What is a Gamebook?
A gamebook is a special kind of story where you make the decisions! Instead of just reading from start to finish, you get to choose what happens next. It's like being the hero of your own adventure.
You might have heard of books like Choose Your Own Adventure or Fighting Fantasy — those are gamebooks! At the end of each section, you pick a choice and jump to a different part of the story.
🗺️ Example
§1
You stand at a crossroads in a dark forest.
Do you go left towards the mysterious castle, or right towards the village?
➡️ Go to the castle — turn to §4
➡️ Go to the village — turn to §7
With Bert's Gamebook Creator you can write your own stories like this, design character sheets for tracking health and items, and share them with others to play!
💡 Tip: You don't need to be a great writer to make a gamebook — just have fun with it and let your imagination run wild!
How to Write Your Book
1
Create a new book
Click the + New Book button on your library screen. Give your book a title, pick a genre, and add a description. You can also upload a cover image.
2
Write your paragraphs
Each section of your story is called a paragraph. Click + Add Paragraph to create one. Write your story text in the box. Each paragraph gets a number automatically.
3
Add choices
At the bottom of each paragraph, add choices for the reader. Type what the choice says (e.g. "Go into the cave") and pick which paragraph number it leads to.
4
Tag your paragraphs
Mark important paragraphs with tags — use Ending for the final paragraphs of your story, Dead End for paragraphs where the adventure ends badly, and Checkpoint for important milestones.
5
Use the flowchart
The flowchart panel shows you a map of how all your paragraphs connect. It's a great way to check that your story flows properly and nothing is a dead end by accident.
💡 Tip: Your book needs at least 2 paragraphs and one paragraph tagged as Ending before you can publish it to the Public Library.
Character Sheets
A character sheet is like a player's scorecard — it keeps track of important things like their health, skills, gold, and items as they play through your story.
📋 Types of fields you can add
- Number — for stats like Health, Strength, Luck. Has a current value and a maximum (e.g. Health: 14 / 20).
- Text — for things like a character's name or notes.
- Checkbox list — for skills or abilities that can be ticked on or off.
- Inventory — a list of items the player picks up during the adventure.
- Equipment — for weapons or armour slots the player can equip.
- Gold / Money — tracks how much gold or currency the player has.
🛠️ How to build one
In the author editor, click the 🧾 Sheet tab. Add fields one by one using the buttons on the left. You can drag them to reorder, and set default values.
💡 Tip: Keep it simple! A sheet with Health, a couple of skills, and an inventory is plenty for a first book. You can always add more later.
How to Play a Book
1
Find a book to play
Play one of your own books from My Library, or visit the 🌍 Public Library to find books written by other people.
2
Read the story
The story text appears in the middle of the screen. Read carefully — your choices matter!
3
Make your choices
At the bottom of each section you'll see buttons with your choices. Tap the one you want and the story jumps to the next part.
4
Use your character sheet
Tap 🧾 Sheet on the right to open your character sheet. Update your health, add items you find, and keep track of your stats as you play.
5
Your progress is saved automatically
The game saves every time you make a choice. If you close the app and come back later, you can continue right where you left off. If you're signed in, your save is stored in the cloud so you can continue on any device!
💡 Tip: If you want to start the story over, tap the ↺ Restart button at the top of the reader screen.
About Bert's Gamebook Creator
Bert's Gamebook Creator is a passion project built for anyone who loves interactive storytelling — whether you're a writer, a reader, a teacher, or a kid with a big imagination.
It's designed to make creating gamebooks as easy and fun as possible, with no technical knowledge needed. Write your adventure, design a character sheet, and share it with the world.
✨ Features
- 📝 Full paragraph editor with choices and auto-numbering
- 🗺️ Live flowchart to visualise your story structure
- 🧾 Custom character sheet designer
- 🎮 Built-in reader / play mode with auto-save
- 🌍 Public Library — publish and discover books
- ☁️ Cloud save — continue your adventure on any device
- 📄 PDF export for printing your gamebook
- 📱 Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
- 💾 Install as an app on your computer or phone
🙏 Thank you for using the app!
If you enjoy it, please share it with friends and rate the books you play in the Public Library. Every rating helps other readers discover great adventures.
💡 Install tip: You can install this app on your computer or phone for quick access — look for the install button in your browser's address bar, or the banner at the bottom of the screen.
Bert's Gamebook Creator
