Polybius is based on an urban legend about a video game that wreaks havoc on anyone unlucky enough to play it. I was familiar with the urban legend and always thought it was a great hook for a novel, so I was excited to pick up Polybius. The book has a great premise, but unfortunately didn’t live up to its promise for me.

My main complaint is that the book is devoted to telling, rather than showing. Page after page details what characters thought, did, and feared, with no real description of action or dialogue. Eventually the over-description becomes tedious, and the novel starts to feel flat and stale. While I loved the idea of Polybius, the execution failed. Still, if you are a lover of retro games and 80’s nostalgia, this one might work for you.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

I enjoyed the concept of this story a lot and there were some things that I think worked pretty well in it. However, to a degree, it insults the reader’s intelligence by leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. Absolutely everything in the book is spelled out for you and at some points it just feels unnecessary because the implication is there so it doesn’t even need to be said? The characters were great and they were developed well, so no complaints there. But, the progress of the storyline as a whole was lacking for me. I don’t need the author to show me how to make the puzzle, that takes away all the fun of the puzzle. That was and is my biggest gripe.

This book seemed so promising! Urban legend? Yes please! It was fun at moments, and I could feel the eeriness creeping in, however the pacing was very off. It was so slow and came off way too YA. Bummer! I'm sure it will find its target audience, but i do think the majority of people that know the story behind this UL will be in the older age range. Though it was not a huge hit for me personally, I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this in advance and will keep an eye out for future reads from this author.

I wanted to love this. It just didn't click for me. I kept going and going, but ultimately, none of it really mattered to me. Maybe there were too many POV characters and so I couldn't invest. I don't know. Sorry. I am sure it clicked with someone, but it just wasn't me.

Narration/Audiobook: 3/5
Egalley/Overall Story: 3.75/5

Polybius is a great summer horror to pick up. The story entertainingly captures fear and paranoia with all the other emotions of teens coming of age. It will definitely make you nostalgic of those days spent at the mall seeing friends and making new ones. I enjoyed the 80’s setting and the idea of an evil government built video game that hooks into its players. This made me think about how we can be so consumed by our devices and the pull they can have over us.

This was a quick read that I believe most will find easy to get into. I can understand the comparison to the show Stranger Things, but it also made me think of movies like The Crazies. My only issue with Polybius is that it’s marketed as adult horror and not YA. The story does have unsettling moments and tension, but the cast, dialogue, and horror was more fitting to a younger audience.

When I first read the synopsis of this novel I thought it was going to be great. It was described as Stranger Things meets Walking Dead and I immediately wanted to read it. I had trouble getting through it. It didn't suck me in right away--there was a lot of jumping from past to present and back again and I had trouble following the story. The characters lacked for me as well. The premise is solid--I just feel like so much more could have been done with this novel.

**Warning--some scenes are rather graphic**

This book seemed so promising! Urban legend? Yes please! It was fun at moments, and I could feel the erriness creeping in, however the pacing was very off. It was so slow and came off way too YA. Bummer! I'm sure it will find it's target audience, but i do think the majority of people that know the story behind this UL will be in the older age range. Though it was not a huge hit for me personally, I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this in advance and will keep an eye out for future reads from this author.

A mysterious video game leads to chaos and violence when it appears in a small town.

I liked the concept here, but the writing style was not for me. Perhaps part of it was that it just was slow for at least half the book, which is not really what you want in something that is supposed to be spooky. I wanted suspense but just found that lacking.

3.5 (my four stars are others 5 stars, my 5 stars are "personal favorites I recommend). This book was good.
This was not what I was expecting. I did not realize at first how it was based in folklore. I loved the premise and it was not only giving that but had twist in turns into other genre. Was an interesting blend. I did like the on and off again smart writing that was unique to the story. It did slow down for me in certain parts but kept me hooked to find out what happened. I did find the characters to be engaging and I kept waiting to see the fate of them. I enjoyed the read and glad i picked it up.

