The Knuckleduster series is a currently developing series of gamebooks, or interactive fiction, set in the American West during the Nineteenth Century, the "Cowboy Era." They are not "gamebooks" in the traditional sense, as they do not speak about "you" doing anything. Instead, it describes the actions of the hero as he goes through the action in the book. You are in full control, however, so think of this guy as your character, and you'll be OK.
The mechanics in these books are simple. In fact, your character doesn't even have an statistics to describe him/her. Instead, whenever you encounter a situation that you have to get the hero out of, you are told to roll a certain number of six-sided dice, and given a target number to match or beat. If you match or beat the number, you're golden. If not, you might develop a bad case of "lead poisoning." There are times in the adventure when you have to make some mighty hard rolls, too. This is where Bonus Rolls come in. During the adventure, successful and heroic actions get you Bonus Rolls (you also start with one). These can be used before you roll the dice to add extra dice to your roll, thus increasing your chance of succeeding. These are very important, as some encounters can be downright lethal, as a gunfight should be. Additionally, you get points throughout the book for doing good deeds and winning duels. The idea is to get the highest score that you can. I've currently got a 30 for my high score. Think you can beat that one, pilgrim?
In this book you play the role of Deputy U.S. Marshal Red Lewis, on the trail of Johnny Cohron, a murderer. He is part of a cattle gang, and is spending the night in Abilene, Kansas. You get the tip from another law officer, and decide that you could use the $500 reward for getting the kid, dead or alive. You arrive in Abilene near sunset, and you figure you've got 24 hours to get Cohron before he bolts town. You start on one corner of the city. You then have to guide Red through the various inns and taverns of Abilene trying to piece together the clues to lead him to wherever Johnny Cohron is hiding. Red will get into a number of scrapes on the way, hopefully eventually finding Cohron and bringing him back.
I liked this book. The story was very original (to me, at least) and kept me involved. I liked the "detective" feel to it as you try to piece together the events taking place and the clues leading to Cohron's location. The downside of a story of this type is that you have limited re-play value. Once you find out where Cohron is hiding, he's always there no matter how many times you read the story. Of course, his gun is there, too, if you know what I mean. The book is also not too difficult to get through, if you have a modicum of luck on the dice and don't get in to far over your head in a fight. It took me two tries to beat it. The first time I got bushwhacked by Cohron and gunned down. The second time I flushed him from his hiding place and was able to track him down and capture him alive. Granted, the dice were hot that second time through, and I had a few bonus rolls I didn't even have to use.
This book is a satisfactory role-playing experience, if somewhat limited. It is somewhat simple once you get the hang of it, but it fits the story, which is very entertaining. There are also historical notes nicely spaced throughout the book, which is a big plus for something trying to have a historical feel. The Devil's Addition is recommended to all gamebook fans who have any interest at all in the American West, as it captures the feel nicely.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
