Out now! "Heavens' Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress"—Overthrow a Persian steampunk empire!

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Originally published at: Out now! “Heavens’ Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress”—Overthrow a Persian steampunk empire! - Choice of Games LLC

Heavens' Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress
We’re proud to announce that Heavens’ Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress, 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” app.

It’s 30% off until October 31st!

In a Persian steampunk empire, will you use your arcane alchemy to repair a spaceship, or pilot a mech? Ignite a revolution, snuff it out, or play both sides against each other?

Heavens’ Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress is an interactive retrofuturistic fantasy novel by Peter Adrian Behravesh, inspired by eighteenth-century Iran, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—275,000 words and hundreds of choices, without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Your training in alchemy puts you at the cutting edge of magic and technology, learning the science that governs the material world and the heavens alike. You can already create gunpowder, design intricate machines, brew potions that can ease the most terrible diseases, and distill fragrant perfumes. Much knowledge of astralchemy has been lost, but you could even learn to repair a khalicraft spaceship to escape to another world, or a giant mech that you can pilot into battle.

Seyj is an ancient city on the brink of revolution. Half a century ago, the She’ri Empire invaded, overthrowing the old ruler and occupying your planet. You are descended from both She’ri colonists and ancient Seyj families, and your loyalties are torn.

Like all citizens, you must serve in the Royalists’ army and defend the satrap governor—and yet you can see the Revolutionists’ protests escalating every day, agitating to overthrow the satrap and restore the old regime.

When the Revolutionists try to recruit you to their cause, will you share their view that they fight for justice? Or will you remain loyal to the satrap, upholding your duty as a soldier? Or will you play a game more dangerous than your fiercest alchemical flame, feeding information from one faction to another as a spy?

You had best hope that you don’t end up on the wrong side of a shamshir’s blade.

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi, or asexual.
• Master arcane astralchemy to craft powerful weapons, open your own workshop, or secure a professorship at the University
• Rise within the ranks of the military and command an army to defend the satrap
• Or, join the revolution, overthrow the usurper, and restore the old ruler to her throne
• Find love with a fellow soldier, a blacksmith-turned-rebel, or a princess

Is gaining the world worth losing your soul?

We hope you enjoy playing Heavens’ Revolution: A Lion Among the Cypress. 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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Yep, it’s out a day early! Just for fun, nbd :slight_smile:

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Congratulations @behravesh! :tada: I’m looking forward to returning to this fascinating setting and exploring further. Hope you get to do something nice to celebrate!

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Massive congrats on the new game! :tada: :partying_face: :tada:

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Well, this is an exciting surprise!

I’m so excited for everyone to get to experience this wonderful game in its entirety. Behravesh has composed a thrilling drama about a character caught up in the sweep of history. You can throw in your lot with the rebels, or take a stand for the status quo (things aren’t perfect, after all, but they could certainly be worse). Maybe you’d rather just live your life as quietly as you can and focus on your future career, even as you find yourself with a front-row seat to watch history unfold.

This is an engaging story with a deliciously colorful setting and complex characters. I hope you all enjoy it!

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Yeah, uh, I too was so excited that I woke up early thinking it was Thursday and released it.

Whelp, once you release on Steam, you can’t take it back, so here we are.

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If helps, I’m sure it was Thursday somewhere in the world when you woke up and released it.
So technically it was released on a Thursday

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Aw, thank you! (We’re going out to dinner to celebrate!)

You’re too kind, Aletheia! Your feedback was absolutely invaluable. I couldn’t have done it without you!

And of course, MASSIVE thanks to Jason for his endless patience, keen editorial eye, and willingness to take a chance on me in the first place!

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It was my pleasure!

Please let us know how things go with that novel you mentioned that’s set in the same world! I know I won’t be the only one who wants to read it when it comes out.

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Congrats @behravesh!

I look forward to “playing both sides against each other.”

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Huzzah! Congrats, @behravesh !!!

