Mr. Cuculainn goes to Fallen London

Beats dragons. Less fire but more poop.

Happy New Year! Time to dust off the keyboard and warm up the blog. Every once in a while, you stumble upon a game that takes you by surprise. An unlikely suspect in the barrage of virtual entertainment we are faced with every day. Well over a year ago I stumbled onto one such game, but as life got busy it fell by the wayside. I rediscovered the game out of a sheer whim and a desire to write about a game that is a bit different. Simple gameplay, but I'll be damned if it can't paint you a narrative that many other games simply cannot compete with. Failbetter Games has done something unique and it deserves a look if you want something different.

This is the story so far of Cuculainn in Fallen London.



Like many games, this one also starts with your character locked up in prison. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this. I went about plotting my escape by deciphering prison graffiti that details how to make it out of the labyrinth outside my prison cell. This increased my my Watchful quality (a play on intelligence/wisdom and my favorite), one of the four main Qualities that will determine how well various situations play out. The other three are Dangerous (Strength/Combat Prowess), Shadowy (Dexterity/Cunning), and my other favorite, Persuasive (Charisma). Your choices and activities will influence whether you increase or decrease some of these Qualities. You might even gain some extra side-qualities as you play.

After emerging from the labyrinth, I find myself on the streets of Fallen London, the city that fell into "the 'Neath". Which was beneath London, apparently. Still with me? OK good. The setting is essentially an alternative Victorian era London, with Gothic and Steampunk themes peppered throughout the narrative. I work my way to Veilgarden, a district known for artistic and seedy sorts. The Singing Mandrake, the local tavern, would be a good place to start making a name for myself, work for whatever currency there is down here, and of course, have a drink. Time to dive in.

I sell my prison garb and stumble into the Singing Mandrake, presumably butt-naked, and start telling dirty jokes, like some bawdy Victorian stand-up comedian. The first few fell flat, but as my Persuasive skills increase with each failed joke, I manage to get the crowd laughing. I graduate from simple knee-slappers to more dangerous, politically-oriented jokes that has everyone in stitches, but looking over their shoulders in fear of any constables that may be passing by. Before I know it, I have the place in the palm of my hand. I'm mocking terrible poets, and coaxing secrets out of inebriated spies, and making in-roads with the Bohemians. I sell some things to earn myself some pence. It's London here people, what else would you expect? Pence is the minor currency compared to the Echo (1 Echo = 100 pence). With this new found money, I cloth myself properly and the Victorian Chippendale show comes to a close. I also make a decision on an Ambition, one of the main story drivers you get to choose. I have determined to make my Ambition the pursuit if a legendary card game where I will bet my soul to win my heart's desire. Fancy!

I can't spend all my time at the Singing Mandrake, so I stagger back out into the streets in search of a place to rest my head. I con my way into a spare bedroom of a house owned by a widow. Free meals and a comfy bed become my base of operations. I trek to Ladybones Road, where I begin deciphering graffiti to learn more about Fallen London. However, staring at graffiti has started to drive me mad, and I start to get nightmares. I press on and begin studying the hidden language of tattoos, which starts to build my Watchful quality. In Fallen London, mysteries are wrapped in enigmas, and then tattooed into the flesh of people. I'm hired by the constables to stake out the Clathermont Tattoo Parlor and watch the comings and goings of their patrons. It's a good opportunity to develop my detective skills while collecting one of the many forms of currency bought and traded in this macabre world. Whispered Secrets. Stolen Kisses. Cryptic Clues. Rats-on-a-String. There's a market for this stuff, I kid you not.

I head back to Veilgarden to continue to build my influence in the area. I become a budding poet. Yes, a poet. Writing poems about... mushrooms. And I can choose to either make up details or spend some time amongst the fungi to truly capture the essence of everything mushroom. And do not underestimate the role of mushrooms in Fallen London. They're used for sport (Mushroom hopping!) and making wines. My poems were enough to capture the eye of a Struggling Artist's Model, and for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to call her SAM. Hooray androgynous names! I take a break from my fungus epic writing to woo this lass.

To develop relations with SAM, I have to build up my "Fascinating" quality. The more things I do to become more fascinating, the more successful I am in gaining her trust and admiration. In our exchanges, I manage to extract secrets and continue to develop my Persuasive quality. I learn her weaknesses and use them to further the seduction. However, I fall in love with her, and manage to convince her of this fact through my skillful use of words.  In the end, I am betrayed by learning that she has been stealing secrets from me all the while, using me in the greater game of information trading. Instead of retaliating, I take the moral high ground and let her go. My Magnanimous quality goes up, I gain a new menace: Scandal, and I earn some Incendiary Gossip to be used later. Is there no end to the depth of character development?

