You’re a clever but nearly friendless owl on the verge of losing everything you’ve struggled so hard to earn. With ruthless vulture creditors on your tail, you must track down a missing client whose case can save your career. But when your investigation takes a horrific turn, can you avoid becoming a deranged bird’s next victim? It's 40% off until November 10th!
Talon City: Death from Above is a 135,000-word interactive fantasy novel by Eric Moser. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
The Wards of Talon City, nine in all, sprawl as far as a bird can see. Thousands of trees house thousands of citizens, from the lowliest hummingbirds to the most magnificent eagles. Towering cottonwoods, oaks and spruces teem with life. And death.
Trapped in the middle of the city’s hierarchy, you face challenges at every turn. The eagles don’t respect you. The prey birds don’t trust you. You’re deep in debt, and now your most valuable client is nowhere to be found. Can even the cleverest owl prevail in such a desperate situation?
Play as male, female, or non-binary.
Approach challenges by relying on your Wings, Beak, Ears, Talons, or Heart.
Face death on three different occasions!
Is your relationship with your best friend platonic or is romance on the horizon?
Will you befriend your assistant or treat her only as a lacky?
Are you sincere or disingenuous? Disheveled or tidy? Build your character through the decisions you make.
Will you be a merciful owl, or will you be driven by vengeance?
Do you prefer a more relaxing playing experience? Play on “Easy” Mode.
Do you prefer a stressful challenge? “Preposterous” Mode might be for you.
20 Achievements to pursue!
Can you survive the perils of Talon City?
Eric developed this game using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels like these. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Write your own game and Hosted Games will publish it for you, giving you a share of the revenue your game produces.
As a longtime Eric Moser fan who also did a little late beta testing for Talon City, I’m really excited to see this come out. It’s a terrific noir fantasy, and I hope it finds a wide enough audience that I get to enjoy a sequel in a few years.
This game is amazing! It’s not quite like anything else out there, but it’s both thought-provoking and richly entertaining. I’d love to know what everyone thought of the setting and characters. I loved getting to play a character who, even though I played her as relatively broad-minded, still inevitably reflected some of the prejudices of her society. I adored my assistant, Concordia. I wanted to chew out a couple of birds for legal malpractice.
I really hope this game does well, not only because it deserves to be read and enjoyed, but because I already told Moser what he should call the sequel and I’ll be sorely disappointed if he never gets to use it.
So glad to see it take flight after all these years. I still remember testing the early version back when I was a wee chick here myself. And whether it soars or stumbles, it is a labor of love and that can never be taken away. I hope it’s the first of many, and I’m glad to share the day with you, Eric.
Good. Clearly we are birds of a feather in resisting such low attempts at humor. Now if you’ll forgive me, I’m feeling a bit peckish, off to have a snack.
@Eric_Moser There’s been a couple of great reviews for TC on the Hosted Games subreddit.
I should probably play this to beat Preposterous, but I still remember the entire plot, so I probably need to wait a bunch of time until my brain files the data away to make it fun-er again.
Congrowltulations, Eric! 
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