House of the Golden Mask

Was hoping to share the experience of reading this to my daughter but there are extreme leftist political agendas on display in this game. It is less of a game and more of an activist vehicle. I would not recommend it. I will be permanently deleting.

I'll give this a cautious recommend, due to the amount of effort and generally good quality writing. Imagine a somewhat bizarre version of Harry Potter where dangerous magicians are dragged off by a weird goblin and a reindeer to a dodgy magical house in another realm. Then, add a bunch of rivalries, hidden subplots and backload the last 1/3 with a vast amount of lore and you end up with House of the Golden Mask. You will progress "ratings" on your relationship with other characters, various skills you possess, and four "subplots" that are going on in the House. You also get an odd ball of goop early on you can care for. I had no idea either, but it made rude noises and crawled under my bed, so not really very different to most pets I own. The game feels quite long. In fact, I would say it feels much longer than some of my favourite games from this publisher, but I suspect this is actually because there is less branching narrative, and so as a consequence you end up with a much longer "mandatory" path. Fortunately, as mentioned, the writing quallity is for the most part, good, and the characters are well-developed if not ones you will take away with you to live in your head. If y…

Very entertaining experience! The writing was more enjoyable than I expected. Without spoiling too much, I did not quite expect the great twist the story offered and was pleasantly surprised. It was also a great relief that the player character doesn't go on unexpected long rants based on a one sentence choice the player picks, and that all the non-optional dialogue felt pretty accurate toward my previous choices in the scene. I strongly recommend turning on some magical school or magic library ASMR and lighting up some candles while playing. My gripes are relatively few, namely that I had a hard time figuring out how exactly skills affect choice outcomes, how/whether you are expected to excel in more than one thing while still pursuing any kind of relationships with characters, and finally to express some annoyance with making the player choose between relationship and plot development in some instances. I understand that there are certain logistics to account for when constructing a narrative of this scale, but for the player it's sometimes hard to predict how many dialogue choices will be given in each scene before it wraps up and closes off certain paths of investigation.

The story isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. I know there are a number of possible endings. The one I got was alright.

House of the Golden Mask, developed and published by Choice of Games, is a sprawling interactive fantasy novel that immerses you in a magical academy full of secrets, rivalries, and ancient powers. As with all Choice of Games titles, the experience is built entirely on text, but the quality of the writing and the breadth of its choices create a world that feels vivid and layered despite the absence of graphics. You step into the role of a new apprentice entering the House, an institution where scholars, sorcerers, and mystics from different realms gather to study the arcane arts. Instantly, the setting radiates an atmosphere of intellectual prestige intertwined with an undercurrent of danger. The House is not merely a school—it is a place where history lives in the walls, where magic communicates through dreams, and where past mistakes continue to cast long, ominous shadows. The game distinguishes itself through its rich world-building and the way it blends academic fantasy with political intrigue. Early on, you're introduced to two major factions vying for influence within the institution. The Arbiters uphold tradition, rules, and structure, while the Transgressors challenge boun…

Good