Blood Money — Take over your crime family with ghost power!

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We’re proud to announce that Blood Money, 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 33% off until July 19th!

By the power of your blood, you and your ghosts will take over your crime family!

Blood Money is a 290,000-word interactive novel by Hannah Powell-Smith. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

When your cousin murders the city’s most notorious crime boss–your mother–a power struggle erupts across the criminal underworld. As your sisters Octavia and Fuschia vie for control, you alone in the family possess the blood magician’s power to summon and command ghosts. They hunger for your blood; if it’s blood they want, then blood they’ll have.

Will you take over the family business? Remain loyal, go it alone, or defect to a rival gang?

• Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, or ace.
• Embrace your unearthly gifts and build connections with the dead, or banish ghosts to the underworld to protect the living
• Look for love, or manipulate your friends and allies; Betray those who trust you, or maintain family loyalty no matter the cost
• Fight a gang war for your family, defect to your rivals, or reject a life of crime
• Negotiate volatile family relations: resolve squabbles, fall in line as a loyal lieutenant, or sharpen your knife for backstabbing
• Influence citywide politics: exploit the Mayor’s office for your own ends, or use your connections for a greater cause

What will you sacrifice for freedom, and who will you sacrifice for power?

We hope you enjoy playing Blood Money. 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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I’m in love with the setting, writing, and characters of this game; they’re topnotch and the game is an easy recommend. The dynamic between you and your sisters is especially great, and I fell in love with our sometimes dysfunctional crime family immediately.

The only criticism I have (and it’s a me problem I think) is that your character’s ‘build’ seems to be largely static after the first two chapters (with very little stat growth) and in the later chapters I feel like I often don’t have enough of any stat to pass some of the choices; and what options raise what stat in those first chapters isnt always clear.

EDIT: Having played the game a few more times, I was hasty in saying you have very little stat growth past the first two chapters. While it’s true that the stats that seem like in most games would be your ‘main’ stats (Forceful, Devious, Inspiring, Intelligence, and Mysticism) don’t seem to change too often after then, other stats like your personality and reputation stats do. This game actually makes those stats matter as well, which is a good thing! Many of the instances I assumed I did not have a high enough stat despite it being in the 60% was actually because the choices were using a different stat than i would expect them to be.

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I don’t know if I agree with your feedback or not (because I haven’t replayed enough), but that’s exactly the kind of observation we need in beta testing, if you were inclined to participate in betas. There are going to be many in the near future.

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I’ll keep an eye out for the beta recruitment posts!

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I had start to read and embark on the journey of this wonderful journey… so far i am very engaged into the story build up and all its story plots… they are all so mesmerising, Blood Money totally allow us to build up our own persona based on our preference in the choice we make, i enjoy the choice of being a family first supportive brother of the Delgado family , fully supporting and helping Otavia in her rise of power …but at the same time , reserve some of the time to help out the neighborhood … i must say both Otavia and Fuhsia are great sister , they even trust me to perform some of the things like keeping evidence or dealing the faces with my own judgement , in addition other characters such as Nico , Silvian and Estelia are all very memorable as well in the sense that i really feel for them… The story is also face pace , with multiple choices available to solve a situation… there is simply no dull moment in it

However, just like @JMH mention , there seems to be some “curious” situation with the stat, what i notice was the relationship with Silvian, after going through all the option to help her and sided with her , including helping her in the homeless project and spend a night with her, the relationship stat with her doesn’t seem to rise much, which i think is weird …it remain to be 34 i am not sure whether it will influence the future event but i just feel weird when the closest friend i have receive such low relationship stat :slight_smile:

and the scene when i overheard Otavia murmur " if things go wrong , at least it was not her fault " seem a bit a crushing blow for me after i devote my will into helping her all out, i don’t think Otavia is an ungrateful person , but i am wondering whether it is conflicting with her personality … let see how it goes with the rest of the story

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In regaurds to Silvian I believe I was around 59% with her after doing all those options, so I’m not sure what happened! I chose that we bumped into each other on a previous ghost-busting adventure, and then choose all the most friendly options (walk beside her, of course I’ll help, friendly letter, stayed behind to help her with the ghosts in the stairway at luis, went back to her apartment, said I wanted this if she did)

The scene with Otavia muttering I don’t think was out of character, I think that’s just the mutterings of a very stressed out person! She is genuinely relieved that if things go wrong, it’ll be your responsibility, not her’s because she’s having to try and deal with 50 thousand things at once and its only her first week or so on the job.

