Do you have any feeling about what causes this lack of emotional investment? Does it feel kind of like a history lecture, and all the information feels irrelevant to the characters? And what makes it feel like “the writing doesn’t let you in”? These might be too hard of questions to have good answers, I don’t know. I’m concerned about a similar thing happening in my writing and I want to know the signs of it!
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Ya know, I was mulling it over the other day. I don’t have a perfect diagnostic answer—it was more of a feeling than something I could point to on the page—but let me give it a go. For me, the main issue wasn’t the events themselves, but how the game handled their aftermath. I had two or three major betrayals happen to me by a close character, but the narrative doesn’t slow down to explore the character’s reaction or let relationships shift in response. Scenes tend to transition quickly to the next historical development, so even dramatic beats feel more like plot points than turning points. Additionally, it was hard to care about the other characters when there weren’t any typical “bonding” scenes. Of course, CoV was a super recent title, but I’m used to character development through verbal (and nonverbal) communication. Companions and potential love interests appear briefly, disappear for long stretches, or aren’t given enough shared scenes to build attachment. When something happened to them, I intellectually understood the consequences, but I didn’t feel them because the relationship itself never deepened. Take, for example, the Infinity series or The Golden Rose, two great examples of worldbuilding and character development respectively. I cared about my nation and the big, bad empire in the Infinity series because … the narrative made me care. This is a bit vague because I can’t quite remember the specific details, but the empire schemed and plotted to destabilize your nation—and you, as a result. There’s a LOT of politics, but I didn’t mind reading about them because they were so deeply intertwined in the narrative, if that makes sense. You get to know the reigning Queen, for example, and see the personal behind the political. While imperialism or sovereignty are Big Topics™️, you still choose how you feel and what you do. So what do you want the main character and reader to care about? Why should they care?
In The Golden Rose, there are many scenes where you can just sit and ask characters question, like you get to know them in real life. That feels natural.
If you’re worried about this in your own writing, the biggest “sign” I noticed as a reader was that major events didn’t change how I felt about anyone. Characters didn’t deepen over time, and my choices didn’t seem to shift the emotional tone. Everything stayed at the same distance. Player agency, I suppose. Hope this helped 
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Saint Louis is, imo, better about this. It has one stable court that you’re with over the course of almost half a century, you get a good feel for all of them. You get scenes with them both together and separately that build some pretty good characterization (I’m especially fond of how Memeskia’s deal builds up to his climax on the mound, even if I think its a little rushed). It also imo handles the politics a bit better than Memphis does, rather than throwing you into this clearly very important conflict that nevertheless isn’t really explained at all.
Also you get to fight a werewolf and that’s sick as hell.
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I like the sound of that! 
Thank you! I think I understand now. Sort of like, the characters feel like they’re things the author put in out of obligation, I guess. They serve a story purpose, but you can “feel” that the author doesn’t really care that much about them, and it comes across in the writing…
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This review has made me want to reread the Infinity saga.
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Do it, do it, do it!
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The Parenting Simulator
By Matt Simpson
☆☆ (8/10)
The Parenting Simulator is a deceptively simple game that manages to be simultaneously lighthearted, funny, and surprisingly emotional. At first glance, it’s just a parent coming home from the hospital with a newborn, but honestly, it turns out to be a nuanced simulation of choices, consequences, and relationships that make you genuinely care about your child. I can’t remember why I bought it because I don’t even like kids. I respect them as (mostly) autonomous beings, of course, but they quite frankly scare me. They poop, cry, and vomit a lot, all actions I’m afraid of. But somehow, this game made me reflect on (1) how I would raise my own child (2) how my mom was a terrific mom and (3) how I would make a horrible parent. Again, this one is so underrated! It’s a bummer the author hasn’t realized anything else, as far as I can tell.
Pros:
Warm, emotionally storytelling. I quite admired the tone. The tone is lighthearted and funny in a sort of weary, parent way. There’s a lot of wink wink nudge nudge, sarcasm, and even some dad jokes. It’s not comedic but rather … charming. I thought the narrator was a separate character in itself. Still, the game isn’t afraid to handle real emotion. This isn’t satire. No, there are moments like your kiddo coming home from school upset at being a slow reader, or your kid breaking their arm. Even the small interactions—first steps, bonding nights, school success—made me feel connected to my little peanut.