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So far (I think I’m at half of the game?) I find myself annoyed very often. Game keeps trying to force me, very unsubtly, to revolution and trying to make it as if my character is already a Revolutionist when all I’ve ever did was to support satrap, law and government, and spoken for my own personal study in astralchemy on the side.

Again and again I’m there to rebuke the game’s attempt to make me revolt, and right now at Legion meeting I’ve made a mistake of trying to speak up after people offered critique to Legion’s plans and game thought it means I want to speak for the revolt when I wanted to join the critique and tell how Legion is wrong…

And honestly…
Farhad and his rebels: constantly lying to me, constantly putting me in danger, constantly ‘accidentally’ hurting innocents and neutrals. I didn’t even betray tose idiots (despite being loyal to the government) and they keep going on how they dont trust me while LYING, LYING AND LYING MORE WHEN I FIND ABOUT THEIR LIES >:(

Pelk and Golshifteh: strict, but fair, when I do good with raids they pat me, tell me ‘good job’ and promote me on merit.

I know which side I’m on :wink:

Oh wow, after attack on the satrap and her death game railroaded me to going to Farhan, I found out they’re running away on a ship, said I won’t arrest them despite being loyal to government, because I was covering for them the whole time… and I GOT FUCKING SHOT BY ALALEH. BAD END. What the hell?

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Last thing was due to a fail skill check from what I recall from that beta though I will say since you are playing as a loyalist there are only two endings (stay or leave) since the horny heir pulls a successful coup and force both sides to kneel to her no matter what

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Well, it was an unannounced check then, I don’t even know what it was checking for.

I was going to stay, because I was romancing heir btw :frowning:

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Only two endings for loyalists or only two endings period?

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I’ll be sure to keep you all posted!

In the meantime, if anyone’s interested in reading the first chapter, you can check it out here. You might even recognize one of the characters! :wink:

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I’ve not got very far yet, but I just love the descriptions, and the way you’re embedding setting details in them while making them very evocative at the same time. It’s really lovely to read!

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I like the game a lot . But I do feel like i being pushed to be a revolutionary.

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I remember not being thrilled with the WIP. I don’t like the game any better. I understand wanting to portray a “there are no good choices” conundrum, but it is particularly infuriating when it feels like none of the choices you make matter because the rest of the cast just runs roughshod over them regardless. I don’t think there was any room left for a positive ending for a middle ground, ambivalent character; that’s what annoys me most. You can want the law obeyed without supporting every little foible of the people in power, but the game pushes you to either extremism a, extremism b or imprisonment because you’re not far enough up anyone’s behind and have your own goals and desires. I think there probably wasn’t enough room in the plot for the romances either, and that they should maybe not have been a part of the game, as they certainly didn’t feel a part of the story. It felt like you had to carve out time for them, but there was never really an option to do so, particularly if you just wanted to complete your apprenticeship and get away from Farhan’s entire lying family.

Oh, and there’s no way to not get dragged into someone’s mess. Either you’re a revolutionary or you’re not. But you’re always under suspicion and therefore under threat of being branded a traitor unless you’re extremely NOT a revolutionary. It feels loaded and unfair and I won’t be replaying the game. It just made me angrier with each page.

I won’t ask for my money back though, as I knew going in that it was a game/WIP I had not liked (or genre, I hate steampunk.) I feel it’s important enough to support the less seen genres and cultures when they pop up in a work here and I’m willing to do that (at this point) unconditionally, so that we get more of them and maybe I get one that I like, eventually. It was well written. I just wish it hadn’t pissed me off to the point where I wasn’t actually able to enjoy the writing.

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I’m not sure what you mean by a “middle ground, ambivalent character,” but my first playthrough was as a peaceful, intellectual sort who agreed with the ideals of the Revolutionists but not their methods and mostly just wanted to learn astralchemy and have a career at the University, and she got a reasonably positive ending. Much more so than most of my characters who took a strong stand for one side or the other, actually.

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