Who am I? You might never know. I am the eloquent gentleman, toast of parties all over the city, charmer of countless noble women, verbal combatant with some of the greatest minds, the creator of vivid and unrivaled poetry, theater, and books. His amused lordship enjoys my company, the Wry Functionary and share cards and drinks, even the Duchess herself seems to hold me in good regards. The common rabble love my work. I am not, however, just another pretty face in society's upper circles. My eyes are always watching, picking up clues and secrets that so many would wish hidden. I even turn my hand at thieving, though it is still a new hobby for me. I am a person of some consequence in this city, and I will become someone of Importance.
Or at least, that's who I am in Fallen London.
This entry is to talk about an innovative game that I came across last year. It was then called Echo Bazaar, and has recently revamped itself and now goes by the name Fallen London. This is not your normal game you might find on Steam or some other digital provider. It's not even a flash game like you might see on Armor Games or Miniclips. What this game is, is a browser game: a game that tells a story without a lot of strict "game play." Typically, you click through some cards and prompts and then chance decides if you succeed or not. You gain levels in four key skills, as well as in story specific occurrences, and gain items of a large variety to use in later story arches.
So basically, this whole game wouldn't seem all that engaging. It might come across as a novelty, a gimmicky website with nothing to offer. Yet, I find myself coming back to this game in my spare time. If I have a few minutes I like to hop on and run through a few missions, earn a level or two, or maybe hunt after some useful times. There's no sound, no three dimensional models, nothing but text (and a spinning hat load icon). What makes this game so appealing?
In short, the world. This game has created a world that is unique and intriguing. It is dark and mysterious while also being entertaining and lively. Through only the text before and after each challenge, the team behind Fallen London have built up a city that you come to understand and love. Whether you're a charmer like me, a thug, a thief, or whatever, you find how your character fits into the world and you can peruse that which interests you. Want to be a novelist? Work up and get into the literary circles, then dominate them. What to be a detective? Put in some time and hunt down big cases. The game functions much like you would think life does, working the menial jobs and low tier work until you get better and move on to more important work.
Every action you take is combined with story bits, short blurbs of text that talk about what you did, how you did it, and how it affected the city or the people. Your knowledge of the city and the people groups, various factions and locations, all grow in time. Nothing is ever just dumped on you, you learn in bits until you understand a good deal of how the whole Fallen London runs. The world is so complex, but is given to you in such digestible parts that you can understand its complexity and really immerse yourself in the world.
I love this game for its story and for showing that not all games have to be fast-paced and big budget. It also shows that an interesting story and believable world can keep a player around just as much as lots of explosions and collision physics. It is a step in showing games as mediums for storytelling and interactive art. I love the game, and I want to see how it grows. Maybe one day I could help shape the streets of Fallen London and influence the various factions.
You should join and play. It's fun.
Just something to chew on.
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