Choices have real impact. Every decision, from discipline style to extracurriculars, shapes the child’s personality and achievements. As my ancestors before me, I went full “tiger Asian mom” on my first playthrough and watched my child grow into an Ivy League, piano-playing prodigy who even won a Nobel Prize. Suck it, losers. Meanwhile, my “failure” playthrough featured colder, more laissez-faire choices that had my kid become a bum, respectfully, who couldn’t do anything without me. The game makes you consider the long-term effects of each choice, reflecting on how parenting in real life often involves unintended consequences.
Event randomization and detailed milestones. I haven’t encountered this mechanic before! You can choose to randomize events for unpredictability, or manually navigate each life event for a more controlled story. This gives tremendous replayability, letting you explore every branch—years 1 to 18—while still keeping things fresh.
Incorporation of adoption and single-parent storylines. Again, I was surprised at the depth. I was allowed to choose why the player character is raising them alone, including one adoption-related subplots. It was kind of surreal, having my child meet their biological mother, even though I know that happens quite a lot in real life. I wish this was built on more (see below)!
Personalization and immersion. There’s a lot of small details that get brought up, like nicknames, personality quirks, and even favorite toys (my son loved dinosaurs. Real, little dude).
Achievements and multiple endings. Achievements had a cute little description and name, and the ending was surprisingly varied. I perhaps 100% the game on Steam, so I like to think I know what I’m talking about.
And how could I ever forget: a well-written kid character! It is so damn hard to write a good child character. They’re either too whiny (Hugo from A Plague Tale) or talk like they’re an adult. The best child portrayals off the top off my head are Clementine from The Walking Dead and Ellie from The Last of Us. You see both girls grow from kids to young women with all the angst that entails. The Parenting Simulator is similar in effect—though much less dark, of course. Your kid huffs and puffs, of course, throws tantrums, and pouts, but Simpson doesn’t go overboard. Your kid is also sweet, loving, and witty. In short: they’re like a regular teenager.
Cons:
Limited scope for later stages. While the game excels at infancy and early childhood, later life events like first crushes, romantic relationships, handling finances, or even drugs or alcohol are underdeveloped or missing entirely. It’s not the worst con in the world, because I just wanted more content tbh.
Super blank slate protagonist. I totally see the necessary of this—anyone could be a single parent. I’m both impressed by how the author neatly avoids any mention of background or sexuality and both disappointed. Obviously, there’s only so much content an author can write, but I would have loved for a romance side plot—how unique would that be? The kiddo’s biological parent, if on that path, would be pretty neat. 
Or even just a couple more concrete details. I’m basically asking for a sequel tbh. I wanna adopt another kid or try dating as a single parent! The Parenting Simulator 2: Coparenting or something.
Lack of long-term development for characters. While your child is richly realized, other family or adoptive characters are less fleshed out. For example, you have a sibling and a parent whose kid becomes friends with yours. While the relationship stays warm and friendly, there’s not many appearances from these two characters. My parent character actually felt a little lonely, with only the kid as a constant in my life.
Little nitpick, but there’s some vagueness. For example, I was asked at the beginning of the game, if my child had a “nickname.” I was confused if the author meant I would be the one using the “nickname” or other people would; also, I thought “nickname” meant “pet name.” I gambled wrong, and had my son’s nickname to be “Peanut.” This revealed itself when his school friends started calling him that. Yeah…
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Nice, I was hoping I’d have one of these. I actually have three stories out, but it’s fair you wouldn’t know that. My first one was tremendously unpopular, a sci-fi comedy called Nuclear Powered Toaster which has a whopping two Steam reviews in seven years and has yet to earn me even $700 in royalties, and since you play on Steam, you’d not really have a chance to see the third, The Day After Ever After (a Cinderella sequel story). It didn’t get a Steam release because I chose to do it as free to play (although the company chose to only partially do it that way; it’s free to play once through only). It’s placed in a couple of the Most Underrated polls, which basically means some people like it but it didn’t sell a ton. It does at least save my monthly royalties from dipping below $100 a lot of the time by picking up a little slack when Parenting, the heavy lifter of the trio, falls a tad short. I’d like to recommend Toaster but I really can’t. It’s not horrible (the main source of its unpopularity is the genre and the fixed protagonists rather than it being atrocious), but it’s not good either. Sometimes that first pancake is a throwaway. And the fact that I wrote it in seven months for the contest should be seen as more cautionary than anything. Some of those nights waking up at 2AM to finish it led to it going in weird directions. Day After I think is pretty good. Worth a read if you use the omnibus as well. Bit darker than Parenting, though.
