"Blackstone Academy for the Magical Arts" -- Cast spells, pass exams, and save the world!

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We’re proud to announce that Blackstone Academy for the Magical Arts, 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 Omnibus app.

It’s 40% off until April 16th!

Cast spells, pass your exams, and save the world! Blackstone is more than a magic school: you’ll compete for glory in the sky sailing tourney, find love, and steer the fate of magic itself.

Blackstone Academy for the Magical Arts is a fast-paced 188,000-word interactive YA fantasy novel by Alana Joli Abbott, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Blackstone Academy is a secretive magical high school for students with supernatural talents. When you discover you are a Sensor, someone who can feel the presence of magic, you learn that it’s exactly the type of place that will help you develop your ability. Your first year at Blackstone you’ll learn how to sky sail, practice your own magic spells, and discover the secrets the adults are hiding.

But as a magical crisis looms over campus, you must decide how you’ll get involved—and which factions you’ll support in guiding the future of the magical world. What will you prioritize: your academic career, your friends, or uncovering the magical threat? Will you keep the secrets of the magical world, or fight for a future without secrets, sharing magic with everyone?

  • Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, demisexual, asexual and/or aromantic.
  • Learn magic from your chosen mentor, and make friendships that will last forever.
  • Encounter and befriend—or annoy—powerful magical beings.
  • Compete in the sky sailing championships for the glory of your school!
  • Fight for the rights of supernaturals, or argue for tighter regulations of non-humans.
  • Earn the respect and admiration of your peers, or work to effect change from the shadows.
  • Face down a magical threat, and change the course of the magical world's future.

The fate of magic is in your hands.

We hope you enjoy playing Blackstone Academy for the Magical Arts. 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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Nice, gonna check it now, in these current situations… There aren’t many good things to go for… Good timing…

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I’ve already played through this twice! Really nicely done

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Congrats on the release. We definitely always need more magic schools :blush::wink:

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i got to ask is ceterosexual an actual thing not homopofic just curious

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Yes, it is

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Well i learn something new almost evry day thanks for anwsering

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Can someone post a link for various store?

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Really enjoyed the game, was a little disappointed the inheritors didn’t play as big a part in the story as other groups though.

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Shame that this is already getting one star reviews on google because it is too ‘politically correct’.

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I found a bug when getting files from Cody’s office. I chose to grab the files for both Aidan and Perry, but afterwards I told Aidan that I didn’t get his (even though I did).

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Just finished my first play through and needless to say, it was awesome! I feel like I barely scratched the surface too, so I’ve got another few play throughs coming up later, even just to learn more about the characters I didn’t interact with as much. I found the whole thing to be excellent and a really great read, I’ve been waiting for this one ever since it was annnounced and it did not disappoint! Everything felt really polished and well thought out and my ending really satisifed me. Thanks for a great time!

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Don’t want to be that person but sometimes it seems the games try too hard to be “as diverse as possible”(though that doesn’t deserve a 1 star rating). It’s great when it’s a pure romance game but it can be distracting and get in the way of a story especially when the game keeps trying to point it out like “see how diverse and socially conscious we are”.
Am currently in chapter 2 of my first playthrough and it’s actually been a good read so far though I think I hate my roommate :grin:

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Yeah, but reviews that say ‘aromantic, pansexual, and demisexual aren’t words’ (an actual review I saw) with a 1 star rating aren’t helpful.

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I liked the game because I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, but overall I was pretty disappointed with the game. Here are a few reasons:

  • I did not like the execution of the integration of the diversity which I found forced
  • Too much philosophy and psychology and not enough magic. I wanted more magic classes, casting spells, duels and magical creatures and less lecturing about Jung. This is my biggest gripe.
  • The writing gets a bit wonky sometimes, like the author is taking her readers for idiots. One example that comes to my mind is the part about the infirmary being sensibly on the first floor, then explaining why it’s sensible.
  • Many choices are just “Do you do the artsy thing, the sportsy thing, the sciency thing, etc.” over and over again. It feels quite redundant after a while.

Overall I’d give a 3/5. Good game, but could have been so much better.

EDIT: Was this really flagged for giving constructive criticism? It’s not the diversity itself that is forced, it’s the way it’s presented.

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Haven’t finished my first play through yet, but I’m not really sure what people mean by “forced diversity”. It’s not forced, people just exist.
The story is quite intriguing as far as I’ve played, though there are a couple of typos here and there. I’ll probably have more to say once I finish the game.

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I don’t really see it either. Having more options at creation doesn’t strike me as forced anything, it is just more options. And I really didn’t see it in game if it is there.

I’ve liked it so far. My only gripe is that some of the options are all options for the same thing. The one that pops to mind right away ask you if you will leave. And all the options have you stay.

I understand some times the story has to go somewhere. But perhaps word it differently. Like, You can’t let this happen! What do you do?

Now I feel like I’m making a choice on how to handle the situation. Instead of feeling forced into something because when I was asked if I was leaving. Yes I wanted to. But I can’t.

Maybe I’m am just being nit picky. There is a reason the gf hates it when I talk during shows. Anyway I’m enjoying it. Glad I got it.

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This is a gentle reminder to please keep conversations directed at the topic at hand and not at the individuals themselves. Focusing replies on the individuals themselves instead of the topic at hand can lead to friction between members and often causes the thread to derail…

Currently, there has been a lot of flagging occurring in this thread – as a result, the thread is under observation and the moderators are here watching over things.

Please keep the discussion focused on the game and not stray into off-topic discussion.

*Finally, if you see disrespectful posts please do not reply to them. Rather, please use the report feature and let forum staff deescalate friction.

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So I have finally finished my first playthrough, and I’ll be honest this game exceeded my expectations. The characters were generally well thought out, with different personalities, and the world building was excellent. What I will say in terms of criticism though, is that the story was poorly paced, and some things didn’t feel like they connected to others. I also wish that some of the factions (specifically the inheritors) played a bigger role in things, as I found they were barely present. Those are minor things though, and overall I’d give this an 8/10. Definitely something I will be replaying soon.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to Qualify for the sky sailing championship? The description says we can, but I think I made all the choices that aligned with my stats and I still couldn’t. Also, is there any way for us to save the island and not sacrifice out sending while still defeating Maeve?

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Playing the game and the game is good for me. The only downside is too much philosophical talk and for me not enough magic class. So maybe in the sequel we can have that. My score is 4/5

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