Of course, this is completely intentional as per Rule of Cool and Rule of Funny.

Anachronism Stew: If you were expecting complete historical accuracy, you're not gonna find it in this book wherein Ophelia invents indoor heating, Hamlet signs to Ophelia 'YA SERIOUSLY WTF' and the characters occasionally discuss the sexism inherent in the time period.

Ros and Guil stay as Hamlet's allies from then on. The covert letter-swap still happens, but rather than designating his friends for death, Hamlet advises the king to set them up lavishly instead. (You can guess North is a fan of Tom Stoppard.) In fact, when Hamlet discovers the letter recommending his death to the king of England, Ros and Guil are as surprised as he is.

Alternate Character Interpretation: invoked Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are portrayed much more favorably as awesome friends to Hamlet, and the narrator frequently sings their praises in the PARTY BOAT!!! branch.

Adaptation Expansion: Hamlet's brush with the pirates is expanded into a full-on swashbuckling adventure.

You can choose what you want to do with your life: help your boyfriend who's crying about a spooky ghost, or I don't know TAKE DOWN INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS INSTEAD? It's nuts. Ophelia's adventure is as well-thought-out as Hamlet's, but rather than being a hero suffering from crippling inaction, you are a smart, self-sufficient woman who knows what she wants and is totally rad 100% of the time, and also you are dating a PRINCE. Action Girl: Ophelia, unless you choose to follow the play's plot, which is treated as Character Derailment.Since lying down on the floor in a room covered with blood isn't exactly the most normal of actions, it fails miserably every time. Acting Unnatural: While trying to cover up Polonius' murder, Hamlet is many times given the option to just play the situation off by acting casual.

To Be or Not To Be: That Is the Adventure provides examples of: It has also been adapted for the PC, iOS and Android. The book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that, when it ended, was the most successful publishing project in Kickstarter history, attaining 2,904% of its $20,000 goal.Ī Kickstarter-exclusive prequel, Poor Yorick, was also made, with illustrations by Tyson Hesse. Using the conceit that it is, in fact, the original story of Hamlet, from which Shakespeare lifted a single path and later turned that path into a play, the book allows readers to choose between multiple viewpoint characters and a number of plot tangents of varying levels of realism. To Be or Not To Be: That Is the Adventure is a Gamebook adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, written by Ryan North.

Ryan north to be or not to be