DLC for Fallen London
Codename: Sugarplum is an add-on for Fallen London, a browser-based choose-your-own-adventure game set in "Fallen London", an alternative Victorian London with gothic overtones. Codename: Sugarplum was originally the Exceptional Story for June, 2022.
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I've now played 3 Chandler Groover Exceptional Stories (the others being Paisley and Caveat Emptor, 5 to go), and this is my favorite of them so far. They all tend to experiment with the mechanics in a more extreme way than other authors' work. Generally in solid ways, though occasionally things can get frustrating, even if I understand the idea. They always tend to compliment the narrative, which is always solid, but this time the whole "ludonarrative" just sings.
You get asked to find a missing dog, a Dachshund named Sugarplum. You quickly find the surface journalist hiring you is eyes-deep in the Great Game, but that's not all that surprising. More surprising is that the more you investigate, the more people you find who are also missing their own dog, a dachshund named Sugarplum. I had my own theories about where this was going, and the truth turned out to be much weirder.
The main mechanical hook of the story is the decryptions. You encounter various coded communications of the spy ring involved in the story. It turns out that every message is both a coded message, and a key to not one but every other coded message. This creates a nice bit of feedback where each new code you uncover exponentially increases the number of leads.
I could easily believe this wouldn't scale to a story even one extra code, and indeed things are broken up even further by, for example, having a message found in pieces, so you can only use it as a cypher text until much later. I can also understand the complaints some people had that the in story descriptions of code-breaking treated it like something new to your character, even if they were a professional spy (like me). I can see that, but it amounted to just one storylet feeling off to me, and it was a fun mechanic, so I guess I can forgive some weirdness like that.
That same idea plays importantly into the themes. Having multiple messages in a single cypher text isn't a great idea for a single network of spies, and that's acknowledged in story. Its a deliberate weakness because the whole spy ring are just pawns to be discarded. In the end they're a tool of larger forces using them to advance their own positions. The multiple encodings also plays exceptionally (heh) well with the big climactic reveal.
Another standout point here is the story's relationship to the larger Fallen London world. Like Queen of the Elephants before it, this story ties in heavily to the late game lore (much further endgame in this case, tying into Railway exclusive content). I'm not far enough to fully grasp the subtleties of the events, and I still enjoyed it well enough, while also whetting my appetite for the Railway. The tie-in also works without needing to unlock the Railway (admittedly that might be harder to do more than once).
Further, the story fits into what appears to be an ongoing development in the larger narrative. Several stories have involved, to one degree or another, Mr. Stones flexing its muscles to gain more control in London, and this story continues that development. We probably won't be able to fully evaluate that arc (if that's what it is) until it's concluded, but it's definitely intriguing, and helps play into the theme of all the characters (including arguably the PC) being pawns of larger forces. Stones isn't a major character here, but unlike everyone else involved it gets everything it wants, and there's not much you can do about that.
Altogether a fun, funny, and fascinating narrative that lays groundwork for future stories. Chandler Groover at his best, and highly recommended to anyone curious to try Exceptional Stories.
You get asked to find a missing dog, a Dachshund named Sugarplum. You quickly find the surface journalist hiring you is eyes-deep in the Great Game, but that's not all that surprising. More surprising is that the more you investigate, the more people you find who are also missing their own dog, a dachshund named Sugarplum. I had my own theories about where this was going, and the truth turned out to be much weirder.
The main mechanical hook of the story is the decryptions. You encounter various coded communications of the spy ring involved in the story. It turns out that every message is both a coded message, and a key to not one but every other coded message. This creates a nice bit of feedback where each new code you uncover exponentially increases the number of leads.
I could easily believe this wouldn't scale to a story even one extra code, and indeed things are broken up even further by, for example, having a message found in pieces, so you can only use it as a cypher text until much later. I can also understand the complaints some people had that the in story descriptions of code-breaking treated it like something new to your character, even if they were a professional spy (like me). I can see that, but it amounted to just one storylet feeling off to me, and it was a fun mechanic, so I guess I can forgive some weirdness like that.
That same idea plays importantly into the themes. Having multiple messages in a single cypher text isn't a great idea for a single network of spies, and that's acknowledged in story. Its a deliberate weakness because the whole spy ring are just pawns to be discarded. In the end they're a tool of larger forces using them to advance their own positions. The multiple encodings also plays exceptionally (heh) well with the big climactic reveal.
Another standout point here is the story's relationship to the larger Fallen London world. Like Queen of the Elephants before it, this story ties in heavily to the late game lore (much further endgame in this case, tying into Railway exclusive content). I'm not far enough to fully grasp the subtleties of the events, and I still enjoyed it well enough, while also whetting my appetite for the Railway. The tie-in also works without needing to unlock the Railway (admittedly that might be harder to do more than once).
Further, the story fits into what appears to be an ongoing development in the larger narrative. Several stories have involved, to one degree or another, Mr. Stones flexing its muscles to gain more control in London, and this story continues that development. We probably won't be able to fully evaluate that arc (if that's what it is) until it's concluded, but it's definitely intriguing, and helps play into the theme of all the characters (including arguably the PC) being pawns of larger forces. Stones isn't a major character here, but unlike everyone else involved it gets everything it wants, and there's not much you can do about that.
Altogether a fun, funny, and fascinating narrative that lays groundwork for future stories. Chandler Groover at his best, and highly recommended to anyone curious to try Exceptional Stories.