Before starting this review, we thank Woohoomania and Christopher Bünte for the premium physical edition of the fantasy gamebook The Curse of the Snake Queen. Funnded by Kickstarter within about a month, the project had great success.
If you would like to purchase this product (available in English or German), you can contact the author or get the digital edition here. The current prices are €35 for the physical premium edition and €10 for the PDF edition.
Let’s open the box that contains it together to reveal what’s inside!
The Curse of the Snake Queen Materials Review
Let’s start by saying that the box containing our two adventures is presented as a carefully crafted and refined product. The image of the snake queen dominates the thick and well-made cardboard. Inside we find two different stories, each in its own booklet and both in A5 format with a semi-rigid cover. I’m talking about The Curse of the Snake Queen (64 pages) and A Lousy Night in Candarlin (128 pages).
We will then have at our disposal a map with two different sides, a character sheet of Jhary Greyfell with his characteristics and his story, a small wooden miniature of the thief, two 6-sided dice, a pencil, a themed bookmark and a block of grids ready to support us in our adventure. In short, we are provided with everything necessary to experience the story in the best possible way.
Game Mechanics
Shame on anyone who has never browsed through a gamebook! Having now rightfully entered after almost forty years of honorable service among the products loved by players all over the world, gamebooks tell a story with “branched” paths, in which the reader must make choices and go to the indicated paragraph to continue the plot. There are therefore several endings available, which makes them even more appealing to the curious. Over time, however, this product has increasingly come closer to the world of roleplaying games, requiring dice rolls to resolve some paragraphs. This is precisely the case of The Curse of the Snake Queen, in which every time we are asked for a Fate Number, we will roll both six-sided dice provided in the box and add them together.
We will also have a character sheet at our disposal, with any bonuses given by specific traits and skills to add to the result. The book will come to our aid from time to time, indicating what to consider in our sheet and what the minimum required result will be.
Let’s find out who we can play and where the action of the adventure we are about to face takes place.
The Protagonist of the Adventures
First of all, we can choose whether to use the hero already created for the adventures, Jhary Greyfell the thief, or create our own character.
In this case, after deciding on a name, we should simply distribute 4 Attribute points (divided between Education, Intelligence, Perception, Dexterity and Strength) and 6 Skill points (between Ancient Languages, Balance, Climbing, Empathy, Lockpicking, Lying, Negotiating, Stealing, Stealth, Tracking and Underworld).
There are no races or classes to choose from, but we can do whatever we like balancing the points that have been given to us.
We will always start with the same equipment and number of coins.
The Curse of the Snake Queen Setting Review
After having marked them on our sheet, we are ready to enter the world of Te Arras, in an era that finally sees the supremacy of men. The kingdom of Numed and the magical kingdom of Gohanmr are in constant struggle for the dominion of the continent. The first does not hide its greed, while the second keeps its intentions well hidden. Of course, after centuries spent under the dominion of dragons, anyone would be eager to make space for themselves in the future of this world.
If you have chosen the chosen protagonist, Jhary Greyfell, you will play as a thief with delusions of grandeur who considers himself the best in the port city of Candarlin, where many of his adventures take place. Some of you may have already come across him while playing A Lousy Night in Candarlin, The Secrets of Candarlin or again The Catacombs of Candarlin, all the gamebooks in this series and by the same author. Don’t worry though: you won’t need to have played them to understand the plot of these two adventures although the title A Lousy Night in Candarlin could be misleading. The geography of this world, in fact, is shared but the stories can be considered unconnected despite some references.
Plots
In The Curse of the Snake Queen we will be faced with a case of disappearance of some workers. There are rumors of an ancient curse, but to silence any rumors the praetor of Candarlin will hire you to solve the matter. There will probably be a more plausible explanation. Or maybe not.
In A Lousy Night in Candarlin we will try to pay off our gambling debts by entering the tower of a rich merchant and pulling off the coup that could save our lives. Unfortunately, as they say, all that shines is not gold. It certainly looks like a long night.
Two adventures, two perfect situations that anyone could find themselves in even in a fantasy roleplaying game. The choice is yours!
The Curse of the Snake Queen Review Conclusions
Author uses simple language, very suitable for reading small paragraphs typical of gamebooks. Despite this, stories are very well-crafted and rich in details, thanks also to a deep and fascinating setting, useful for the entire series. Among the pages of the adventure we will find a few drawings, created to make us understand what items or situations we will find ourselves in. In addition to the maps present inside the box set, behind the covers of both adventures we will have further references to geography. The squared sheets will help anyone who wants to keep track of rooms and dungeons, proving to be a useful addition.
For gamebook lovers, Jhary’s new adventure is unmissable. If you don’t know this series yet, maybe it’s time to give it a chance. The difficulty level is medium, making it not too difficult for those who might approach it.
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