In the fall of 1982, Tasker Bay, a small town north of San Jose, California, U.S., finds itself at the crossroads of new money and old values.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Home Video World, a combination video store and arcade, where older customers rent new-fangled videotapes and young customers play games on used arcade cabinets that the owner, Mal, buys on the cheap at auction. Andi works at Home Video World as Mal's trusty arcade mechanic and counter assistant, but the teenager yearns to escape the small town where she was forced to move with her mother after her parents split and return to Silicon Valley, with the idea that reuniting with her father will allow her to pursue a career in new technologies.

Published today by Simon and Shuster, Polybius, the debut novel by Collin Armstrong, first introduces the idea of a mysterious video game with a powerful effect upon everyone who plays it, before introducing a cast of characters who easily come to life through a combination of realistic dialogue and empathetic motivations. These are not just characters: they feel like neighbors, the citizens of a small town that have been dealing with the tensions that come from long-time residents forced to commingle with a flock of newly-arrived strangers who want to change their way of life.

Andi's mother, Rachel, is the town's only medical doctor, and thus welcomed by the local folks, yet Andi herself is reserved, always holding herself back from drawing close to anyone in town, focused on what she views as her inevitable departure as soon as she graduates from high school. Even so, she finds herself attracted to Ro, a fellow student and the son of the town's sheriff, David. Andi and Ro have similar dispositions, and it's no wonder that they make a connection.

Timing is everything, however, and the town is soon plunged into increasing terror, all tied to the arrival of a mysterious video game, housed in an anonymous arcade cabinet, that Mal buys for Home Video World. The game quickly draws a line of eager players of all ages. Simultaneously, random acts of violence, uncommon in the small town, began small before slowly ramping up.

Collin Armstrong, who once upon a time contributed to our site, creatures an environment that feels familiar -- early 1980s, small Northern California town, video games -- that initially evokes many easy comparisons, such as John Carpenter's The Fog, Tommy Lee Wallace's Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and the Netflix series Stranger Things. In the opening prologue, however, Armstrong feints towards the jugular, suggesting that this story will not tip toward the mythical or the supernatural. That's borne out by the manner in which the narrative develops, which is singularly distinctive, even as it evokes even more influences and/or comparisons.

Armstrong has his own style, though, which is also established early: his writing is lean yet muscular, with every word chosen carefully. Early in my reading, some sentences jumped out for their clever turn of phrase, as did certain clever couplets. Those examples quickly multiplied as the stream of the story plunged onward, in a manner that makes it easy to read and increasingly gripping.

The town of Tasker Bay comes vividly to life: the diners, bars, markets, and shops, as well as Home Video World, which feels like every video store I've ever visited in my life. More than the town itself, though, it's the characters who come vividly to life that makes Polybius such an engaging read. Armstrong sketches every character, including all the supporting cast, in a true-to-life fashion, and digs deeper into his lead characters.

By the time the action fully revs up, sympathies for individual characters have already been established. I turned the pages, eager to see the fate of favorites, while dreading what I might read. Polybius has the heart of a pulp thriller and a head that knows what makes people tick, making for an exciting debut novel by Collin Armstrong.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book as a vibes only type book. I don’t think they are selling anything. That’s super new per se. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia and it gave an atmosphere of “Rabbits” the podcast while also being very fast-paced to medium-paced at times.
Also, I really enjoy the cover. I think it’s foreboding while meeting that very arcade-eske feeling.

Subpar adaptation of one of my favorite urban legends in modern folklore. You had so much to work with and almost got there but we get a novel that comes of as YA. Maybe it was made for a younger audience but I feel like most people that are aware of this legend are going to be in their 30s.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

While I love a good urban legend, it was very difficult to become engrossed in this book due to the pacing. The chapters were short, which worked in it's favor, but the plot felt like the exact opposite. It could be due to the writing style, which felt more narrative with a lot of telling us how characters felt and acted instead of showing us. I also thought the characters were very surface level, which made it hard to care about what was happening to them. The spooky parts were well done, but I would not comp title it to Stranger Things.

This was such an eerie ride. Weaponizing a videogame to create psychological warfare is such an insane concept but also terrifying. This book gave 'The Crazies' vibe so hard which I was totally here for. I think the epilogue helped wrap up a few things for me mentally within the story, but I still wanted more information on HOW this video game really dug it's nails into the mass' brains. There was an explanation, but I just need more, what else is new. Anyway, this was definitely a unique story, compared to a lot of what I've been reading lately so I appreciated the originality there. I'd definitely recommend gamers of all kinds to pick this up and give themselves a good scare!

