That Last Post Reminds Me, I've Been Meaning To Do This Up For A While.

That last post reminds me, I've been meaning to do this up for a while.

An incomplete list of games I personally recommend as a narrative dev from a "Gosh I loved their narrative design and these aren't AAA" perspective, some of which are on sale in that celebration:

Mutazione: "A mutant soap opera where small-town gossip meets the supernatural. Explore the Mutazione community as Kai as she cares for her ailing grandfather. Discover magical gardens, new friends & old secrets. They can survive an apocalyptic meteor strike, but can they survive their small-town drama?" I adore this game. It has lingered with me since I played it in 2019. The character writing is excellent, and the structure of the narrative is delightful. A gem that deserves to be far more widely known.

Amarantus: "Arik's been told two things all his life: a tyrant is ruling the country, and somebody needs to do something. Now forced to flee his house after a midnight attack, his parents captured and his house torched—maybe somebody means you. It's time to gather a party, head to the capital, and take the Lord down. Along the journey, this crew of old friends and new strangers will grow closer—or further apart—as your choices guide Arik to win friends, make enemies, play matchmaker, and break hearts. Romance is not guaranteed: messiness is." (Disclaimer: friend of a friend made this) Amarantus is a deeply gripping visual novel, which plays with the format in a very compelling way. The worldbuilding is intricate, the characters incredibly human and incredibly messy, and it rewards multiple playthroughs to develop a deeper understanding of the overall situation. I would also strongly rec If Not Us, by the same developer, for the same reasons.

Sunshine Shuffle: (Disclaimer: friends made this) "Play cards with a group of adorable animal friends who robbed the largest bank on the Eastern Seaboard 12 years ago, and are willing to let you decorate their boat in return for not being executed by the mafia." Sunshine Shuffle is not for everyone, but it uses the structure of the poker games to deliver the narrative with a controlled pace that has really gripping emergent tension. The character writing is as ever the strongest part of the experience, and I think this is one of the more niche Strange Scaffold titles but it's also my personal favourite.

Roadwarden: "Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG that uses isometric pixel art and combines mechanics borrowed from RPGs, Visual Novels, adventure games and interactive fiction." Roadwarden is at the time of writing $5.39NZD and you should play it. Please play Roadwarden. It's a ridiculously ambitious project, sprawling and lush with some cutting choice branches that had me get up and physically go pace around as I thought through the ethical ramifications as well as the roleplay ones.

Citizen Sleeper: "Roleplaying in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism. Live the life of an escaped worker, washed-up on a lawless station at the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of TTRPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future." I adore Citizen Sleeper, another incredibly ambitious project that is able to get away with everything it does thanks to the heavy stylization (you will notice a trend here). I can't wait to play the sequel, I find this one hard to talk about because I never want to risk spoiling anything about it. Just an absolute treat. Left me feeling uplifted and hollowed out in equal measure at times. Big wins for fungi fans also.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante: "A narrative-driven hardcore RPG set in a gritty world ruled by real but unrelenting gods. Set out on a challenging lifetime journey, where every choice has a price and entails consequences. Will you become an inquisitor, a judge, or conspire against the old order? Dare to decide!" Another incredibly ambitious RPG project and one that haunts me deeply. Punishing, fascinating, with excellent character writing and immense replayability. I've done at least 9 runs of this game. I am chomping at the bit for the sequel. If you like exploring fictional theology, you'll potentially have a fantastic time over here.

Murders on the Yangtze River: ""Murders on Yangtze River" is an Ace Attorney-like detective game that takes you on a journey through early 20th century China as you solve a series of intriguing cases. Use your logical reasoning and deduction skills to uncover clues, interrogate suspects, and solve the mysteries." One of my recent favourites. Plays with the format in a very refreshing way, has rock solid mystery writing, and provides also an educational encylopedia to provide historic context around a lot of the things that come up! I've so far convinced at least 7 people to play it, and not a one has regretted that choice.

Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane: "In Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane, you play as a defense attorney who practices law in a world of fantasy and wizards. You must defend clients accused of various crimes committed using magic and use the rules of magic to prove them innocent." Far more directly than the last title in this list, TCAA is directly influenced by AA in an absolutely undeniable way, borrowing from the stylistic presentation of that series near 1:1 at times. However, beyond that aesthetic presentation is rich mystery writing that plays with its premise in a really fun way. You're basically playing as a lawyer in a D&D setting, and using the written spell descriptions in the cases. I found myself wishing they went in a little harder on that at times, but it's a really really fun ride that has some interesting innovations. I'm looking forward to the next project from this team immensely. Only a couple of frustration points based around needing to use very specific phrasing to progress.

Mouthwashing: "The five crew members of the Tulpar are stranded in the empty reaches of space, shrouded in perpetual sunset. God is not watching." If you haven't heard of Mouthwashing at this point, you should. Absolutely stellar. Only game that's ever made me dig out video editing software so I could assemble a private personal chronological viewing experience. Really hard to talk about without spoiling the whole thing. Not a light playthrough.

Wandering Sword: "Wandering Sword is a Chinese martial-arts RPG where you play a young swordsman caught up in a feud and nearly dies. Escaping the event puts you on the path of pursuing the highest form of martial arts and exploring the pugilistic world to become the great hero you are always destined to be." Ohhhh my god I love this game. It's vast. Dizzyingly ambitious for a debut RPG. Yuwen Yi is a fantastic authored protagonist and I would die and kill for him. I need to play the DLC and cry some more. The combat system is incredibly fun. I undid hours of progress to save my favourite rat man from destruction. I saved another man's life by not liking him.

The Rewinder: "The Rewinder is an adventure puzzle game based on Chinese mythology. You play as Yun, the last known Rewinder, who can communicate with spirits and explore other people's memories to alter the past" Absolutely stunning presentation on this one. A relatively short experience, but very compelling. Did make me do math, which I personally needed help for, but I loved the story it told and how it did it.