#chapter update

New Chapter Released!

Hello again! Hope the spring has been pleasant for you 🌷

With this update we're continuing the pilgrimage, which is turning out more dangerous than even the Crown and their companions anticipated:

The Crown will be revisiting an old place they had forgotten about, and learn more about the scars left on the land from the reigns of Crowns past

Whether you brought the water spirits with you or whether Eshkar is also there or not will give you additional variations and, depending on one choice you make this chapter, may lead to someone getting hurt

There will be more lore on the religious practices of Arsur, and an opportunity to customize your Crown's religious beliefs as well

A dangerous encounter shakes things up this chapter--is it a test of the spirits, or just bad luck? Either way, how your Crown handles this situation will not go unnoticed!

And last but not least, romance scenes with your chosen love interest, though the tone of these will be quite different considering the previous encounter...

Thank you for all your patience and support, I hope you enjoy the new chapter as summer approaches 💖

For those that are unfamiliar with the game

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy romance story, told in the form of a text-based interactive novel with choice mechanics. The setting is inspired by Kurdish culture as well as other historical settings in the Middle East such as Ancient Persia, but it also draws heavily from other cultures and countries in the region.

Your character is native to Arsur, a vast empire overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the Spirits of this world to be the new Crown. In this story, your MC takes on that role.

There are four different love interests to choose from, whose genders will be customized to suit the preferences of your Crown. You can find more info about them on the blog page!

Also note that this current version of the game is safe for those 16 years and older.

Like the premise so far? Play it and give it a try! The entire game is free!

CHAPTER 4 IS NOW AVAILABLE

457K + 166K —> ✮ 623,016K WORDS ✮

Fan Tier Release: July 4th

Public Release: July 18th

It's here! (Do you like the new cover??) After nine months, the chapter has finally come. This one took me a long time. I outlined and re-outlined and outline some more. There's something Sisyphean about writing an IF and there were long stretches where it felt like the end was never coming. This was definitely a set-up chapter aka it sets up a lot for chapter 5 and beyond when it comes to the routes and upcoming dramaaaa so I'm excited to see everyone's theories and thoughts on all of the breadcrumbs I drop in this one. I'm really thankful that I worked on Chapter 5 alongside of Chapter 4 because that means Chapter 5 won't take so long to come out! I'm excited for that yippeee! One thing to note: I usually leave the lyric options to the end but I couldn't come up with them this chapter. At all. Like for over a month I just couldn't. I am cashing in my "this is a wip" card and forcing a type-in. (It'll be fixed in chapter 5).

This new chapter is 50k words, bringing the grand total to 185k.

There are a few scenes that run long with little opportunities for choice. In those instances, I tried to factor in your previous choices as much as possible. In fact, this whole chapter has variables firing left and right, lol. I think it’ll be a fun experience for those of you with multiple playthroughs. 😁

Without further ado… go forth and enjoy, my lovelies!

First, a happy update: I’m done with writing chapter 8 and I'm getting started on the editing! 

This chapter update stands at ~57k words (with code), and features:

Returning to Cargill after the National Doubles tournament (including spending the night with G or having breakfast with Rayyan if you’ve unlocked those scenes) 

A freshman hang-out session with Max and Blake

Spending time with G preparing for the photography exhibition

Meeting your mother 👀—not once but twice?? (If you so choose)

Thanksgiving break 🦃—including: 

Having dinner with Sam and his/her family

Sleeping over and possibly revealing that you’re together

Playing a friendly game with Sam at the neighborhood courts 🎾where you’d grown to love the game

Playing a lord-of-the-rings board game with Sam and finally unlocking the Samwise Gamgee nickname 🧙‍♂️

Calling Rayyan, G, Tobin, or your mother (if you’ve unlocked those scenes) and learning about how they’re spending their thanksgiving 

Bond with your father, and/or spend time writing papers and preparing for finals 

Reaping the consequences of your choices over thanksgiving break 🔥 (will you manage to submit all your papers in time? Or will you get benched for the last match of the season…?) 

Chapter release dates 

Early release (less polished): May 6 

Early release (more polished): May 15

Public release: May 29 or earlier

Beta-tester slots

I have about 3 open beta-tester slots for CT:OS! If you:

Are interested in giving the full game a thorough play-through, particularly the later chapters 

Are prepared to try out different branches/routes

Want to provide detailed thoughts, feedback, and suggestions (e.g. continuity, various moments that could be improved etc.) (preferably not just bugs/typos) 

And would be available to do all of the above in the next week or so (in preparation for the update)

Do reach out to me either by Tumblr DM or by email ([email protected]), I would be very grateful for all the help I can get! :)

Update: I'm going to launch the upcoming chapter of the Merry Crisis text-based version (for supporters) and the Visual Novel demo on the same weekend :)

First off, do follow the studio on its brand-new instagram account!

Chapter 5: The Dream* is currently being beta-tested / edited, and will be released...

6 Dec early-release (Patreon/Ko-fi) — Edited

13 Dec public

Note: This version will include edits that had to be made for continuity and branching later on.

This will be the last update in choicescript, after which I will either be moving to twine or ink* early next year. This is because the company's T&Cs state that the choicescript language cannot be used alongside a game in a similar format e.g. visual novels

Trailer and steam page will be out: 28 Nov or earlier

Demo will be out on steam: 5 Dec

CHAPTER 7 IS UP!! FINALLY!

Enjoy a crappy drawing from before my Shadow's got a bit better :D

(Please remember to read content warnings at the top of the page, thank you <3 Please remember this is an 18+ only fic)

He took another step forward, painfully slow and unstable, and felt his heartbeat speed up even more. Run. His breathing was ragged. His lungs tasted like iron. Another step forward. His knees almost buckled again, gave out and trapped him in the snow, paralyzed with– RUN. Waves of it, washing over every mortal within the vicinity, and even though Narinder was still a God and he was immune to such, he felt his teeth set on edge and watched the nearest Followers collapse to their knees– – watched the Lamb frozen, locked in place as his siblings dragged them closer to them as they surveyed the undying vessel before them– – fear. RUN. Narinder did not.

Narinder is awakened by a certain figment of his imagination, just in time to chase after the Lamb, where he is forced to shake them out of a state that they have been in before.

Lambert finally learns the whole truth from Narinder.

Something shifts.