Final Installment of ‘Choice of Romance: Affairs of the Court’

Text-based game developers at Choice of Games are now releasing the final part of the Choice of Romance: Affairs of the Court trilogy.

I reviewed the first installment, Choice of Romance, in September of 2010, and noted that “the royal court bears striking resemblances to Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon: The king and his politically-advantageous wife have one sickly child, while the king’s wandering eye has led to an illegitimate son. One time I played through, I went after the king, and was soon receiving gifts, stringing the king alone and deposing the rightful queen, just like a magic-using Anne Boleyn. I don’t know if this was the intention, or if maybe I should lay off the historical novels for a while.” The game story, written by Heather Albano, is complex court intrigue at its finest.

At the time, I also noted that players could choose their gender and sexual orientation, which was quite innovative and exciting to me, but it’s become a Choice of Games standard. I encountered this same feature in later releases like Choice of the Star Captain and Heroes Rise: The Prodigy. Well done, Choice of Games!

The third part of the Choice of Romance: Affairs of the Court trilogy is called ‘Til Death Do Us Part. The story opens with the opening of Choice of Romance, in the very beginning, before the protagonist is called to court, but allows experienced players to skip ahead to the final installment by answering a couple questions in the ChoiceScript multiple-choice style to catch up. It only takes a few moments to get caught up in the court intrigue again, as familiar characters return with new conflicts to solve. (This section contains some spoilers for players new to the Choice of Romance storyline, so it’s best to start at the beginning to experience the whole thing.)

The final story is over 100,000 words long, with many possible paths for players. Each choice leads to consequences, and this magical court has both rich rewards and dangerous failures. Like the other ChoiceScript games, there are no sounds or graphics, everything is an interactive novel.

When a young rival arrives at court and draws the wandering eye of King Augustín, your husband, what will you do?

A) Take the earliest possible opportunity to speak alone with her and warn her off.

B) Find another more suitable match for her.

C) Destroy her reputation.

D) Poison her.

E) Cast a forbidden Death Curse on her.

Like their other popular text-based games, the conclusion of Choice of Romance: Affairs of the Court is available for iOS and Android devices, and for Windows, Mac and Linux computers.