A bunch of different recommendation lists for official games

When I said I had played through all of the official games, a few people asked for recommendations or rankings.

I can say right now that every game was worth playing. And I can’t provide a linear ranking of all games because they’re good at different things. But I can provide some interesting lists.

Here are some top 10’s. I think every game is on here somewhere. If it’s more interesting for the games to have more data (like a brief blurb or word count), let me know. If I missed any games, or left out something obvious, let me know, too!

For most of the lists, the top 2-3 are ones I think are especially great but the rest of the order doesn’t really matter.

My personal top 10

  1. Creatures Such as We. This was the first choicescript game I every played, and it’s unique. There are no stats at all. Most of the game is thinking about game design and talking about it with others, which is my favorite hobby in real life.
  2. Vampire the Masquerade: Night Road. I love the VtM IP and White Wolf stuff in general. This game nails the parts of the TTRPG that I liked, and has great mechanics.
  3. Choice of Robots. Such great branching. This game feels infinitely replayable, and the different goals are really diverse and fun.
  4. Heart of the House. Wow, I love this book. I’ve always been into gothic horror and weird horror, and this has both. Very good atmosphere, absolutely thrilling.
  5. Creme de la Creme. This game has everything I liked from ‘school’ books like Jane Eyre or the non-magical parts of Harry Potter. Lots of fun.
  6. Choice of Rebels. This is the best fantasy game, in my opinion. Feels like Wheel of Time in scope and worldbuilding.
  7. Choice of Magics. Another great Fantasy game. I like the drawbacks each of the 5 branches of magic has.
  8. Metahuman Inc. The absolute number one thing here is seeing all the options for cool tech you can research, buy, and install on yourself. Great sci-fi.
  9. Heroes of Myth. Epic fantasy mixed with discussion of the nature of storytelling. Really like the effort put into the demon worldbuilding.
  10. Superlatives: Aetherfall. I like Fallen London and X-men, and this felt like a mix between them. Steampunk superhero fun.

’High fantasy’ games

  1. Choice of Magics.
  2. Choice of Rebels
  3. Heroes of Myth.
  4. Pon Para and the Great Southern Labyrinth.
  5. Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate
  6. Hero of Kendrickstone series
  7. Sword of the Slayer
  8. Tower Behind the Moon
  9. Choice of the Petal Throne
  10. Choice of the Dragon

Space-based sci-fi games

  1. Mecha Ace
  2. Asteroid Run
  3. I, Cyborg
  4. The Fleet
  5. Fog of War: The Battle for Cerberus
  6. The Martian Job
  7. Light years apart
  8. Choice of the Star Captain
  9. Treasure Seekers of Lady Luck
  10. Reckless Space Pirates

Being the Bad Guy

  1. Grand Academy for Villains
  2. Diabolical
  3. Blood Money
  4. Rent-a-Vice
  5. Slammed!
  6. Metahuman, Inc.
  7. Tower Behind the Moon
  8. It’s Killing Time
  9. Choice of the Cat
  10. Choice of the Dragon

Tech-based scifi

  1. Choice of Robots
  2. Metahuman, Inc.
  3. Silverworld
  4. Empyrean
  5. Rent-a-Vice
  6. Diabolical
  7. The Orpheus Ruse
  8. Yeti’s Parole Officer (technically has space stuff, too)
  9. Ratings War
  10. T-Rex Time Machine

Thriller/Spy/Crime

  1. 180 Files: The Aegis Project
  2. Eagle’s Heir
  3. It’s Killing Time
  4. Thieves’ Gambit: The Curse of the Black Cat
  5. Rent-a-Vice
  6. The Martian Job
  7. Undercover Agent
  8. NOLA is Burning
  9. Ratings War
  10. Choice of the Ninja

God-based games (usually fighting them/serving them/becoming them)

  1. Champion of the Gods
  2. Exile of the Gods
  3. Pon Para and the Great Southern Labyrinth
  4. Sword of the Slayer
  5. Avatar of the Wolf
  6. Ironheart (not directly acting with/against Gods, but instead choosing a religion and fighting for it)
  7. Saga of the North Wind
  8. Fate of the Storm Gods
  9. An Odyssey: Echoes of War
  10. Fox Spirit: A Two-Tailed Adventure (good game, not as much God content)

Games set in real life (or almost-real life) in the past

  1. Creme de la Creme
  2. Tally Ho series
  3. Eagle’s Heir
  4. Fool!
  5. Choice of Broadsides series
  6. Broadway 1849
  7. Trials of the Thief Taker
  8. Choice of Alexandria
  9. Road to Canterbury
  10. Gilded Rails

Modern-day real life games

  1. Slammed!
  2. Drag Star
  3. It’s Killing Time
  4. Choice of the Cat
  5. Sixth Grade Detective
  6. Undercover Agent
  7. Choice of the Rock Star
  8. Fielder’s Choice
  9. Thieve’s Gambit: The Curse of the Black Cat
  10. Hollywood Visionary (great game, technically set older than most games on this list but newer than most games on the other real-life list)