As for a sequel to Parenting, never say never. But I will say it’s not on the horizon at present. After my third release in 2022, I spun my wheels for a year and a half. Then last year I got some real traction. Wrote about 20-25% of The Grandparenting Simulator, 50k or so words, which would have ultimately been a DLC sequel of indeterminate but definitely formidable length. I stopped last fall for three reasons, more or less in reverse order: frustration over failed negotiations with the company to raise base royalty rates for HG titles (not even that they failed, but how they were conducted in the first place), a technical glitch in CSIDE that wiped nearly 10,000 words and set me back a month, and a nagging sensation that it wasn’t as good. And worse, that this wasn’t even avoidable. Being a grandparent means surrendering a lot of choice. And that’s just plain bad for this type of game/story. If you have to run everything through your kid and their spouse, then your lack of autonomy is going to impact the experience. I ran a poll on the HG subreddit asking if folks preferred an inferior sequel or to leave a game standalone, and standalone won handily. I think about that often when I ponder coming back to it.
It’s a shame. I wanted to really explore it. I enjoyed writing the various iterations of the in-laws (that was the segment that got wiped, of course), was looking forward to exploring dating as an older person since that’s so rare here, and how you indirectly influenced your kid’s family as far as if they had more children or even broke up entirely. And I do wonder if either it or the wrestling story I keep coming back to will eventually lure me over to ChoiceScript once more. But for now I’m having fun writing spec screenplays (finished my first in September and, after taking October off, I’m 22 pages in on my second) and I have considered doing a self-pub alternate history short story collection. Just trying to expand beyond a single format and market, get more experience, see what all is out there beyond this content mill.
Sorry, I meant to address what you said about the story itself but got sidetracked. I’ll try to respond again later in more detail (be afraid, be very afraid).
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Yup. Pretty realistic description of actual parenting I feel…
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… I just got flashbacks to when I was a kid and asked my mom why she didn’t have any friends like I did.
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Ah, yeah, I just searched for it on Steam. Jeez, it’s a niche niche: sci-fi and comedy and fixed protagonists and a (relatively) shorter work, huh?
I’m assuming that’s a small amount, even for IF? 
… You know what’s crazy? I just searched it up, and YES I actually played it when I released!!! I didn’t realize there was this whole forum space, so I used to regularly check the actual Cog blog because I didn’t want to spend money. So I was super overjoyed when it was free to play. I really did like it! It had your “writing voice”: a sort of gentle humor/snarkiness. I would totally buy it if it was on Steam.
I did not know that’s how it worked, super cool!
Sometimes I forget CoG/HG is still a business! First, thank you for writing such a detailed comment. Sometimes I do wonder about authors: are they still writing? Lurking? Are they even making enough money to pay the bills? But I really appreciate you letting me know about a sequel. I gotta say, even though it’s not on the horizion, a possible The Grandparenting Simulator sounds dope as hell! Though I’m sure it’s so easy for me to be the idea girl, everything you mentioned sounded right up my alley. I just love life sim stuff. The Sims in IF fashion, I suppose!
Selfishly, I would love if you (1) came back to CS and (2) remained with us on the forums. I’ve really enjoyed seeing your name pop up in my notifications. But because I like to think of myself as magnanimous, I am happy you are still continuing to write! The American poet Louise Glück wrote a great forward to Richard Siken’s Crush, one of the most exceptional collections of poetry I’ve ever read. I can’t quite remember what she said verbatim, but she mentioned how established authors’ works have a style or “voice” to them. Siken’s voice was panic; I think Emily Dickinson’s or Mary Oliver’s was relief. I’ve kept this comment in mind when reviewing games. The Golden Rose has a lyrical voice; the Infinity series is perhaps determined; Wayhaven is flirty. I say all this to mean I think your writing is detailed and humorous enough to have that voice. I’ve felt/heard it while playing through Parenting, as odd as that sounds. So even if Toaster or Ever After weren’t commercial successes, you do distinguish yourself from other writers imho. I know within 10 minutes if a game isn’t for me. So I would gladly read some of your future work, and I hope you’re not too discouraged
If you leave a long comment, and I leave a long comment, what’s going to happen next??? I’m thinking of that one meme where Spiderman is pointing at himself lol. But please do, I enjoyed your thoughts!
