Crème de la Crème
By @HarrisPS
(10/10)
I gotta say, I am fuming as I write this review. It is so excellent I am honestly mad. Usually, I can crank out a review in half an hour after I finish the game, but I had to spend a couple days ruminating over this one to properly express my sheer delight. Ya see, Crème de la Crème really is the crème de la crème (low hanging fruit, I know). But seriously, it has solidified itself as one of the gold standards of Choice of Games—like, the kind of game that ruined other games for a while me because I keep thinking “well, why aren’t YOU doing this?”
A 440,000‑word interactive novel set in an elite finishing school, Crème de la Crème drops you into Gallatin College, where reputation is currency, social finesse is survival, and scandal lurks behind the stately façades. You’ll navigate cliques, academics, popularity, morality, romance, and a surprisingly dark undercurrent of secrets. It’s elegant and messy, polite and scandalous, structured and wildly branching. It’s also the only game where the prologue alone basically teaches you a full stats class.
Let me explain. Get comfortable; you’re going to be here for a while. Fuck it, we ball.
Pros:
Setting. Right, let’s get the Harry Potter comparison out of the way. Yeah, it’s reminiscent of Harry Potter—in a good way! While there’s no magic (yay), you are sent off to live at a “finishing school.” The setting is gorgeous: an alternate-history Europe with modern social sensibilities tucked under layers of etiquette and expectation. Everything feels richly lived-in—polished floors hiding beating corruption, sunlight with a hint of stormcloud. It’s the kind of world where you can practically smell the parchment and taste the tea. I’m so glad it’s not another high school setting and instead takes place at a college. I find older, adults characters much more interesting than minors now that I’m not a teenager anymore!
The stat system itself is . . . kind of a masterpiece? First off, you’ve got these neat designs: headings that look like cards. But then, you have broad, unique stats. The first thing I noticed was that Powell-Smith has an uncanny ability to understand the passage of time. Sometimes, time just blurts together in other works. But in Crème, the stats screen reads along the lines of: “It is the Prologue. You are early in the winter term of Gallatin College. The Graduation Ball is set for Midsummer’s Day.” Okay, but what else? Your skills—Wit, Poise, Spirit, Flair, and Intrigue—are described as “Unremarkable, Commonplace, Noteworthy, or Exceptional.” I loved how accessible thresholds were. But stats thresholds also go up in difficultly as you continue your school year! I honestly did not know that was even possible.
But that’s not all. Powell-Smith also includes Virtue and Popularity, Grades, Points of Interest, and even character descriptions. And of course—all things matter. Your high Grade (or lack of it) determines your ending. For example, if you want to get into a top university, you’ll need an A. End up with a D? Well. Getting a career might be tough for you. Also, getting too low of a stat in Grades/Virtue/Popularity gives you an emergency scene in Chapter 4??? I was super impressed when the game called me out for being a loser no one liked. I didn’t know choices were that reactive.
Inclusivity. Okay, not to sound like a MAGA nutjob, but the mention of “inclusivity” or “diversity” in works (even CoG/HG) makes me 
I find a lot of time diversity is very heavy handed, I suppose. Think of *Dragon Age Veilguard’*s monologues on how Oppression Is Bad, Actually™. It’s hard to describe, but it’s almost as if the author themselves is uncertain with how to deal with, for example, being transgender or bisxual in a fantasty setting. So characters act like fanfiction-y walking stereotypes of how “I am a normal person like you!” But I am delighted to see inclusivity written in a natural, subtle way. For example, I choose to be a cis woman. To my surprise, I got to choose how I presented: masculine, feminine, or neither. There’s also little things: you can choose not to drink at a meal, to have a peanut allergy, or to be lactose intolerant. In Crème, these topics come about naturally. It makes sense in-game to discuss not being interested in sex.