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I chose Silvian is Ex lover… perhaps that’s the problem , but i thought the relationship in the past was fine

About Otavia, perhaps you are right if you think it that way …so i can be her cushion (fall guy) when things go wrong :slight_smile:

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I chose ex lover with her as well and got around 50-60 relationship with her.

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Well yeah. You are a crime family. Thinking about ways to use your siblings is just showing how much you love them.

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Does anyone know if it is possible too overthrow your siblings and take your rightful place as eldest heir

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Whether you can take charge: There is an achievement for it

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I went and checked with the ex lover past I ended the game back together with her and a relationship of 73.

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Must be some other choices i made then :slight_smile:

Well… currently i am changing their operation , no bloodshed so far :wink:

Strange , my relationship with Otavia is already 64 now… Silvian is 38 after i write her letter

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I always went to Silvian whenever she needed me. I chose to leave the life of crime and live with Silvian in her house and help her around the middle of the story. Otavia got pissed, but If she actually gave a damn about me like I did her she should have been supporting.
Also I decided to leave the city with Silvian and have a better life helping other blood magicians at the end.

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I haven’t reach that far… but intend to restart again :slight_smile:

Is Estelia , our cousin… a Romance Option ? There were few fond interaction with her that i am thinking whether she is a love interest , like when i forbid her to perform Fohsia’s duty after she was injured

I hope i can change the city instead of running// planning to help Nico win the mayor election if that is possible

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Only Peirera, Nico, and Silvian are romances. Estelias is your cousin not a romance.
Also while I left the family and began living with Silvian I was able to help Nico win the election before I left the city with Silvian.

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I’ve edited my first post to reflect this as well: having played the game a few more times, I was hasty in saying you have very little stat growth past the first two chapters. While it’s true that the stats that seem like in most games would be your ‘main’ stats (Forceful, Devious, Inspiring, Intelligence, and Mysticism) don’t seem to change too often after then, other stats like your personality and reputation stats do. This game actually makes those stats matter as well, which is great!

I still am not entirely clear a lot of the time when certain stats are being checked over other ones; an example: When trying to help cover Iris’ cooking the books for Nico, you can offer to edit the books yourself to make things look on the up and up.I assumed this was an intelligence test, since that stat is described in part as book keeping, but its actually a test against your boardroom reputation.

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You’re fine with being her doormat?
I am the rightful heir gods damn it! (At least in my ither playthrough)

It certainly is fun to toy with the many ways you can spin your sisterly relations. So much drama fuel~

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Yes …agree :slight_smile:

Well, she is my little sister who chase after me and Fuhsia for playing time not too long ago…Lol
I think i have an idea why mother chose Octavia over MC and Fuhsia, first Fuhsia had been tainted with blood-thirst for far too long, if the leadership fall into her hand, there will be mush more violent and bloodshed … as for me, being a Blood Mage will be regard lowly among the society … and the life span may not be long for a Blood Mage, most importantly if a Blood Mage go rogue, many innocent life will be harm… Octavia is the “purest” among the family , and her method thus far is through negotiation …although that may also not be legitimately law-biding , at least it can reduce the violent and bloodshed … for that reason that’s why mother insist on me supporting her to take the role :slight_smile:

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Enjoyed the plot very much. It is cool that there is so many events during the game. Ah, and those characters.

My attitude towards MC’s sisters constantly switched between “I love you, my dear sisters” and “oh, my gosh, you annoy me so much”. But still I choose to leave them in the end, because I felt like I don’t belong.

Also liked that there is a lot of interactions with characters in hole. I got to knew them better and grew attached to them because of that. Even found myself torn between Silvian and Nico, both those type of characters I just can’t resist.

Twist with the police chief felt a bit strange. We heard about her a little bit, she pressed charges against us, but still nothing led to that blood ritual conspiracy, except one phrase from Nico about prisoners. And right after that ghost attack happened. That she is behind all that felt like piano from the skies fell on my head suddenly.

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