TSR, $2.25, ISBN 0-88038-169-8
Sci-fi, 1984

You are a young man named Merrill. Your father is an official in the Pan-Galactic Corporation, helping to arrange peaceful trade meetings between planets everywhere, and as a result, you currently find yourself in a school on the planet Artule as your father does his thing here.

You are the only Earthling surrounded by the natives as well as kids from neighboring planets. You feel like a freak, you poor thing, and the kids aren’t exactly warm either. You do have a friend, Lodi, who also happens to the son of the school supervisor.

In Trouble on Artule, the fun begins when you spot a strange tube in the pocci field…

This adventure isn’t the most flexible gamebook as there are actually very few options available compared to a typical gamebook. The introductory entry alone takes up 20 pages! What unfurls is a standard “schoolkids stumble upon adult criminals” story with few surprises to be had. There are four long happy endings to be had, and it’s easy to get all four in a few rounds of play because there are few options to choose from in the first place.

Trouble on Artule is therefore better off being a straight-up young adult fiction. As a gamebook, this one offers very little fun, unless you’re happy to set aside your expectations and settle for the story.