We have to talk about the romance options (ROs). For all my preaching about well-written storylines or stories that make you think, I’m a sucker for a good romance. And yeah, when seeing the options for Crème, I was cooked. First, although each RO is gender-selectable, each character felt like a real person. I didn’t get a feeling that X “felt” like a dude or that Y “should” have been a woman. Second, each RO has their own little arc. Third, the ROs themselves are diverse. You have a polite genius, a troubled rebel, even freakin’ royalty. But it’s not just their personalities—they all react differently and have their own little quirks. It’s difficult to balance such a large cast, but I was honestly surprised by how much character development there was. For example, I thought Max was just an annoying prankster, but they turn out to have a heart of gold and is fiercely loyal to their friends. Blaise is portrayed as the enemy, but they honestly have a super believable motive. YOU CAN EVEN HAVE A POLY ROMANCE. A poly romance that doesn’t have any weird power dynamics, just based on three people loving each other. Common H.P. Smith W.
My ranking of them:
- Auguste
- Rosario
- Blaise
- Hartmann
- Karson
- Freddie
- Max/Delacroix
- Max
- Gonzalez
- Delacroix
- Florin
Romance is handled deftly, most likely because the inclusivity is baked so seamlessly into the world that it barely calls attention to itself. Characters mention offhandedly their two “fathers” or “mothers.” You can choose your level of experience during sex, choose to be aro or ace (and the game actually lets you talk about it!), kiss early start things slow, and even have an aro/ace character. A large part of the game is about getting engaged for ~status~, but you can even have a marriage of convenience or a friendship marriage, even when you’re not aro or ace. Like, H.P. Smith did not have to do all that. But they did!
A character’s realistic yet funny reaction to an ace player:
Max looks intrigued. “That’s…gosh. Do you do anything, then? Not that I’m trying to pressure you,” she adds quickly. “I just don’t know if I’ve met anyone like that before.”
The branching … holy hell. This thing branches like it wants to win a forestry award (do those exist? Just go with it). There are completely different societies you can join, rival schools, sneaking, scheming, being noble, being messy. You can manipulate people, lie, string people along, cheat, get confronted for cheating, propose, get turned down (SO embarrassing), be downright evil—it’s all there, and it all fits your character’s personality and stats.
And the writing. The writing. It’s lush and warm and razor-sharp. Characters pop with so much personality that even minor side characters feel like they could anchor their own 300k-word spin-offs. I unironically got invested in the teacher love triangle. Also, there’s a lot of wonderful descriptions about fancy clothes.
I 100% the game on Steam.
Mixed:
The narrative is mostly slice-of-life but there is a major mystery plot line with major stakes. I loved this—it kicked the story into another gear—but to some players, it may be viewed as too random.
Pretty light on worldbuilding. Obviously, the worldbuilding is carried by the characters, and I’m sure there’s scope creep. While the player does information on the rival school, a bit on other nations, to me, the history seems a bit fuzzy. There’s also spirits, but no religion, which I think is always cool in a setting.
A minor quibble: LGBT romances are accepted. However, marriages are viewed as necessary. We know there’s a nation that has royalty. So I was wondering how children worked in this world. I believe some characters spoke about being adopted, so is there any importance of “bloodline?” Is there a government-sanctioned adoption center?
Cons:
If I had one critique: the ending moves fast. With a cast this good, you almost want two or three additional chapters just for reactions, consequences, and post-marriage life. But even then, the endings cover so much ground—marriages of convenience, real engagements, no engagement, personal triumphs, social disasters—that it’s impossible not to feel satisfied. I wished I got more reactions from my friends and parents about that super crazy ending that changed my life! But I mostly got short letters, making the ending seem hand wave-y. Did no one else care I turned out to be a brave hero who did super awesome things?
Some ROs have less screen time. The three ROs from the rival school are—dare I say it—bolder and more “exotic” than the player’s steady, normal school cast. I liked them better, anyway. But because of the distance between the two schools, you don’t get to talk to them as much. It’s especially a bummer if you romance Auguste because of the you-know-what. There’s not as much time to get to know them, so while I loved Auguste, our engagement felt rushed. I would suggest maybe a pen pal system? Choose who you get to write to every month or so? Or options to think about them more.