8 Likes
The Great Tournament 2
By Philip Kempton
☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)
While this review may not sound like it, I do have a fondness for this author and The Great Tournament 1. It was one of the first interactive fiction games I’ve played, and at my once tender age, I didn’t see any flaws. Or honestly, I just looked past them. I liked the sequel back then but not as much as the first game. Unfortunately, The Great Tournament 2 doesn’t really hold up. It’s shorter than the first game and while it still has a strong Kingdom Management portion, the rest of the game crumbles under its ambition. There’s choice, war, diplomacy, economy, but not enough. Not deep enough or clearly explained. Characters are flat, and there are mistakes with typos and punctuation. Your choices do matter, but at the same time, there’s a lot of RNG and variables that are just out right confusing.
Pros:
Let’s give credit where it’s due: this game aims high. The concept of ruling your own town and/or kingdom, making policy decisions, and seeing their effects unfold is honestly pretty unique for a Choice of Games title. It’s almost tabletop-esque. There’s continuity with your character from the first game, which is satisfying. You get a lot of choices in how to play—from being a noble, selfless ruler to a tyrant obsessed with power. And clearly, Kempton put a lot of work into the mechanics, the stats, and the sheer volume of text. In terms of scope and effort, The Great Tournament 2 is quite ambitious.
Cons:
The writing feels lifeless. Where the first game had heart, at least, this one feels like a spreadsheet. The prose is dry and perfunctory, just dialogue and choices, with very little description of setting, clothing, or atmosphere. You don’t see or feel the world anymore. Characters speak in bland, mechanical ways, and none of them have distinct personalities. Even the returning faces feel hollow.
The UI is rough. There’s no polite way to say this: the interface is painful. You’ll find yourself clicking through endless lists, performing repetitive tasks that make you feel more like an overworked accountant than a ruler. Want to buy 25 horses? You’ll be clicking one at a time, scrolling down a long list, and repeating that process until your will to live quietly expires. I honestly got bored with the micromanaging, and that’s not what strategy or text sims should feel like.
The battles are boring. You’d expect the battles and wars to be the highlights: moments of glory, adrenaline, tension. Instead, they’re dull, mechanical sequences where outcomes depend more on stats than storytelling. It’s super cool to see your army broken down into exact numbers, but the “fighting”? Is just clicking the “next” button over and over until a force of 4,000 breaks. That’s not fun or cool at all.
The choices feel hollow. Yes, there are a lot of choices, but I just didn’t feel invested or felt like they mattered. You’ll see the same dialogue and the same big events. Oh well.
12 Likes
I’m a big fan of Jerieth’s work, and how he tries to weave management and turn based combat elements into his stories, which inspired my own work greatly.
But I definitely agree with the tedious battles and resource management in the sequel. If you’re killed by bad RNG, you have to drag yourself through the tedium all over again. (Which is why I created a numerical slider for troop management, set strict limits on the number of battles and created a save system in my own game.)
Still, the game is still impressively ambitious, and I replayed it about five times, slogging through the next buttons. It’s shorter for a single playthrough, but for what it’s worth, I did like that he came up with five different opening chapters depending on your choices in the first game.
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I really do admire his ambitious take on management and turn-based combat. I didn’t even know you could do that in ChoiceScript tbh. And I haven’t read anything like it before. The Great Tournament 1 was my favorite, I think. The one where you journey from town to town competing in tourneys under a day limit. That was super unique and fun! There was still some tedious RNG there, but I didn’t mind it. But 2 had so much clicking my wrist actually hurt lol.
See, I didn’t want to be too harsh (even though I kinda was) because I didn’t know the limits of the coding aspect. I thought sliders would be a good solution, but it was hard for me to visualize a way the UI would actually work.
