"A Crown of Sorcery and Steel"—Overthrow the queen's clockwork iron army!


We’re proud to announce that A Crown of Sorcery and Steel, the latest in our popular “Choice of Games” line of multiple-choice interactive-fiction games, is now available for Steam, Android, and on iOS in the “Choice of Games” app.

It’s 33% off until November 2nd!

Will you overthrow the queen and her clockwork iron army, or join her as a spy? The relics you recover from the elven dungeon will change the course of history!

A Crown of Sorcery and Steel is a 450,000-word interactive fantasy novel by Josh Labelle. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

For centuries, the kingdom of Kanda has been at war with Queen Nidana and her infernal clockwork machines. Each day, further reaches of the kingdom fall under her boot, overwhelmed by her enchanted army of iron constructs.

You’re an adventurer, caught in the middle of a war that began before you were born. Perhaps you’re an elf from the Sanctuaries to the west, which the queen’s machines long ago burned to the ground. Maybe you come from Ridgebank, one of the last human strongholds. Wherever you’re from, now you make your living helping people, plundering dungeons, or following the coin wherever it leads you.

It’s not long before you’re invited to join the resistance, recovering ancient elven artifacts from the sunken elven library. These artifacts could turn the tide of war, defeating the dark empress, or crushing the resistance. But will you lead the resistance to glory, or ally with the queen and snuff it out?

• Play as male, female, nonbinary; gay, straight, bi, asexual, or poly. Or choose among the genders of the elven, dwarven, and orc cultures.
• Explore the realm as a human, elf, dwarf, or orc, with four distinct backgrounds that change your adventure.
• Wield a sword, master magic, or disarm traps as you travel Kanda, a fantasy kingdom struggling against a brutal occupation.
• Battle side by side with a party of fighters, spellslingers, and rogues.
• Broker peace between the human cities and the dwarven mining colonies, or side with the dwarves and take control of the mountains.
• Delve lost ruins to uncover ancient elven artifacts, and restore the elves to their former glory… or sell the artifacts off to the highest bidders.
• Navigate palace intrigue in the orc empire, and decide who should take the throne.
• Turn against the resistance and become the queen’s best-loved spy to experience another side of the story.
• Romance a human resistance leader, an elven Scribe, a dwarven bard, an exiled orc prince, a halfling thief… or the dark queen herself.

Will you unite the realm and end the queen’s reign of terror, or rule by her side?

We hope you enjoy playing A Crown of Sorcery and Steel. We encourage you to tell your friends about it, and recommend the game on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our ranking on the App Store. The more times you download in the first week, the better our games will rank.

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Happy questing, everyone!

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I’m not sure, but I think those robots are looking at me funny…

Probably because I am the sexiest Orc I know! Orc power! Other Orc propaganda I can’t think of!

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High five for the Sexy Orc Alliance

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I’m too fat for a shirt, too fat for a shirt… :joy:

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How do you rate the characters ? Are they interesting or it’s the not the focus for this title?

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Massive congratulations @JoshMLabelle! What a lovely way to round off October!

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what’s Dungeon Keeper Mode? Ohhh nvm…click click click lol

Where did you find this word? I had to look it up…

os·ten·ta·tious

/ˌästənˈtāSHəs/


Prononciation

adjective

  1. characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice.

“books that people buy and display ostentatiously but never actually finish”

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Gonna try it out right now will hopefully share my impressions here at some point,never tried the demo so going fresh.

It was lots of fun!
Played as your classical orc who solved any problems with violence, curiously enough I didn’t kill any party member during the whole run and no one abandoned my party, still clashed with Okka who many times got quite angry with my lad.

Best characters for me were Vid and Khattya, the great adventure of helping the orc reclaim his throne as a Loyalist was very enjoyable experience as well as Khattya’s chase for artifacts as well as her personal conflict with the scribe Order made her story engaging.

The worldbuilding is top notch and deserves your time, how the writer actually designed special pronouns fitting to every non human culture didn’t see anyone who justified so well the pronoun diversity.

The Orc Lore and the Elf lore was more interesting than I would have thought before playing and was like a little kiddo tied to the screen waiting for more info and content with the “Background checks”, just saying that playing as an elf felt as easy mode.

Also loved the way on the Elf route you can find yourself on a paradox where as a Forest Elf you find your brethren who abandoned the classical elf lifestyle to settle on cities, an incredible way to portray the death of rural settlements left behind by many in hopes of settling on a bustling metropolis which is always pretty sad, using the Elves to portray this situation was master like writing, well done!

Perphaps I’ll play yet another route as a dwarf expert in runes do not know what secrets might be hidden behind the Human route thought.

Also please if someone has a guide for the achievement when you can be one the ruler of all Kanda do post it cause at least right now seems an option far too difficult to reach by my own.

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The characters are amazing - second only to the worldbuilding on the list of things I love about this game. I always prefer when other characters have lives and goals of their own rather than automatically and immediately making my character the center of their world, and these are some of the best I’ve seen in that regard. They have flaws and quirks and biases and inner conflicts and character arcs of their own, and there are many opportunities to talk to them and learn more about their pre-quest lives. I enjoyed getting to bond with them as friends over the months that we spent together on our quest. I didn’t get to romance them all, but the romance routes I did pursue were very moving. The (optional) lovemaking scenes are absolutely perfect, not super graphic but tender and playful. And it’s possible to have an antagonistic relationship with each character as well - I just loved getting to see all the different sides of them.

The plot is solid, but it’s the characters and worldbuilding that really set this game apart, and I would recommend it without hesitation to readers who like character-driven stories as well as those who like high-fantasy adventure.

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Tell me it’s on STEAM! I need this game in my life!!!

Also, why nobody ever tell me about good games like these ones? Boo!

Nvm, It is on steam…

I really need more coffee. Brain aint working today.

Just me who feel like I’m playing a mini-Dragon Age game like? At least, with the origins Stuff? I’m hooked…also, GOT THE GAME WOOT! WOOT!

Silent but deadly dwarf checking in.
The character depth is rich, and I secretly really like even the ones my character loathes. Heh!

I’m unable to purchase the rest in the app yet. I know, I know. I’ll just have to be patient a little longer.
EDIT: got it now !! Yes!!
re-cloaks and returns to the shadows

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Is there an option for abandoning both sides of conflict and size power for your own ?

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All Choice of Games titles will always be released on Steam. If you aren’t signed up for our email mailing list, you can do so here: https://www.choiceofgames.com/ (lower left corner of the front page). The mailer always includes upcoming titles for you to Wishlist on Steam. Also, if you want to check out upcoming games be sure to follow the Beta Testing category on the forum, or periodically check our Upcoming Games topic. Upcoming Choice of Games Releases — 2022

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Ah hell yeah, a nice standard but well made and big fantasy story. Been waiting for one like this. Can’t wait to read!

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I wish I could delete my own “memory files”…

Nidana’s portrait certainly.

Other than that no complaints.

Can anyone please tell which polyamory options are there? I want to romance both Cora and the Queen, but I’m afraid that Cora’s ‘commitment’ question may lock me out of the Queen romance. Are they compatible in polyamory? Can’t seem to find it.

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I wonder if you can romance both Khattya and Cora or Khattya and Queen Nidana?

That would be very hot and precious at the same time!

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Glad to hear it! Time to get it. :laughing:

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Awesome! Have fun!

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