Faerie's Bargain: The Price of Business
Choice of Games · 2021 · RPG, Interactive Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Text-Based, Fantasy
PC
Mostly Positive74% · 19
Compare prices in Official Stores
Screenshots
About Faerie's Bargain: The Price of Business
Become the greatest of the goblin merchants in a magical market beneath Victorian London that trades in memories, wishes, secrets, and more. Will you line your pockets, defend the Queen, or plot to put a puppet on the Throne?
Faerie’s Bargain: The Price of Business is a 291,000-word interactive fantasy novel by Trip Galey where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
You are a merchant of the Untermarkt, the goblin market that has existed beneath London since High Queen Elizabeth first forged the Treaty with Titania, Queen of Faery. You are skilled in dealing in all manner of impossibilities: new faces and voices, silks spun of starlight, bottled time, twists of fate, and other stranger things. Devote yourself to growing your wealth, or use it for political, social, and magical advantage. If a rival merchant threatens you, fight back with wits and wisdom, or ruthless, underhanded tricks. It’s all in a day’s work.
When a mysterious business opportunity takes you by surprise, you have the chance to deal in something new: political intrigue! High Queen Victoria sits upon the Throne, but there are many who would prefer to rule in her place. Do you defend the status quo or use your newfound wealth to fund a little revolution? Your fellow merchants certainly won’t allow an opportunity for profit to slip away. Do you undercut their efforts at the Merchant Conclave, or ignore all the politicking in favor of growing your wealth? Whatever you decide, one thing is certain: It’s time to get down to business!
Faerie’s Bargain: The Price of Business is a 291,000-word interactive fantasy novel by Trip Galey where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
You are a merchant of the Untermarkt, the goblin market that has existed beneath London since High Queen Elizabeth first forged the Treaty with Titania, Queen of Faery. You are skilled in dealing in all manner of impossibilities: new faces and voices, silks spun of starlight, bottled time, twists of fate, and other stranger things. Devote yourself to growing your wealth, or use it for political, social, and magical advantage. If a rival merchant threatens you, fight back with wits and wisdom, or ruthless, underhanded tricks. It’s all in a day’s work.
When a mysterious business opportunity takes you by surprise, you have the chance to deal in something new: political intrigue! High Queen Victoria sits upon the Throne, but there are many who would prefer to rule in her place. Do you defend the status quo or use your newfound wealth to fund a little revolution? Your fellow merchants certainly won’t allow an opportunity for profit to slip away. Do you undercut their efforts at the Merchant Conclave, or ignore all the politicking in favor of growing your wealth? Whatever you decide, one thing is certain: It’s time to get down to business!
- Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual; asexual and/or aromantic.
- Play as mostly-human, mostly-faery, or an even balance between the two, and shift the levels between the two extremes as the tory progresses.
- Make an alliance with a sentient aspect of reality such as Roses, Mirrors, or the Fog of London!
- Romance—or betray!—a socialite, a Lord, a Lady, maybe even your Supernatural Ally!
- Make deals with creatures both fey and mortal; trade in favors, memories, magic, bottled time, twists of fate, and more!
- Attend society balls and grand galas, investigate scheming nobles, and defend (or betray) the Empire from threats without and within!
- Advocate for the rights of children trapped in factories and labor contracts, or exploit their plight for your own gain.
- Play politics to bolster or break the relationship between the Empire and Faery, to make your own fortune, or to put a puppet on the Throne!
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
A real love letter to british and irish fairy folklore, genuinely smart and wonderful. If you're fond of mythological allusions, subtle humour, and Victorian and Regency-era socialising, this is a real gem.
A fun little CYOA, well written.
I've always been invested in stories about the Fae, especially when it comes to court politics and deals and the like. This game is exactly that kind of thing, and hit a sweet spot i've been craving for a while. I did wish it was longer, but I thought it was quite fun! The ending was a little ubrupt, but ultimately, I'd highly reccomend this game, especially if you enjoy Faeries!
The story is not sure what it wants to be. Also is the MC a merchant or a political agent and spy, cause they do not do many mercantile things in this story.
Fantastic game for fans of the fae and those who like to think a little bit in the abstract. Does a great job of capturing the feeling of magic and whimsy, both in descriptions and game-play, while still generally giving you a good idea of what each of your choices does (or relates to). I'm actually tempted to replay it a few times to feel out the different paths! One interesting aspect of the game, and I don't know if it is good or bad, is that you regularly feel like you're coming up to 'finales' where stuff is getting wrapped up.. only to then realize that 'oh no, there's still stuff unwrapped'. Which is fun because you're getting these steady shots of success, but when the actual final scene happens you kinda feel like you're supposed to be waiting for the next scene. One downside to the game, and I suppose its subjective.. so in the game you get a choice to back certain characters for the big ending. (Not really a spoiler, pretty common in these games). And over the course of the game they do get developed.. But they're not developed when the choice first comes up (so you kinda just look at the names and go 'er.. I mean I saw that dude at a party.. I guess.. don't know if I…
I do like the length of the story, especially for the price, however the prose at the beginning feels like it's trying too hard to be complicated and poetic. I am all for poetry, mind you, but only when it's something that I can follow. This, unfortunately, was not one of those pieces of work. I skimmed a bit and saw that the prose gets a bit more clear and less 'her eyes were like the luminous pearls you'd find in the ocean' but unfortunately I could not get myself past that first bit to reach the second.
Community reviews
—
0 reviews
Sign in to write a review.
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.
