The Search for The Smiler

Coming soon: A brand new Adventure Gamebook, set in the land of Puddledark!

In the bustling town of Lunkpuff, where fireworks light up the skies and nightly festivities pulse with laughter and cheer, a sinister darkness festers. Beneath the revelry hides a terrifying presence—the Smiler, a masked serial killer who has turned the chaos of celebration into the perfect cover for murder. For years, their grisly crimes have haunted the town, each scene staged with macabre theatrics. The elders are powerless to stop the terror and fear begins to overshadow Lunkpuff’s joy.

You are Klynt Darrow, a sharp-witted bounty hunter from Herovia with a reputation for tracking the untrackable. Armed with your unorthodox methods, training from the School of Adventurers and an uncanny ability to read the minds of killers, you are Lunkpuff’s last hope. But the hunt is far from simple. The town’s twisting alleyways and suspicious residents conceal more than just the Smiler’s trail—they hide a darker truth.

As you delve deeper, you uncover hidden tunnels, dangerous factions in the surrounding mountains and whispers of a cult that worships the Smiler as an avatar of chaos. Each clue pulls you further into a web of secrets, conspiracies and danger, where every ally could be a traitor and every shadow hides a potential killer.

The final confrontation will come during Lunkpuff’s grandest festival, a night when the town will be awash with lights, music—and blood. Will you unmask the Smiler, or will you become the next victim in their deadly game?

THIS IS YOUR STORY, but survival is far from guaranteed!

UPDATE - 6th March 2025

Design, edit and typesetting for 'The Search for The Smiler' is progressing well and we are on course for a physical release in April. In the meantime, I am happy to give you more details on some of the characters you may meet on your adventure... if you live that long, of course.

KLYNT – The Relentless Hunter
You are Klynt Darrow, a seasoned bounty hunter with a sharp mind and a sharper blade. You are no stranger to the dark underbelly of society. Hired to hunt down the enigmatic serial killer known as The Smiler, you soon find yourself tangled in a web of cults, chaos and corruption far beyond a simple bounty. Cynical yet fiercely determined, you will stop at nothing to track your target—even if it means questioning your own morality along the way.

KASTRA – The Warrior with a Scarred Soul
A hardened survivor of past atrocities, Kastra carries both physical and emotional wounds from her previous encounters with chaos. She is fiercely independent, reluctant to trust, but deadly when cornered. As your path leads deeper into the nightmarish underbelly of Lunkpuff, Kastra emerges as both a guide and a warrior, wielding her experience like a blade. But will she be able to outrun the darkness that still lingers within her?

ELLIS – The Silver-Tongued Outlaw
Ellis is a charismatic drifter with a murky past, quick with a blade and quicker with a lie. Though he claims to be a simple merchant caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, his knowledge hints at something deeper. His loyalties remain uncertain and, as the search for The Smiler gets more and more frought with peril, so too does the mystery surrounding Ellis himself. Will he prove to be a trusted ally—or something far more dangerous?

VANNA – The Alchemist of Lunkpuff
A skilled apothecary and healer, Vanna is one of the few in Lunkpuff who sees through the veil of revelry to the horrors lurking beneath. Pragmatic and resourceful, she provides you and your companions with crucial knowledge on the alchemical forces at play. But her connection to Lunkpuff runs deeper than mere duty and, as the killings escalate, she must decide where her true loyalties lie.

RENFIELD – The Enigmatic Wanderer
A lone traveller with a wry smile and an easy charm, Renfield claims to have no allegiance—to the cult, to the town, or to any higher cause—but his knowledge of the Smiler’s path is uncanny. Quick-witted and resourceful, he lends his blade to your hunt, though his true motivations remain frustratingly elusive. In a world of lies and deception, Renfield might just be the most beguiling mystery of all.