Wow, I joined much later than the other fans on here. My first game was Crème de la Crème. I don’t know why Playstore recommended it to me, but I was immediately hooked from the art and the premise. Before that, it had been maybe 15 years since I played one of those interactive Goosebumps novels, and a few years since I played Lost in Austen. I’ve always loved interactive fiction but a lot of those books were simply not available in my country. It’s why I still refer to CoG games as books, sometimes. Especially the really well written ones, including cdlc. That game was such a delight! It combined my favourite things - slice of life, old timey setting, intrigue, rivalry between two schools/colleges, and a healthy splash (but not overwhelming amounts) of romance. It also really helped along my understanding of non binary pronouns and stuff too, since English is my second language. The very next game I read was Choice of the Vampire, and I instantly formed a love-hate relationship with my existence as a vampire and all my vampire frenemies. I loved the fact that it stripped away the glamour of being a vampire and I loved (but was also terrified of) all the branching. So those two games are my OGs.
I am so very grateful to Jason for reading my long rant about his game on Reddit and sending me the link to the public beta testing of the game (after duly warning me that I would continue to find the game depressing and frustrating if I continued to try to play as an idealist), because that’s how I discovered this amazing forum! People on Reddit don’t even know half as much about the minutiae of my favourite games as folks on this forum, and everyone is so welcoming and warm that it really felt like a haven during the dreaded Covid era.
So thank you, @HarrisPS and @jasonstevanhill! I can safely say that you two changed my life around and single handedly got me back into reading something that wasn’t a boring textbook! 🩷
Choice of the Vampire was the third CoG game I played, but it was the one that really captivated me. I enjoyed Choice of Broadsides and Choice of the Dragon, but they felt like (really good) text games, and Choice of the Vampire felt like a novel I didn’t want to put down, and I felt like a partner in the creation of this amazing story. I’m so glad to know you had a similar experience.
That’s such a good way to describe it, actually! And while I’m on the subject of how I felt very welcome on the forum, I remember you as one of the earliest users who interacted with me and happily answered questions. So thank you for simply being you, Aletheia (can I just call you Aletheia?)
Gosh, I tend to grow quite sentimental this time of the year.
No, seriously, thank YOU for being so amazing and creating such wonderful games!
Awwww, you’re so sweet! And yes, you can just call me Aletheia. (Although I’m tempted to insist on formal address solely so I can address you as Ms. Potato.)
You wouldn’t believe some of the ways people have mangled my last name. A lot of people just spell it “Knight.” We put our name in at a restaurant once and didn’t recognize when they were calling for us because they were saying “Kangits.” And when my husband was teaching fifth grade, he got a Christmas gift once addressed to “Mr. Nice.”
My first ChoiceScript game was Life of a Mercenary. I found it about four years ago, just scrolling through apps randomly on the Play Store.
Then games like Crème de la Crème, The Shadow Society, Mecha Ace and War for the West completely hooked me and CS based IFs has kept me company ever since…It’s been really great being part of this amazing community.(which I did join around the same time I found the first game though I haven’t been really active here over the years)
Thank you so much, I’m so pleased!
