Time has flown like a flock of seven-throated warblers and we are on the cusp of releasing our 100th Exceptional Story!
Lucky number one hundred is The Bloody Wallpaper by Chandler Groover, wherein you join the staff of the Royal Bethlehem for the Manager’s Red and Gold Gala.
We first wrote a story for our Exceptional Friends in May 2015. From the Haunting of the Marsh House to The Bloody Wallpaper, Exceptional Stories have taken our subscribers all over London, featuring premises such as:
- A fungal disease forces sufferers to speak in verse
- A cut-throat tournament of racing slugs
- A portly tabby claims to be the king of cats
- A murder mystery aboard the train to Hell
- Another murder mystery in which your sleuthing is aided by a sentient fashion ensemble
- Seeing a man about a dog
- Fallen London’s own version of the Bear as you help (or hinder) a restaurant survive a difficult opening night
- A seafaring expedition with a crew of adventurous children - er, sorry, pirates
- A hunt for a crocodile in the sewers of Fallen London
- A man made entirely of fog with a penchant for tea, biscuits and chess
- Become a bishop
- Helping a geriatric gang pull off an audacious heist
Thank you to all of the writers who have contributed to this long and illustrious history; we truly think these are among the finest examples of interactive fiction out there and we’re so proud to offer writers somewhere they can flex their weirder muscles (those long, impossibly long ones at the back).
Being a sustainable, independent games studio is a rare thing (being either is difficult, being both - well, it’s hard). Having the predictable income of Exceptional Friendship enables us to create without fear. Our Exceptional Friends not only support the creation of Fallen London, which is let’s face it a pretty unusual proposition in the modern gaming landscape, but your support also allows us to work on our stand-alone projects in a sustainable way.
To our dear Exceptional Friends, we don’t say it enough: thank you for your support. (And not forgetting our non-subscriber players, whose powerful word of mouth is the other essential ingredient in our life blood.)
Mr Chimes’ Lost and Found
To coincide with the 100th Exceptional Story, we’re adding some new goodies to Mr Chimes’ Lost & Found!
Exceptional Friends earn Memories of a Tale from playing Exceptional Stories, which can be redeemed in the Lost & Found for unique items.
We’re adding half a dozen new items, including apparel, affiliations, an uncooperative mode of transport and a new companion. Expect them alongside the story, next Thursday.
Win a year’s Exceptional Friendship
What would a party be without a game? And a rare prize!
To enter, write the funniest summary of any existing Exceptional Story. (There is a full list on the wiki of all of them so far.) Don’t worry if you haven’t played any of them; the summary doesn’t have to hew closely to the details of the plot, it need only make us laugh.
- Post your summary along with the title of the story in question on your preferred platform (in this thread, in the Discord channel, on Reddit or via email to replies@failbettergames.com if you don’t use any of the others).
- The summary cannot be longer than 30 words.
- Please keep it clean!
- Full terms and conditions
There will be at least 5 winners and the competition will close on August the 14th. Good luck!
And finally
Please bear with us while we finalise the idea for the additional tier to Exceptional Friendship which we first mentioned earlier this year. This will hopefully make playing the library of Exceptional Stories less economically demanding (and we’ll polish up the House of Chimes while we’re in there). We’re slowing the pace of our work a little as the team is pretty tired from launching Mask of the Rose, so expect this to come in Autumn time.