Retro Recall is as much about memories as it is games and for me, one of the defining memories of my childhood was sitting with my Grandfather as he read through this book, the Dungeons & Dragons: Choose Your Own Adventure Sticker Book.

This book was the first time I'd ever been able to delve into a choose your own adventure. My brother and I played through this dozens of times with my Grandfather as he patiently waited for us to decide upon what we'd do and where the next part of our quest would take us.

Inside the book, it came with the standard trappings of a choose your own adventure game, namely the myriad of different passages that twisted and turned their way through a very simple quest which saw you looking to reclaim THE FORCE (yes, it was written like that) from the dastardly Kelek, the Evil Sorcerer.

Whilst I remember it being quite hard it probably was very easy, made for children and based on the cartoon series of the same name. It also featured artwork and more from that show too including the rather epic Tiamat on the front cover. That had been enough to entice me into this world, even before the story, and I remember religiously watching the cartoon to see if any of the things I'd seen would come up in it.

Maps & Stickers...Stickers Bro!

Being a fan of Gloomhaven with its maps and stickers now as a thirty-plus-year-old man I think maybe it all started with this book. As well as the story it also came with a cool map of the different locations you could visit within the realm...

...and two sheets of stickers which you could place onto the different landscapes whenever you found yourself facing off against a dangerous monster or nefarious foe.

I distinctly remember getting wowed by the names of these beasts and wanting to know more about them. Alas, I think my Grandfather wasn't entirely clued up on Dungeons & Dragons but he did his best and I think a healthy love of Greek Mythology came to life from this too.

You had stickers for the characters you'd meet, the monsters and villains, and the shards of THE FORCE which were scattered amongst the pages of the story. It was a great way to engage my brother and me as youngsters.

Whilst it's clearly not as nuanced a book as those of the Fighting Fantasy series, or Lone Wolf, it really did get me excited and started off a lifelong love of Fantasy.

Try It Yourself!

If you were able to play through this adventure, or you want to see it for yourself, a site called Retroist has the entire book uploaded as scanned images HERE. You can't enjoy the awesome stickers but it might be just what you need to get some youngsters into Fantasy!

Save THE FORCE!