Blended modern/fantasy or magical realism

  1. Vampire: The Masquerade–Night Road
  2. Werewolves Series
  3. Choice of the Vampire
  4. The Fog Knows Your Name
  5. Deathless Series
  6. Blackstone Academy for Magical Arts
  7. Congresswolf
  8. Luminous Underground
  9. Daring Mermaid Expedition
  10. Death Collector

Historical fantasy/medium fantasy/Historical scifi (mostly medieval or renaissance settings with usually one or two prominent magical additions)

  1. Weyrwood
  2. Pendragon Rising
  3. Kidnapped! A Royal Birthday
  4. DinoKnights
  5. Midsummer Night’s Choice
  6. Cannonfire Concerto
  7. Chronicon Apocalyptica
  8. Magician’s Workshop
  9. A Squire’s Tale
  10. Runt of the litter

Horror (and horror-adjacent) Games

  1. Heart of the House
  2. Vampire the Masquerade: Night Road
  3. Masque of the Plague Doctor
  4. Blood Money
  5. Choice of the Vampire
  6. Mysteries of the Baroque
  7. Choice of Zombies
  8. For Rent: Haunted House
  9. Chronicon Apocalyptica
  10. Rent-a-Vice (Not technically horror, but grim reality)

Superhero Games

  1. Psy High Series
  2. Original Heroes Rise series
  3. Superlatives Series
  4. Hero Unmasked
  5. A Wise Use of Time
  6. Hero Project Series
  7. Zip! Speedster of Valiant City
  8. Versus Series
  9. The ORPHEUS Ruse
  10. Diabolical (Superhero game from Villain perspective)

Humor (a lot of games are funny, but these ones seem focused on humor)

  1. Tally Ho series
  2. Grand Academy for Villains series
  3. Kidnapped! A Royal Birthday
  4. Fool!
  5. Sorcery is For Saps!
  6. Neighborhood Necromancer
  7. Choice of the Star Captain
  8. Yeti’s Parole Officer
  9. For Rent: Haunted House
  10. To the City of the Clouds

Mythology Games

  1. Champion of the Gods series
  2. Fox Spirit: A Two Tailed Adventure
  3. Choice of Kung Fu
  4. An Odyssey: Echoes of War
  5. Saga of the North Winds
  6. Fate of the Storm Gods
  7. A Midsummer Night’s Choice
  8. Avatar of the Wolf
  9. Demon Mark
  10. In the Service of Mrs Claus

Most unusual games

  1. Choice of the Vampire. This game is huge, actually 4 games in one, tons of stats, tons of hidden stuff, and filled with esoteric history. Simultaneously one of the oldest and newest choicescript games.
  2. NOLA is Burning. I’ve never had such a ‘What the heck?’ reaction to a choicescript game. Utterly, utterly bizarre. I can’t even describe how weird the ending is. Well, I’ll put it this way: I once played a parser game where you have to attack a druglord’s army from the inside of a mechanical hot tub powered by the magic of an off-brand Olsen twins DVD. This game has that same feeling.
  3. Sky Pirates of Actorius. Tiny game. Uses a lot of binary choices and has randomized events for much of the game.
  4. Choice of the Dragon. The original, and contains quite a bit of ‘early installment weirdness’ that never got passed on.
  5. Heroes Rise series. These games are very much more game-oriented, with stats explicitly mentioned, save points, hints, etc.
  6. The Fleet. No romance, just you and a ton of ships. Very little of the game is about you as a person.
  7. The Last Monster Master. A framing/training sim where you have 4 monsters with different personalities and decide what training regimens to give them.
  8. Showdown at Willow Creek. A short western that focuses on detective work and science.
  9. Fielder’s Choice. Uses randomization to simulate baseball throwing. Makes for very unusual feel.
  10. Gilded Rails. Has a selectable difficulty level, the most RO’s of any game, and a big mishmash of stuff altogether.

Edit: Ocean Based Games

  1. Choice of the Pirate
  2. Choice of Broadsides series
  3. Blackstone Academy for the Magical Arts
  4. An Odyssey: Echoes of War
  5. 7th Sea: A Pirate’s Pact
  6. Sea Eternal
  7. Daring Mermaid Expedition
38 Likes

Wow, incredible list!
And this list makes me see just how much I prefer Hosted Games than Choice of Games - mostly because CoG are often way more stat focused.
I have played SOME of these games, but really, not a lot, and l didn’t even like them all. Most don’t even appeal to me.
I would enjoy a Hosted Games version though, but I don’t know if you have played them all (or most)?

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I must not like the thriller/spy/crime genre as I have never been able to finish any of those mentioned as they just lost my interest somewhere along the line.

This is great! To be super nitpicky, Creme de la Creme and Fool are actually set in secondary worlds, not the real one. Definitely evoking specific places and eras from actual history, and not magical or anything to my recollection, but not the real world. I think technically Broadsides too, though I’m not sure if there are any worldbuilding differences in those at all other than using a few alternate country names.

Absolutely support the inclusion of those games on any top ten lists, though!

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Thank you for the recommendations, @Brian_Rushton.

