As I’m getting nearer and nearer to the point where my FL character will have nothing left to do, I thought I’d try out some of those other games built on Storynexus.
I chose to start with Samsara - which turned out to be both a good and bad choice!
TL, DR: If you feel like delving into an extremely well-built historical setting, with lots of mystery and conflict - both personal and political - and don’t mind the fact that the game will most likely never be finished, you can have a pretty good time with Samsara! You can probably rush through the existing content in a single day - I took about 3 or 4 days, making sure I delved into every corner.
Good because the game is awesome: well written, engaging, historically detailed - really, really enjoyable. The multicultural aspects of the setting (Bengal in 1757) are explored in detail: you’re playing a Hindu sa-ilu ("dreamwalker") in a predominantly Muslim country; meet envoys from all the surrounding nations at Court; get to know the British & French colonialists, an enterprising Irishwoman, an Angolan ex-slave… and lots of real historical people have cameos (including Emanuel Swedenborg and Madame Pompadour). Your character’s gender is never specified, and you can have dalliances (very hot ones! - the erotic content is especially well written) with anyone you like, including a hijra.
Bad because…
a) it’s unfinished (the last chapter has been "coming soon" for 3 years), so you’re left with a massive cliffhanger.
b) the creator no longer offers support (the support email no longer works, the blog mentioned in the OP no longer exists), so if you run into a problem, you’re just stuck.
Having said that, the only issue I’ve run into is the following: when progressing from one chapter to the next (February to March, March to April…), make sure to do so with empty hands, both in the Waking and the Dreaming. Otherwise you’ll be stuck with a handful of unplayable cards - there is no discard button. (Failbetter were awesome enough to help me out with that, but they don’t normally offer support for other creators’ worlds.) That is the only issue you need to be careful with - I didn’t see any other way to break the game.
edited by phryne on 9/28/2016