Price: Free!
Website: Failbetter Games
As a general rule I do not like browser games. They're typically shallow, repetitive, and in some cases designed to be just fun enough to keep you playing but with annoying restraints in the hopes of frustrating you into paying money to access premium content. Well, much to my own surprise, I found a browser game that I actually really like. Enter "Fallen London," a narrative based browser game with a delightfully dark setting and fantastic writing. Think of this as a choose your own adventure novel for adults in the form of a browser game.
Here's the premise as listed on the game's home page.
Thirty years ago, London was stolen. Now it rests on the shore of the Unterzee, that old dark ocean under the world. Hell is close, immorality is cheap, and the screaming has largely stopped...
Welcome Delicious Friend.
As you can see, the game paints the world with its words; well crafted and artistically styled words that leave lots of room for interpretation and imagination. The setting is delightfully dark and subtly sinister. Victorian London was stolen by bats and now resides a mile below the surface on the shores of the Unterzee, a Cthulhian influence if ever there was one that has had some strange affects on the residents of Fallen London. The game never outright says that everyone is at least a little insane but in quality horror writing fashion you are lead to believe that your surroundings are in fact quite ordinary as you brush shoulders with squid faced rubbery men, honey addled ne're-do-wells, devils, spies trying to leverage information in 'The Great Game', half-dead tomb colonists, and haunted Zee-captains, all under the watchful eyes of 'The Masters.' The writing is complimented by appropriately styled artwork which, even in its minimalist nature, adds a splash of color to make the setting all that more interesting and potent.
The core mechanic that runs this game is a limited action point system whereby players can use action points to attempt various "story-lets" that can succeed or fail depending on your stats and gear. Completing specific story-lets unlock larger story arcs which in turn unlock new areas or larger narratives. Players can have up to 20 action points at once and receive a new point every ten minutes. The restriction ensures that players do not just blast through all of the game content in a day which I for one would happily do if it were an option. You can pay a small month subscription to increase your action point total to 40 or purchase 'fate' (the premium in-game currency) to unlock the material faster or purchase premium narratives. The monetization method employed is unobtrusive and I have never felt like I was missing out on account of playing for free.
Your story starts in prison (the reason why is up to you) and you must find a way to escape. This little story arc acts as a 'tutorial' for new players. You can attempt an action whose chance of success is determined by one of your characters' four stats (Watchful, Shadowy, Persuasive, and Dangerous). Attempting an action will always improve the stat it requires, even if you do not succeed. In the beginning of the game success means moving the plot forward with a small reward (there are a dizzying amount of collectible and usable items in this game) and failure usually means you just need to try again. Later on though the penalties for failure can be cost you much more than just an action point. At the time of this review my character has landed himself back in prison after cumulative failures in his chosen profession (criminal) brought his suspicion level up too high.
There are also story arcs that you can only attempt once (unless you have a special item the guarantees a second chance). I have only run into one of these so far, but I really wanted to unlock the next piece of narrative in that particular mystery and so I made pretty darn sure that I would succeed, increase my stats accordingly and purchasing gear to assist with 'Shadowy' related things.
Generally speaking you have four main direction you can go at the start of your story, each direction corresponding to one of your four stats. You can jump back and forth between these arcs without any penalty whatsoever, but you can only have one profession at a time, and your profession will provide you with substantial weekly bonuses related to only one core stat. I chose Shadowy as my primary direction of choice with Persuasive as a soft second. My character has gone through a few criminal focused story arcs and from smuggling to burglaries to making underground (or rather 'flit top') connections it has been a very enjoyable ride fraught with menaces and intrigue all its own. The Persuasive line (so far) has me writing poetry about mushrooms, murder stories so grotesque that several schools were shut down on account of me, and using wily schemes to earn the trust of other aspiring artists for purposes that I'm not altogether sure of just yet, but it will be intriguing to find out. The Watchful direction will (assumedly) make you a hunter of secrets (Fallen London is rife with them) and a strategic player in 'The Great Game'. The Dangerous direction is (assumedly) for those who would like to bash heads or hunt monsters. I look forward to exploring all of them thoroughly.
There are some light multiplayer options that I haven't explored yet. You can get other players to assist you in specific challenges or take some of your suspicion upon themselves if they are so inclined. There may be other options to be unlocked but what I really appreciate is that the option is there and that it is only an option, not a requirement.
This is a lovingly and well crafted game about narrative with lots to explore with new content being released regularly for premium members to dig into once all the very substantial amount of free content has been explored. I haven't played many browser games, but I am sure that this is the best one I've ever seen. It seems to my limited understanding of browser games that they struck a generous balance between providing the player with quality content with an optional premium line of content and upgrades that is attractive but doesn't break the game or make free-to-play users feel like they are missing out. I suppose all that you need is imagination to enjoy the setting and patience to not get frustrated by limited action points per day.
So here's to a Cthulhu steampunk inspired work of browser game art. The game is free, so why not give it a try?
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