Ongoing Projects
Play the work-in-progress demo of A Shriek of Ash and Fire
Join the discussion on the Choice of Games forums.
Get ahead of the content on my new Patreon Krog Pile | Writing Interactive Fiction | Patreon
A follow up to An Unexpectedly Green Journey, set more than a millennium after the events of the founding of the Green Empire. Playing the first game is not necessary but will add context.
In A SHRIEK OF ASH AND FIRE you play as a male or female tearaway at the tail end of adolescence, a petty thief running with the street gangs of Grandardagard, the vast capital of Ardland. The city is teeming with the ideas and products born from industrial revolution. Rumours abound of a new advisor guiding the hand of the unimpressive king, to clean up the city and embark on a ‘very certain future.’
Consider this large game a ‘heroic origins’ simulator. It is designed for exploration and replayability, where, in every path, we can learn more about the world and the events leading to its breaking. Rather than a single, huge story, the game is heavily branching to allow us to control how our MC rises from insignificance into someone of influence, someone who one day may be able to alter the balance in a continental war. We will craft our origins and put ourselves on the path of future legend.
A small confrontation leads to violence and banishment. You and your mates will find yourselves press-ganged into Zthullu, the dangerous ash continent to the west, potentially joining the crew of an immense ash crawler.
Here, untold mineral wealth waits for the daring and nefarious. But there’s also talk of revolution and war. Events tumble to a knife edge as the certainties of the past clash with utopian dreams of a future.
You, a mere street rat may play a pivotal role in events which will change the world forever…
This game takes a different approach from my previous one. Here, the narrative will be tighter, though you will get an immense amount of choice as you forge your reputation in Zthullu, in preparation for a life of banditry, wealth and influence, exploration or revenge.
As well as being influenced by the good old favourites, LOTR and Warhammer, there’s a dash of Mad Max and Immortal Engines to proceedings this time (maybe a bit of Dune sprinkled in for good measure).
RO Stuff
During their journey, your MC may find people they grow attached to, and there will be opportunities for amorous encounters. Some of these encounters may lead to relationships of a deeper, more meaningful magnitude, though life in Zthullu is a thing of suffering and survival. Attachments are often free-and-easy things born out of desperation. Apart from the Sniper, all ROs are potentially obtainable regardless of MC’s sex, though most are path-specific. There are also a few casual encounters thrown in, though of smaller consequence.
At present characters who are potential ROs, or at least those with possible ‘romantic’ encounters, are (this list may, and probably will, change while the game is developed):
The Sniper A potential new RO in the newest Patreon Update. Coireal the Siren Colonel Thrayton Free Agent, Man-Without-Title, Zuan Gibleti the Head Swab, and a goblin Avalina the Facilitator, the Basilisk-affiliated half-elf. Lady Evagrey the Younger Lord Evagrey the Younger Serafina
Released Interactive Fiction
Interactive Fiction at its most epic and brutal! An Unexpectedly Green Journey is an orc life-simulator, where, through 1.5 million words, you forge the orc of your dreams, and everyone else's nightmares.
OUT NOW!
Play the free demo below and find links to the full app on Steam, Apple, Android and Amazon:
An Unexpectedly Green Journey (choiceofgames.com)
Called stupid brutes, orcs are hated and looked down upon by all! If only an orc could unify the clans and turn the hordes against their enemies. Harness your might, and the power of gods and demons, to remake the world in the visage of an orc!
An Unexpectedly Green Journey is an interactive novel by James Isaac. It's entirely text-based—1.5 million words, without graphics or sound effects—and fuelled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Born in the baked, dusty plains, you emerge into a world of stagnation and decline. Orcs simmer in this backwater, a hopeless people dismissed as culturally stunted and irrelevant barbarians. Once, an age ago, orcs had the briefest glint of a place in the sun and held the continent of Behatland by the throat, only to fall before the united forces of the world. What hope have you to make something of your life beyond scrabbling for meagre survival?
But the fates have conspired and presented you with an opportunity. The elves are in perpetual retreat to match their ever-diminishing forests. The time of dwarven glory has long passed. The great human empire totters on the edge of decadence and the unravelling of the traditions of their ancestors. Demons tempt those of wayward faith. Worse, there are whispers and sightings of something far more sinister stirring in the Ashland to the west…
The world slumbers fitfully before the tantalizing tendrils of an encroaching nightmare. Someone needs to kick this world awake, wring its neck, roar in its face and hack at it with an axe before eating it! IT IS TIME FOR THE ORCS TO RISE AGAIN!
From the moment you first open your eyes to the instance of your last croaking breath, you will take the role of a mighty orc. Become anything from a bone-idle glutton, fit only to be forgotten, to the ruler of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Wield your influence and connections to build great armies or a holy city. Usher in an age of peace or demonic devastation. Make a mess and eat a load of halfling offal!
Explore an open world full of danger, opportunity and adventure. Grow your orc through every stage of their life, from the moment of birth, through childhood to adolescence, from youth to maturity and, finally, into old age. Rise to become the chief of your tribe, the king of all orcs, or the emperor of an entire continent. Then face off against a final threat powerful enough to challenge even an emperor. Command vast armies, with a diversity of units, and crush dwarves, elves, humans and halflings too! Raid rival warbands riding atop your ferocious boar. Master the arts of a shaman. Wield the will and magic of the orc god to build and manage a Holy City and breach the realm of divinity. Succumb to temptation and devote your soul to the Powers Beyond and Below. Weave demonic taint across the world and burn it to a cinder as you become the Dark Lord itself. Devote your life to gluttony and join the fabled Big Bellies in epic feats of gut-busting consumption. Fight in arenas across the land to earn wealth and glory. Perhaps, one day, you will claim the title of Grand Champion. Join an adventuring guild and go questing with a party of brave heroes across the land. Or live a life of simple mediocrity and leave all the fighting to the stupid gits who want to die young.
20% Grub. 30% Glory. 50% Slaughter. 100% Orc.
Green tidings and happy adventuring!
