Broadway: 1849

[h1][b] Broadway: 1849 [/b][/h1] [b]A Different Type of Review for a Different Type of Game: [/b] This game is different. It’s an earlier iteration of COG games, and by that metric it has an entirely different feel than some of its later counterparts. It’s race-blind (not the same as race inclusive), light on deep-characterization, and more interested in plots and stats. [h3] This game is: a love letter to the theater, and to the people of who love theater. This game is: an expressway through a certain part of theater-history. This game is: fun, if you can, or want to, appreciate any of those things. [/h3] If you are willing (re: eager) to experience this with these things in mind you’ll have a great time. I did! The theater nerd in me made doe eyes at the references.

A surprisingly well-written and responsive game. Broadway: 1849 is a fun and pulpy period piece that while stumbling with believability at times is generally a well-crafted and well-paced game. There's plenty of choice here and it does feel rewarding when you make things go your way, and the book is best at the beginning and end since the middle does slump a bit in quality. Overall it was good, the characters were largely memorable but I do wish we got to see a little more real development with them, only Miller and Nell really get a lot of development but the others are still nice for what they have. The epilogue was a tad bit long but still a good sendoff and I didn't actually notice many typos in the game which is quite rare for these games. Around 6-7 hours of fun, I'd give it a read even if it doesn't fully pay off everything its still a good book.

A very interesting and novel game, Enjoyed the use of real historical figures, gangs and landmarks. A handful of bugs toward the end, but nothing that ruins the game. Written extremely well. Could do with more choices, but overall really enjoyed it.

You think this will be a simple and normal game, and then suddenly: [spoiler] Ghost Storyline. [/spoiler]

[h1]Run Your Own Theatre - Your Choices Matter[/h1] Broadway: 1849 is a text-based game from Choice of Games, where there's no music or graphics and your imagination can run free. You now manage a theatre all your own and must make important choices when it comes to plays, actors to hire, and factions to please or ignore. Will you survive your first season? While not as, perhaps, hands on like Hollywood Visionary (another great game by Choice of Games - which I loved), it has a unique vibe and feel to it where you can choose to seek the trust of the elite or the everyday man, hold secrets or sell out to help your theatre thrive. The political climate that surrounds such means of entertainment is almost educational in a way for the game and it really allows for you to seek out who you are as a character and test the boundaries of entertainment in the mid 19th century.

I just finished my first playthrough and while there were at least one plot thread that didn't really go anywhere, and at some points it felt like the game didn't treat my character quite as I had been playing them, on the whole I enjoyed it and will definitely give it more playthroughs.