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You know, I’ve heard a lot of people that prefer HG to CoG, so I’m interested to see it. I have to admit though, I found some of the game in my top 10 to be almost life-alteringly good (I think of Choice of the Rebels, Heart of the House, and Creme de la Creme several times a week when I think about game design or stories I like). So if HG is even better, I’m kind of scared, not going to lie.

Nice catch, I’ve changed it!

I thought the 180 Files was really good, but that’s just a personal choice

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Creme de la Creme and Heroes Rise ARE two (or well, 4 I guess, since Heroes Rise is a trilogy) of my favorite IF games. Both were in my first top 5 (though Creme de la Creme excited with the releases of two of my now most beloved HG). And both are still in a top 10 if I were to make one.
I also like Werewolves and Psy High a lot… though I don’t know if it would make a top 10… :thinking:
Choice of the Pirate, well… I like it well enough, though it’s far from my favorites, but it’s the one that truly allowed me to learn how to play these games. Because seriously, I had to learn how to play - I can’t understand people who say there is no form of skill involved in playing these :sweat_smile:

Generally speaking, I won’t necessarily say HG have more interesting stories as it depends on the tastes - overall, it seems more HG authors make stories that are attuned to what I like.
With that being said, as mentionned in my other post, I prefer roleplay oriented games (or at least balanced ones) - stat focused ones are my bane. And it seems CoG tends to focus on stats, while HG has more RP oriented games. I don’t know if it’s intentional, really, but I’ve noticed that.
I have dropped like 10 CoG because I just couldn’t play the way I wanted and had to focus on stats, and it took away the enjoyment. Like I said, stats are my bane! :rofl:
Some of these games, I really liked the plot, but the system made it a harrowing experience and I just couldn’t play anymore. Though I’ll admit in some cases, I just couldn’t get into the story.

HG, well… Sometimes stats don’t mean much, and you’ll be able to reach the ending whatever you do (or almost). Not to say you won’t have consequences, but these consequences are not as bad as in CoG.

All in all, I’m always WAY MORE wary when I spot a CoG game that appeals to me than if I find myself attracted to a HG game.

And yes, some HG I’ve played were life-alteringly good! Most notably Relics of the Lost Age.

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I will say one HG I would recommend above all others and the one that brought me to the site so many years ago, is Tin Star. At north of 800k words, the story has so many choices that actually matter and the writing was really good, not to mention it is the only old west game here that I know of.

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Fallen hero rebirth you play as the villain. Hard to understand at first but replaying it its so good

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That’s a really solid list of recommendations, I’d say! I’ve been hanging out on the forums for quite a few years at this point, and seeing all the games put together like this really puts them into perspective. It’s interesting to think about what narrative trends we had that are easy to associate with a certain era, or how a few gameplay fixes get passed along company releases while others never quite become popular.

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That has been my take on things as well. Not sure if it’s correct, but after trying a few CoG titles that felt somewhat shallow and more stat-based than story-based, I was kind of turned off of them until I tried a couple of HG titles that really hit that sweet spot for me.

My experience is similar. I don’t think I’ve bought a CoG title in a while, really, and I’m unlikely to take a chance on one unless I’m absolutely certain it’s something I will like. I’ll take a chance on a HG title if the story looks appealing because I have it set in my head that they are more geared toward RP’ing and have deeper character interactions, and those are two things that are paramount to my enjoyment of a game.

That said, I loved Breach, a HG that is a stat nightmare from hell and even adds dice rolls (which I curse with every breath I draw while playing). But the story is still awesome, the NPCs are freaking incredible, and it feels like a good RP (plus, when you die, it kicks you back to a previous choice that caused your death, instead of forcing you to restart the whole freaking game, which is something that will make me toss the game for good).

Basically, I prefer games where, if my MC makes one “wrong” choice (and decides to be nice one time instead of intimidating, or using a dagger instead of a gun), it doesn’t mean they suddenly fail every stat check and get turned into Pop Tarts and eaten by the bad guy.

It stresses me out to have to sit there and track every stat point and forced my MCs to do something out of character lest they get their asses handed to them. That’s not fun, and it ruins the experience because my characters do what they please, and they just might be a badass who likes kittens or sharpshooters who prefer to get stabby when they’re up close and personal. If that makes them fail, or die, simply because the stats are so damned stringent that your MC can’t stray for a second, then it annoys me and I’m over it. I play these games for the story and characters, not for inventory and stat checks that turn my MC into an unstoppable god or a corpse, with nothing in between. If I want to obsess over stats, I’ll go play an action-based shooter or RPG where, if I eff it up, I can load a save… I have no desire to read about it and waste hours of my life restarting a game because my MC dodged left when she should’ve parried right.

I will say that one game I played off this list, and loved, was Heart of the House. The whole weird horror thing was cool, and I liked the characters. Plus, the stats weren’t so unintuitive and annoying that they ruined the game. I’ve even replayed it a couple of times. Heroes Rise series was worth playing through once, but I never replayed it. Other than those, I played six other games off the list–and two of them were not my idea of fun. I’ve always wanted to play Road to Canterbury, though, because I’ve always loved the Canterbury Tales.

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I’ve played quite a few of there games and enjoyed the variety they offer.

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