While this is happening I use the occasional Opportunity card. These events are random and can reward or punish you. You can be given ways to increase (or decrease) your connections with Bohemians, Devils, the Church, Revolutionaries, or any other of the groups that occupy this dark world. You can stumble into an angry mob and either run away or stand and fight them all. If your main qualities aren't up to snuff in certain situations, you may find yourself forced into a certain direction, whether it's to your liking or not. The alternative choices, while likely to be impossible to succeed in, can improve those qualities you are lacking while earning yourself higher levels of the primary menaces: Nightmares, Scandal, Suspicion, and Wounds. If any of these menaces get too high in level, you will find yourself in situations that block your progress until you can resolve them.

For instance, I was setting out to decipher more graffiti as well as the language of tattoos to develop my Watchful quality. These can result in an increase in Nightmares if I'm not careful. Certain Opportunity cards will also increase my Nightmares while other ones will allow me to decrease them. One interaction with a seemingly Cheery Gentleman on the street finally put me over the edge. He was apparently a figure of my imagination, and interacting him with poor luck reduced my sanity enough to put me into the 8th level of Nightmares. Before I knew it, I was moved to a State of Confusion. I became trapped in a dreamworld hotel, and I wouldn't be able to leave until I have reduced my Nightmares menace to 0. Very Hotel California. So, I talked to lizards, and cats, and drank from water fountains that burned my throat. All the while I'm muttering to myself that I need to track down the manager of this outfit. Cause he's running this dreamworld hotel like crap. I never did find the manager, but I finally escaped my mental prison and resumed my investigations in the real world.

At this point, I'm still barely scratching the surface of the stories that Fallen London: Echo Bazaar offers. What I like the most about this game is that it is very open-ended. You can go about modeling your character any way you want, while random decisions you have to make will add a touch of randomness to keep things interesting. And things are not always what they seem, so you will be surprised often. A completionist will have their work cut out for them, as it is possible to max out the 4 main Qualities, but be prepared to visit Fallen London as often as you can as your Actions refill over time. Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss some of the finer mechanics. Onwards!

You cannot just run willy-nilly through Fallen London at your leisure. You start with a candle on the side of your screen that visually depicts how many Actions you have remaining. Every story event or Opportunity card requires you to spend at least 1 Action. Your Actions refill over time, so once you spend your first Action a timer appears that lets you know when you will gain 1 more Action back. This will remind you of social network games that are free to play, but allow you to pay for the convenience of longer sessions. Fallen London is no different, as you can subscribe to gain a second candle, effectively doubling the number of Actions you can work with in one session. As with other social games, you can also link your Facebook or Twitter account to the game to share your adventures. I abhor polluting my Twitter stream with game event broadcasts, but some of you may relish the torture you heap upon your friends and followers.

You can also purchase the other currencies in the game, Fate and Nex, in order to gain premium story content,  and further conveniences to speed up story progression or reduce the risk of failing certain challenges. You can earn Fate in the game on rare occasions, but Nex is purely transactional in nature. Prices are fairly reasonable, but I would recommend playing the game for quite a while before you consider shelling out for more content. If Failbetter Games can build more worlds like this, then I would support that in a heart-beat.

What makes the style of Fallen London even more intriguing is that you can build your own world from the ground up and create a game that employs the same multi-path narrative. Story Nexus, also created by Failbetter Games, is a world builder that allows one to turn their ideas into a world of their choice. There are several games/worlds available to explore that range from the polish of Fallen London, to works in progress that have potential to shine. After perusing some of these worlds, it is obvious that the creative talent behind these games will get what they put in. Fallen London is full of stories and choices that are artfully interwoven. When reading the story choices and outcomes, you get a real feeling that they put time and effort to make the writing fit the theme, add depth to the world, and present humor in a variety of ways.

So for now, Cuculainn will venture down the dark streets of Fallen London, becoming a detective with a keen charm. Working his way into the upper-echelons of society by day and chasing shadows down alleyways by night. James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes. I encourage you to tell your own story. Explore Fallen London and other worlds offered by Failbetter Games and give something new a chance while 2013 itself is still brand spanking new. And while you're at it, try a new brew. I've sampled from the new brewery in town, Two Roads Brewing Company, and so far I'm pretty happy with their White IPA: Honeyspot Road.

Sláinte
-WF