DLC for Fallen London
A Stretch in the Sky is add-on for Fallen London, a browser-based choose-your-own-adventure game set in "Fallen London", an alternative Victorian London with gothic overtones. A Stretch in the Sky was originally published as an Exceptional Story.
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Very strong piece from Olivia Wood. You're place undercover in prison and asked to pick between a set of inmates for one to be released. You get to know the main characters quite well, while trying to work out why they are there and why your mission is even happening.
There is a lot of talking in this one, which goes well to the strength of the character writing. "X will remember this" type choices where the change in circumstances actually does lead to different behavior as the characters react to what's changed. Many times you will find yourself going through essentially the same options, but getting different responses because of how your cellmates perspective of you has changed.
For a low stakes story that lays out it's major choice essentially immediately, it had me stopping to consider far more than other Exceptional Stories where my character's actions had much broader impact.
Mechanically it's somewhat weird. Probably because you do sometimes get repeated answers, but possibly just because of how much talking there is, most conversations don't take any actions. I would genuinely not be surprised if I used two dozen actions or less over the entire story. This felt a bit odd because you're away from London, so there's no Opportunity deck to work from, but I think it would probably be idea for someone with a long uninterrupted stretch of playtime.
My on main complaint was that at the very end you have a final choice between (as best I understand) two options for one of the major characters, but you don't have an option to let them choose for themselves, in a context where it seems reasonable to let the player do that (even if it would force the player's hand).
Also, the Potential Pirate's portrait was, IIRC, a much earlier art asset, and so has a somewhat more cartoony style. I think this is the first time I've seen that used to supplement the characterization, and it actually worked really well.
There is a lot of talking in this one, which goes well to the strength of the character writing. "X will remember this" type choices where the change in circumstances actually does lead to different behavior as the characters react to what's changed. Many times you will find yourself going through essentially the same options, but getting different responses because of how your cellmates perspective of you has changed.
For a low stakes story that lays out it's major choice essentially immediately, it had me stopping to consider far more than other Exceptional Stories where my character's actions had much broader impact.
Mechanically it's somewhat weird. Probably because you do sometimes get repeated answers, but possibly just because of how much talking there is, most conversations don't take any actions. I would genuinely not be surprised if I used two dozen actions or less over the entire story. This felt a bit odd because you're away from London, so there's no Opportunity deck to work from, but I think it would probably be idea for someone with a long uninterrupted stretch of playtime.
My on main complaint was that at the very end you have a final choice between (as best I understand) two options for one of the major characters, but you don't have an option to let them choose for themselves, in a context where it seems reasonable to let the player do that (even if it would force the player's hand).
Also, the Potential Pirate's portrait was, IIRC, a much earlier art asset, and so has a somewhat more cartoony style. I think this is the first time I've seen that used to supplement the characterization, and it actually worked really well.