“I have informed my neighbours – Crispin and Polliver, Applewick and Mr. Chope – that you will be staying. Please make yourself at home. I have provided a supply of Murgatroyd’s comestibles.”
The Clay Coalman needs someone to house-sit his apartment in the Clay Quarters. But life on Chalcedony Square is regulated by its tyrannical clock; its inhabitants imprisoned in lonely routine. An unexpected visitor might be just what’s needed to turn strangers into a community.
Curious about Exceptional Friendship? You can now play the Exceptional Story Reunion for free, as a taster! Look for An Exceptional Story: Reunion anywhere in London. You’ll unlock it when you’ve achieved level 5 in each of the four Making Your Name storylines.
All Exceptional Friends receive:
A new Exceptional Story every month
Memories of a Tale from each story to spend on exclusive companions and items
A second candle (up to 40 actions at once)
An expanded opportunity deck: ten cards instead of six
Four additional outfit slots
Once they have Agents, the ability to run an additional concurrent plot
Access to the House of Chimes including monthly gameplay perks
Enhanced Exceptional Friends receive all of the above, plus:
A past story, or two resets of stories they’ve played from a monthly menu
It’s a bummer for the story that it must come out during a particularly intense Estival. I look forward to it, the art looks great, but I’m probably not alone in delaying this a week or two.
We’ve fixed the error that incorrectly gave access to non-subscribers, and we’re working on removing the EF story qualities in cases where people got access this way.
It would be best not to play further through the story, since all progress on it will evaporate later, like a fleeting dream. Apologies for any confusion or inconvenience caused.
This was a breath of fresh air mid-estival. Nice little slice of life down in the Clay Quarters. If Failbetter doesn’t allow me my own beetle pet now I riot.
I really enjoyed this one! I love the street-level slice-of-life stories, and this was no exception. Some fascinating pieces of Neathy history, characters I was glad to get to know, and a very cute beetle.
Loved this story - perhaps my favourite exceptional story of all time. Particularly liked how time between actions and time on the square were incorporated into the pacing. Felt very clay-like and zen myself by the end. Came away feeling fond of all the characters, and progress through the story felt like you were making discoveries and choices rather than just clicking through to the next plot point. Really enjoyed looking after Bernard and would love my own pet beetle - although I don’t know if I could realistically sustain the level of care he deserves. Also one of the most emotionally successful stories I can remember. Bravo Chris & everyone involved!
This exceptional story was an emotional masterpiece. Its descriptions of loss, grief and broken friendship are devastatingly poignant. I loved the story mechanics; the slow accumulation of trust, and consequently of personal revelation, feels natural and unforced. The bittersweet climax of the story recalled that of Oliver Sacks’ ‘Awakenings’.
And to keep us sane, we have Bernard. I like to think that my character will descend from time to time to the Clay Quarter to take Bernard for walks.
Congratulations to Chris Gardiner and the rest of the FL team.
