Forbidden Magic
Heart's Choice · 2023 · RPG, Interactive Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, First-Person, Text-Based
PC
Mostly Positive79% · 14
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About Forbidden Magic
As a paranormal agent, your job is to keep magic under wraps. Can you catch a magical arsonist before you lose your heart?
Forbidden Magic is a 145,000-word interactive paranormal romance game by Frances Pauli, author of Brimstone Manor. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
You’re a mage on parole for a crime you didn’t commit. Or, maybe you did, but you certainly didn’t intend to get caught. For penance, you’ve been assigned to the Organization for the Protection of Sorcerous Secrets, a task force dedicated to keeping the paranormal out of the public eye.
The vampire who works in the basement is out to get you. Your boss is literally a devil. And they’ve assigned you a hellhound for a partner, a shapeshifter who just happens to be your high-school crush. (Or, choose your own background! Maybe you were the hellhound’s crush? Or perhaps you were rivals, instead?)
Whether you use your superior sleuthing skills, rely on some magic of your own, or resort to dirty tactics, it’s not the worst gig. Hunting down rogues and mopping up public displays of magic could even be fun. But when a magical arsonist goes on a rampage, you'll need all the help you can get to keep the city safe and to keep your secrets, even if it means working with a human from a rival agency.
The closer you get to finding the arsonist, the closer you get to losing your heart. You used to be very close with the hellhound-shifter who’s now your OPSS partner. Could there be the sparks of something more? Your job is to keep magic out of mortal hands, but wouldn't it be nice to put yourself in the hands of that tall, broad-shouldered rival agent? Or perhaps you'll take this opportunity to seduce your boss, the dazzlingly competent and even more dazzlingly dressed devil? And then there’s the suspect whose vulnerability just might melt your heart…
As the city burns, let your heart catch fire!
Forbidden Magic is a 145,000-word interactive paranormal romance game by Frances Pauli, author of Brimstone Manor. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
You’re a mage on parole for a crime you didn’t commit. Or, maybe you did, but you certainly didn’t intend to get caught. For penance, you’ve been assigned to the Organization for the Protection of Sorcerous Secrets, a task force dedicated to keeping the paranormal out of the public eye.
The vampire who works in the basement is out to get you. Your boss is literally a devil. And they’ve assigned you a hellhound for a partner, a shapeshifter who just happens to be your high-school crush. (Or, choose your own background! Maybe you were the hellhound’s crush? Or perhaps you were rivals, instead?)
Whether you use your superior sleuthing skills, rely on some magic of your own, or resort to dirty tactics, it’s not the worst gig. Hunting down rogues and mopping up public displays of magic could even be fun. But when a magical arsonist goes on a rampage, you'll need all the help you can get to keep the city safe and to keep your secrets, even if it means working with a human from a rival agency.
The closer you get to finding the arsonist, the closer you get to losing your heart. You used to be very close with the hellhound-shifter who’s now your OPSS partner. Could there be the sparks of something more? Your job is to keep magic out of mortal hands, but wouldn't it be nice to put yourself in the hands of that tall, broad-shouldered rival agent? Or perhaps you'll take this opportunity to seduce your boss, the dazzlingly competent and even more dazzlingly dressed devil? And then there’s the suspect whose vulnerability just might melt your heart…
- Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, or bi.
- Romance a shifter, devil, mage, or even an ordinary human.
- Choose your relationship trope: friends-to-lovers, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, and more.
- Choose your magical specialty and build your power!
- Investigate crime in a hidden magical part of the city: fey-owned nightclubs, elf-run diners, secret government agencies, and more.
- Work to keep magic a secret, or unleash forbidden knowledge into the wider world.
As the city burns, let your heart catch fire!
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
It's really bad and I just... had enough of trying to continue with this game. The stats matter in the sense that the author has a specific idea of your main character to "pass" the game. If you dare to actually build your character "the wrong way," you'll get punished. I went with a very blunt, by the books, smart mage who is hellbent on keeping magic a secret, and (understandably) doesn't trust the parallel agency at all. I tried my hardest to just figure out the mystery using the skills I built the character for, and it seems extremely random how I'll fail the same skill check. My highest skills was Willpower, Lore, and Wits. Things you would reasonably need for an investigator. Well, surprise-surprise, the game will randomly fail you at the same skill checks needed to uncover the story. I've restarted at various intervals picking choices in varying orders to rebuild the same stats. I've also caught that the game will say one thing the opposite of your choice. Tyrian, for example, if you pick one of the two non-romantic reasons for the fallout; the game will gaslight you that flirting/romantic feelings were being part of the relationship. The game will put about four …4 found this helpful
This game has two problems: 1. Its to clicheed Its basically a modern fantasy buddy cop show and it plays all the possible hits. That doesnt have to be something bad but i found it to be underwhelming. 2. Romance is not tied to the relationship-score You can be a hostile ♥♥♥♥ to everyone. Normaly that would be a point in the games favor, but because the romance here is tied to a choice in the last third of the game, where you choose who you love (a major mistake in a Loves Choice Game) nothing bevor matters. I was apparently madly in love with a guy that i activly ignored, only spoke twice to and suspected of some bad things.4 found this helpful
Loved this game, and would give it a 4.5/5 stars if I could. Well-written, great world-building, and very colorful and likable characters. I had a couple of beefs with it, like [spoiler](and you'll know what I mean when I play it) the pronoun thing...it kept confusing me because they/them is mostly plural and it was used incorrectly to refer to someone who could just as easily been male or female, your choice. Also, no proper weapons in the hands of norms? What's a rubber disk gonna do to stop crime - if I got hit with one of those, it wouldn't stop me, it'd just piss me off. [/spoiler] Also it was a bit short...as someone who is used to reading an entire series in just a few days, this felt a little fluffy compared to that. But other than those three things, which I'm sure yall are gonna give me lots of jesters for (so tolerant of others' opinions, I'm sure), it was a pretty wild and amazing ride and I really enjoyed it. I can see myself replaying it just to get different outcomes. Worth the full price, imo.1 found this helpful
I enjoyed this as an urban fantasy detective story more than as a romance. In part that's because many of the romance options were characters it would be a seriously bad idea to get romantically involved with (e.g. your boss or the prime suspect in the crime you're investigating). I guess that just means that I would be a very boring protagonist in a romance story. Still the police procedural aspects were fun to play through. However, unless you are interested in exploring the romance options, the replayability is a bit limited once you know whodunnit.
It's good, maybe not as good as the other ones but it's still a fun play. I just wish there was more substance to the characters, I didn't really get attached to them like I did for the other games by this creator.
Pretty cool story! Each character has something unique/interesting about them.
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