All of the following games are developed by
Failbetter, and take place within the same Lovecraft-inspired, Victorian universe. I would recommend starting with Fallen London, since it's free.
Free-to-PlayBrowser |
Android |
iOSThirty years ago, London was stolen.
Now it rests on the shore of the Unterzee, that old dark ocean under the world.
Hell is close, immortality is cheap, and the screaming has largely stopped…Welcome to a dark and hilarious Victorian-Gothic underworld, where every choice has a consequence, from the style of your hat to the price of your soul.
Creep, coerce, brawl and swindle your way through the gaslit streets of Fallen London. Go mudlarking off Ladybones Road, eavesdrop in the ragged old market of Spite or arm-wrestle in Watchmaker’s Hill – wheresoever you roam, you’ll take your chances and shape your fate.
Collect whispered secrets and trade magnificent jewels to further your cause, whilst picking your way through the rats and filth of the fallen city (or embracing the putrid glory of it all). Choose your allies and your path carefully though – after all you never know who you might run into down that dark alley, or what poor soul might run into you…
Explore the immersive and darkly delightful world of Fallen London in a free, browser-based, literary RPG of sorts. As much for those who love to read as those who love to play, experience a unique narrative that evolves with every choice you make. Define your destiny through the stories you embark on and the character you cultivate.
There’s a whole world of opportunity waiting for you beyond the iron bars of New Newgate prison. Who are you going to be?
TLDR: It's a free, browser-based or app-based, story-heavy RPG. There's no combat - your choices are everything.
$18.99 $6.26 on
Steam or
GoGWindows | MacOS | Linux
LOSE YOUR MIND. EAT YOUR CREW. Take the helm of your steamship and set sail for the unknown!
Sunless Sea is a game of discovery, loneliness and frequent death, set in the award-winning Victorian Gothic universe of Fallen London.Welcome to the dark and hilarious Victorian-Gothic underworld of Fallen London, where every choice has a consequence, from the style of your hat to the price of your soul. Except this time around, the Unterzee is your oyster.
Choose your ship, name your captain, and leave the bustle of the docks for the wild and lightless depths of the Unterzee. The map changes every time you play, and every officer in your crew has their own story.
Encounter a corsairs’ village in a forest of stalagmites, come face to face with the vicious war trimarans of the New Khanate or the golden agents of the Dawn Machine. Grow strong and wise and rich and feared. With luck and skill you may achieve your ambitions: find your father’s bones, found a pirate princedom or sail beyond the Unterzee into the strangeness at time’s heart.
TLDR: It's a roguelite sea exploration game. It's story-heavy, but there's still substantial combat. There's permadeath, though you can enable manual saves/loads if you like.
$24.99 on
Steam or
GoGWindows | MacOS | Linux
LONDON HAS TAKEN TO THE STARS! As the captain of a spacefaring locomotive you’ll behold wonders and battle cosmic abominations in the furthest heavens.
Stake your claim. Fight to survive. Speak to storms. Murder a sun. Face judgement.Sunless Skies tells the story of one possible future of the Fallen London Universe. Ten years have passed since Sunless Sea, and Queen Victoria has led an exodus from London to the heavens. There, a revitalised British Empire – ambitious and authoritarian – begins to expand across the skies.
The stars are alive. They are the Judgements: vast intelligences that govern all things. But they are dying. One by one, something is snuffing them out, leaving their thrones empty. An opportunistic Victorian Empire is colonising the domains they leave behind, painting its industrial vision upon the fabric of the heavens.
Despite the deaths of stars, the Wilderness is not dark or empty. It is harried by strange winds, coiled with mists, and traversed by improbable beasts.
WARNING: SUNLESS SKIES IS IN DEVELOPMENT/EARLY ACCESS. STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY.
