Choice of Alexandria
By Kevin Gold
☆☆ (8/10)
Choice of Alexandria is basically the butterfly effect in a short, 90,000 word text-based game. While one of the shortest I’ve ever played, this game is deeply interested in consequences: the slow, compounding kind that only become fully visible years or generations later. Unlike many choice-based games that lean into fantasy or power fantasies, Choice of Alexandria takes a more unusual route: alternate history with a speculative edge. It asks genuinely compelling “what if?” questions. What if the Library of Alexandria had survived? What if ancient scientific and philosophical knowledge hadn’t been lost? What if Egypt, rather than Rome, had become the long-standing dominant power? What if one sentence you utter is enough to change history?
Pros:
Concept. You play as a polymath librarian who comes to Alexandria to advance your own studies while serving as a tutor to the heir of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This setup creates one of the game’s strongest tensions: do you prioritize your own intellectual growth, or do you slow your personal ambitions to focus on shaping the young prince Ptolemy IV? Do you want to focus on seizing power for yourself on the evil route? Another advisor is present—one who would rather mold the prince into someone pliable and indulgent for his own political ends. How will you deal with this snake?
Your personal research path (rhetoric, medicine, or technology) matters.. It matters so freakin’ much. Even seemingly small decisions about where to invest your time and attention can have profound downstream effects on governance, social stability, and technological progress. Choose to be a technological wizard? Your events will be used in the present day, hundreds of years later. Choose to focus on medicine, and you can freaking discover germ theory. How cool is that? The narrative also delves deeply into science and inventions. While much was lost on me, I appreciated how intellectual and serious the game was. It was refreshing!
Ethical dilemmas. Many of the decisions are genuinely difficult, and the outcomes are not always immediately obvious—but when the consequences finally arrive, they make perfect sense in hindsight. Why does education matter? Should education be available to all? If a king has a dynasty, how can his rule be so fragile? Must a ruler be compassionate of fair? Throughout the whole narrative, there’s a fascinating discussion on maintaining equity among the poor, marginalized, and those of different backgrounds. As a privileged Greek, should you care about Egyptian unrest? If so, what would you do about it?
We have to talk about the prince. Mentoring the young prince was the reason I bought the game, and boy, did it deliver. You spend years shaping the prince’s values, and it’s impossible not to grow attached. You can take charge when the prince is young, and the narrative has a couple different events from his toddler, teenager, young adult, and adult years. You can, of course, sculpt the prince into the ruler you want. You can play into his privileged arrogance or try to steer him into being a scholar-prince. To my delight, I guided him according to my real-life morals: I was respectful but encouraged kindness, humility, and intelligence. And my little boy grew up to be a just and wise king who led the nation into a new golden age (with my help, of course)!
Culture/setting. I’ll be honest: I don’t know anything about the Hellenistic setting or Egypt OR Greece! I don’t even know who Ptolemy IV was. After reading his Wikipedia page, he was some guy who participated in a lot of wars? I don’t know. But Gold’s writing took me straight to the time period and place. In the first chapter, there were six lengthy paragraphs will six-eight sentences, just on description. I loved it. Gold described the goods each vendor was selling, how kohl was used as makeup, how Greeks dressed different from Egyptians, the weather, etc. It was just a joy to read.
Ending chapters/branches. I honestly didn’t realize how in-depth the game can be because I had a peaceful king and nation on my first try! But after diving into the code, things can get crazy. Major ending spoilers, but you can side with the Egyptians and overthrow your beloved pupil. You can marry the King/Queen and have a child with them. Riots and uprisings might break out. You might choose between saving your partner, the heirs to the throne, Ptolemy IV, or your own kid from a fire. Things can get dark, fast! I also loved how the ending chapter depends on the actions you take. My epilogue involved a young girl reading a book about my exploits and wishing to travel to Alexandria. That was such a sweet, full circle moment.
Cons:
Short length. This is, of course, the biggest drawback. While Gold’s writing is melancholy and detailed enough to pack a punch, the game is short. I finished in about an hour, though I am a fast reader. There’s plenty of experiences he could have added on! For example, there could have been more scenes for romance (see below) but more importantly, on the prince. You see him grow from a baby to an adult, but the game only gives specific events at certain ages, such as when the prince is five or fifteen. More scenes with the royal family, for example, would be awesome. I loved the uneasy respect between you and the king, for example.
Rushed romances. To my shock, I had the opportunity to flirt with the Queen, the prince’s mother, after the King passed. And of course, I married her ASAP. I did like the flavor text here: playing as a lesbian, we found an Egyptian cult willing to marry us. Cool. But the problem came from the relationship—or the lack of it. The Queen and I might have had four conversations in total. There’s a lot of missed potential here. I wanted to explore how her son felt with me, the tutor turned step-mother. Did anyone care there was an openly gay relationship? The relationship starts quickly, as well. After telling the player about her ~tragic~ (and awesome) backstory, the player gets to kiss her. Did I click it without hesitation? Yes. Was I confused that a lowly servant like me could kiss the Queen? Also yes.