Come to Innsmouth, a little port town just down the coast from Arkham. Dr. Stella Addison is looking for help investigating tales of a pirate shipwreck off the shores of this odd little town. You saw her ad in the paper and the job seems perfect for you. Sure, there are some odd stories about the town, but for the chance to find pirate treasure you can handle some eccentric locals. And it will be you handling those locals because Jonathan Green’s The Tides of Innsmouth isn’t just a story, it’s a game! Your adventure and your ultimate ending depend on the choices you make and a little bit of chance. You might win it all…or you might never come back from Innsmouth.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Aconyte for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of The Tides of Innsmouth contains some spoilers!]
A much more involved reading adventure from Aconyte’s Arkham Horror series
This isn’t the first choose-your-own-adventure game book from Aconyte I’ve reviewed. It isn’t even the first one written by Jonathan Green. I enjoy how these books draw you in by being more involved than just “pick a number”. There are, of course, many different paths to choose from, but dice rolls, items acquired, and character attributes affect your options. This turns a simple book into a game and makes it more engaging.
In The Tides of Innsmouth there’s another twist. There are three different characters that you can choose to play as. The different characters all start out with different stats, items, strengths, and weaknesses that affect gameplay. Which means that when you choose different characters, you’ll get different options during play, even if you make all the same decisions. This extra level of nuance made the reading extra fun.
Other Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks have had this feature too. But in The Tides of Innsmouth, you can also use characters from other gamebooks. You carry over their attributes from the end of your adventure in the other book, not their beginning stats. This makes the book almost like a Dungeons and Dragons game that you play by yourself, since you have a character that you shape and carry over from one game to the next. It’s an interesting addition to an already fun concept.
To play The Darkness Over Arkham, you need to have a six-sided die (I used Google’s roll a die), paper and pencil (I used my note app, but also ended up writing in the book for some of it, so I still needed a pencil). The pencil and paper help to keep track of the different items you pick up and your ever-changing attributes.
Just like in the other Arkham Investigators Gamebooks, you will have to keep track of different stats for your character, as well as items or information that you pick up along the way. And there are puzzles that you’ll have to solve too. This means that you’ll probably want a paper and pencil when you play (or the note app on your phone). You also need a six-sided die to play (or just use your phone again and have Google roll a die for you). Once you have your supplies, settle in for a good time and get reading!
The Tides of Innsmouth is an unsettling adventure
Now that the mechanics of the book are out of the way, just what is The Tides of Innsmouth about? Your character (whomever that ends up being) sees an ad in the paper looking for someone to help Dr. Stella Addison search for a lost pirate ship. The ad warns that the job will be dangerous, but you’re more intrigued than worried, so you head to the isolated town of Innsmouth to meet her.
When you get there, the town is even creepier than you imagined and Dr. Addison is nowhere to be found. You start looking for her, but the more you look, the more unsettled you become. Danger seems to be everywhere, can you find Dr. Addison and get out before it’s too late? Or was it already too late when you answered the ad?
Being a choose-your-own-adventure book means that it’s possible to make it out alive, but being an Arkham Horror book means that it isn’t likely. There are many different endings in The Tides of Innsmouth, but I’m not sure I’d classify any of them as good, and most are really bad. Survival rates for people going to Innsmouth are low to say the least. At times, it was frustrating because it felt like, no matter what I did, I just ended up dead. It’s not a lot of fun playing a game you can’t win.
My first read-through had me dead in about three decisions! But there were some read-throughs that lasted for a long time and there were even a couple that felt like a win, even if I wouldn’t call them happy endings. I suppose with this being part of the Arkham Horror series I should just be happy that I got out at all, but it would have been nice to have a couple more wins, and maybe even a few (or even just one) that felt like an actual happy ending.
Final thoughts on The Tides of Innsmouth by Jonathan Green
I’ve mentioned both good and bad points about The Tides of Innsmouth. Where do my feelings land in the end? Green weaves an interesting story with lots of intrigue and dread. It’s a fun solo-adventure that can be played over and over. Being able to use different starting characters adds to the replayability.
This is definitely not a book that you will only read once. It can be a little bit of a downer when you get killed too many times in a row, but figuring out better choices and making it through is exhilarating.
My rating for this book: 7/10
Overall, I do recommend this to anyone who likes adventure games. Be prepared for a looming sense of dread when you play, but don’t worry about anything being gory or gruesome, Arkham Horror is more about atmosphere than gore. Just make sure you set aside a good hour or more when you sit down to play, it’s best to complete your read-through in one sitting so you don’t confuse the different adventures you go on!
The Tides of Innsmouth by Jonathan Green is now available where books are sold. Do you want to check this book out? Let us know what you think on social media @mycosmiccircus!
Also check out: Book Review: Moon Knight: Age of Anubis: A Marvel Multiverse Missions Gamebook by Jonathan Green
