Thought some of the people here may be interested in this.
Echo Bazaar. The story so far…
1889.
Three decades ago, London was stolen by bats. Dragged deep into the earth by the Echo Bazaar. The sun is gone. All we have is the gas-light of Mr Fires.
But Londoners can get used to anything. And it’s quiet down here with the devils and the darkness and the mushroom wine. Peaceful.
But then YOU arrived.
Welcome. Delicious friend.
Has anyone here played this? It’s a web-based, text-based, free-to-play (more or less) game set in a Victorian London that has been taken deep beneath the Earth and now sits just down the river from Hell. You play a character who has just arrived from the Surface and found yourself a prisoner in New Newgate Prison; inside a mile-long stalagtite hanging from the roof of the cavern in which London now sits. A mysterious benefactor helps you escape and you now get to make your way through the world of Fallen London.
The Bazaar is located at the heart of Fallen London, in the Neath, a cavern of impossible size, by the Unterzee, a tremendous saltwater lake. They say it’s the skull of some defunct pagan god. That doesn’t sound very likely. Although it would explain the dreams.
The game takes the form of “Storylets”; little snippets of text that you get by taking various actions. In a lot of ways it reminds me of a “choose your adventure” type book. You also have “Qualities” that increase as you go through the game. There are four basic ones; Dangerous, Watchful, Persuasive and Shadowy, but you get others with stranger names like “Investigating…” or “An agent of the Cheesemonger” as you go on.
You steal into the grove. A pair of stolid black-clad Special Constables stand, arms folded, either side of a robed, hooded, hunchbacked figure. Is that a Master of the Bazaar? It’s impossible to be certain. Anyone could wear a hood.
Sitting on a camp-stool before the three of them is a pinch-faced, grey-haired woman. She’s half-way through a story. Something about a lonely castle and a boy in a locked room. A harsh-ticking clock and a cursed wedding. A confrontation in a lonely cottage and a love-death sealed in blood.
You don’t hear the whole thing, but it’s a grim tale indeed. It puts some of your own experiences into perspective. Your nightmares recede into the shadows. Fallen London isn’t so bad after all. The Master – if it is a Master – seems engrossed.
A puffball pops under your foot. You stifle a sneeze at the spore-cloud. The Constables peer into the shadows. Time to go.
What I love about this game is the setting and the writing. The setting is quite different and the writing is extremely evocative. There are mysteries to be uncovered and it is interesting to see where they lead.
A night which leaves you lost for words.
‘Exceptional’? ‘Unforgettable?’ ‘Ineradicable?’ Well, you can hardly bring yourself to regret it, although it raises concerns about the destination of your soul that you thought you were long past. You are quite certain, now, that she is not his sister; that he was human once, and in many senses still is; that they don’t have a single soul between them; and that she, at least, doesn’t feel she’s losing anything by it. You are not certain whether they knew all along exactly what you were up to.
By mutual agreement, the three of you decide not to take your breakfast in the dining room the next morning. A servant of unimpeachable discretion brings you tea, toast and marmalade, closing the door very quietly behind him.
The game connects through Twitter and Facebook and there are certain actions you can only undertake with the assistance of friends from those services who are already playing. I’m connected through Twitter using my “gaming” Twitter account (PaleoGamer) if anyone wants to join and friend me up.
I know I’m praising the game quite a bit but it really is one of the more original and intersting things I’ve come across lately. I recommend you at least look at it and would like to know what you think. You can get there at Fallen London.
Edit. Adding a few links.
Sample of playing - http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Home/FindOutMore
A review I wrote - http://14kofginafpd.com/2011/02/22/review-echo-bazzar-fallen-london/
