Mask of the Rose

Welcome to Fallen London: a darkly hilarious gothic underworld where death is a temporary inconvenience, the rats talk, and Hell is only a stone's throw away.

Thanks to an unknown bargain, London now resides in a vast cavern under the earth. Down here, the sun doesn't shine, and Parliament has sunk into the Thames. Queen Victoria never emerges from her palace. The fabric of strait-laced Victorian society has begun to fray.

New Masters are in charge. Why are they so… tall? And always cloaked? And why are they so interested in love stories?

Even death itself has a twist here: the first murder victim since the Fall is feeling much better, and keen to see justice done. Unfortunately, as the doctor who treated him immediately before he expired, your housemate Archie is the prime suspect...

Mask of the Rose is a visual novel, but might not be what you expect of the genre. It’s a complex social simulation, with a huge amount of player freedom.

You can pursue love and try to solve David's murder. Or, honestly, you can focus on something else instead. For example:

Earn money as a census-taker for the shadowy Masters of the Bazaar and ask people weirdly intrusive personal questions.

Use the game’s unique storycrafting mechanic to develop theories about the murder, or just help a friend plot out her novels instead.

Shape what others think of you by assembling the perfect outfit for any occasion, or confound them with bold and terrible sartorial choices.

Or maybe you’d rather concentrate on matters of the heart? Find yourself a date for the city’s first Feast of the Rose. Seek enduring romance, flirt with devils, have a casual fling, focus on aromantic or asexual relationships, or pursue the affections of that mysterious, looming, taloned newcomer...…