3.5/5 stars. I liked this book. It gave me Stranger Thing Vibes and was fast paced and exciting. There a few moments that were a little hard to follow but overall I enjoyed it

I really wanted to love this book. The plot and the mystery surrounding it were sooo good. I would have given it 4 stars if it hadn’t been for the writing style. It wasn’t awful, I just found it too wordy. Like when you’re writing a 10k paper for a class and phrase things in a way that adds more words without more substance. Definitely recommend for the plot, as the writing style thing is purely just my own personal issue and probably won’t bother others.

This book sent me decades in my past when I saved up all the quarters I could get to play Double Dragon and Street Fighter for hours at the gas station while slurping an Icee. Then it took a dark turn and spiraled out of control, taking the worst impulses of people and making them reality. It got sick, twisted, and absorbed my attention to the degree that I had to stop reading others books so I could finish it.

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

One of gaming's most fascinating urban legends becomes reality in a new novel published last week by Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books. Polybius, the debut novel by Collin Armstrong, transports readers to a small town during the golden age of arcade machines. Unfortunately for the citizens of Tasker Bay, the new game at their local arcade is about to wreak havoc on their daily lives. There are surprisingly few novels from major publishers centered around video games, and this one is definitely worth a read. Polybius is a fast-paced and thrilling tale that mixes psychological horror with sci-fi.

The novel regularly switches narrative perspectives, but the main characters who drive the plot forward are teenagers Andi and Ro. Andi is a part-time employee of Home Video World, and Ro is a regular at the arcade who crushes on Andi from afar.

When Home Video World acquires a new arcade cabinet of unknown origins, players, including Ro, immediately become transfixed by the advanced graphics and gameplay. Though not a gamer herself, Andi is a programmer with experience fixing the machine boards. After observing the obsessive and concerning behavior from Polybius players, she opens the cabinet to learn more about its tech and code. Believing the game is dangerous, Andi and Ro begin searching for the answers they need. All the while, Tasker Bay descends further into madness with each passing day.

Polybius does a great job of turning the town of Tasker Bay into a compelling character of its own. Armstrong accomplishes this, in part, by utilizing numerous third-person perspectives beyond Andi and Ro, including Home Video World's sketchy owner, the town doctor (Andi's mom), the sheriff (Ro's dad), and multiple of Andi's and Ro's friends. These subplots are interspersed throughout, giving the novel a panoramic structure that showcases the different ways in which Polybius creates pandemonium.

Even as someone who was already well-versed in the Polybius urban legend before reading the novel, the story's strong execution more than makes up for those "spoilers." That said, if you don't know the ins and outs of the urban legend, which dates back at least 25 years, you might as well read the novel without any additional research. I'll leave it at that.

Bestselling horror author Richard Chizmar compared Polybius to Stranger Things in a blurb that appears on the dust jacket. After reading all 352 pages in two late-night marathon sessions, I can definitely see the similarities between Tasker Bay and Hawkins. And just like Stranger Things, amidst carnage and chaos, Polybius feels like horror-sci-fi comfort food.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Collin Armstrong for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Polybius coming out April 29, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really enjoy horror stories. I was excited to check this out. I thought the Walking Dead plot was interesting. There were a couple things that were a little confusing to me. But overall, I really enjoyed the story. I would definitely check out other books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror stories!

Thank you to Gallery and Simon Audio for the review copies! This is a perfect pick for anyone who really loves urban legend themes (raises hand) with a yen for ’80s nostalgia (again, raises hand)—the sticky soda floors, the chime of arcade games, and those first exhilarating tastes of adolescent freedom. I had so much fun with this one. The plot is fun and engaging, especially for fans of sci-fi, Stranger Things, and old-school Stephen King. But more than just reading it, I loved experiencing it—picturing the scenes, feeling like I was right back in the thick of the '80s, revisiting the edges of hormone laced adolescence for just a moment.