scores, you have a small specialist crew with their own individual scores, who may need to fight with you or make skill roles in their area of expertise. Your starship has scores for weapons and shields. As well as the standard FF combat, this game also has systems of combat for personal phaser duels (quick & deadly!) and ship-to ship battles. You have the option to custom name your character, crew, ship & even the ensign. The game is not very combat heavy, but does need very specific path choices to find the info required to make your way safely back to Earth. The game is quite short, but that is because the original book woz only 340 references rather than the usual 400, so not a fault of the developers. TinManGames have produced several of the original FF games as standalone titles (more about them elsewhere) and this is an enjoyable variation on the theme.

AHH FEEL THE NOSTALGIA! As a child growing up in the 80's and being a big reader it was a labour of love saving up money to buy every fighting fantasty book as they came out.Starship Traveller wasn't in the typical setting of most of the fighting fasntasy books. Tin Man games hasn't done a great job of transferring this book to the computer due to the source material being weak. The combat seems slow and drawn out compared to other fighting fantasy books. In addition the achievments are quite bugged and require a complete reinstall of the game after wipeing saves to get some of them to pop. The only way I would reccomend buying this is as part of the pack.

I did not read this book as a child (unlike several of the others currently available), having less interest in a "Star Trek" type of adventure book than a D&D type. I'm surprised to see how little I missed. Of all of the FF gamebooks I've read, this is by FAR the worst one. You visit many planets in this book, but only two matter; You can literally finish the book in 5 minutes flat (without a single combat) if you know which planets to skip. The graphics and sound effects aren't the worst in the world in so far as gamebooks are judged, but the story here is extremely weak and unsatisfying. Recommended only if they bundle these books together again (the method in which I purchased them several years ago).

True to the original, there seems to be no link between the choice made and the outcome.

A pretty interesting game but be warned it will get very repeatitve very early on...starting each mission follows the same text and it will start to get boring after a short while. Most of this is due to luck though so sometimes your mission may go on for quite a while or ends very quickly. Overall the appearance is pretty good though but no flashing graphics and just one sound wave most of the time. Its a good alternative to other action packed games and a lot of love was spent in making this but due to having to repeat many stages in the game (visit the same planets etc knowing what may lie ahead) then I cant recomend this which is a shame.

Starship Traveller, Is another adaptation by Tin Man of a "Create your own adventure" book. Basically this is a good thing, but how did it work out? -The presentation is nicely done in a overall blue tone and provides a solid sci-fi feeling. -The difficulty checks and other rolls are well animated and create a bit of tension when you're hoping for a "good" result. -The writing is okay, but isn't of the best and during the second playthrough it becomes rather boring. -Each adventure starts out the same and that is a big negative thing. The planets and things you encounter are always at the same spot and there's no variation in this. That makes Starship Traveller a strong game during your first game and a very boring one as soon as you start a second or third game. Would I buy this game if I knew about this? Well, yes, because I'm just the kind of person who likes to read and always liked these kind of books.