4 Likes
Affairs of the Court: Choice of Romance
By Heather Albano and Adam Strong-Morse
☆☆☆☆ (6/10)
Affairs of the Court: Choice of Romance is one of the oldest and most iconic Choice of Games titles—and I can see why it made such an impression back in 2013. It’s a lavish, politically charged story full of court intrigue, scheming nobles, forbidden magic, and the ruthless pursuit of power. There’s a lot to admire here: the ambition, the writing quality, and the moral nuance. All stands out, especially for an early COG game. But it’s not the sweeping romantic epic it seems to be. The romance is dry, the world feels underexplored, and the first chapter’s forced path kills replayability. Still, if you’re here for the political drama, the ruthless power plays, and the chance to manipulate royalty like a true mastermind, it’s a fun ride—just don’t expect much heat in the “Affairs” part of the title.
Pros:
The prose. The writing and style are excellent—easily one of the best from that era of ChoiceScript games. The prose is elegant but approachable, the tone dripping with tension and manipulation. Descriptions of characters and feelings are short and sparse, yet I found that the writing mostly lingered enough on the plot without rushing. Very lush. Add in all the DLCs, and the game becomes a pretty meaty experience, long enough to give you room to grow from an ambitious courtier to a powerful force behind the throne.
(Some) player choice. So, for the first two parts, the game is linear-ish. You have your big events, and your choices matter when it comes to how you react to said events and what you do about them. Political choices, notably, had a lot of nuance you can bring to your decisions. You can be completely ruthless, charmingly pragmatic, or generally honorable, and all of those paths feel valid. The game understands that ambition doesn’t always mean cruelty, which I find rare. There are plenty of moments where your choices matter. Deciding whether to kill or spare certain characters and seeing those choices ripple back haunts or helps you later. Even deciding if you’re kind or cruel as a monarch or to your family affects the ending.
LGBT options. It’s surprisingly progressive for a 2013 title. You can pursue same-sex romances freely, and even have biological children as a woman with another woman, which I was surprised at!
Cons:
The illusion of choice—especially early on. The first chapter teases three possible love interests, each with their own intrigue and potential. But if you don’t pick the “right” one, the game literally ends early, telling you to “try again.” It’s jarring and undercuts the entire premise of “choice.” Why offer options at all if there’s only one viable path forward? I don’t mind romancing the Monarch, but others might not.
The (lack) of romance. So “Choice of Romance” in the title implies romance, in my opinion, as broad as the term is. But your two love interests in the first part are clearly the wrong option, and you only get to choose two new LIs in the third part. As such, the relationship isn’t built upon at all; the relationship turns to “longing gazes” then “let’s fuck” pretyyyy quickly. While marriages are political, of course, there’s just not a lot of chemistry between anyone. The main love interest (your king or queen) is … well, a monarch. Prone to violence, jealousy, and wandering eyes. The relationship feels transactional rather than emotional; there’s little of the tension, humor, or chemistry that makes a great romance tick. You don’t flirt, you just pick the optimal option, and the other person basically throws themselves at you. Or you have to beg not to have your head cut off. It’s strong writing—I don’t mind being a Machiavellian type—but for a game supposed to be about romance, there’s very little.
Shallow worldbuilding. The worldbuilding feels a tad undercooked. The Life and Death mages are such a cool concept (potentially fascinating in a world about power, temptation, and control) but they’re barely explored. Your children (and stepdaughter) might as well be furniture; they exist, but they don’t really have a personality. There’s not a lot of interaction with your family to make them feel like family. And while the choices are impactful in some areas, others feel like instant-fail traps if your stats aren’t perfectly aligned.
Rushed endings. I will grant the authors that there are multiple endings based on your decision. But by the time the story ends, it feels rushed, like there were grand ideas that never quite got time to develop. Epilogues and death scenes are short. I had two young sons, then got mind controlled, then had the evil king overthrown by my then teenage sons in the span of a couple pages. That’s … quite a jump, with the “bad end” consequences feeling choppy and jarring.
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That is a very funny ending lol
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A lot of the early CoG stuff has rushed endings, so at some point, I just rolled with it tbh LOL
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If you want an absolutely horrible rushed ending, Tudor Intrigue is your game. The author seems to have basically run out of steam and slapped it together to get the game out the door.
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Fun fact!
When I wrote HMS Foraker as a spinoff of Choice of Broadsides, I actually cribbed some of Affairs of the Court’s worldbuilding. Both Broadsides and AotC kinda name the countries of their settings with alternative or archaic names for their historical analogues and I kinda ran with that.
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