Failbetter Games, the makers behind the popular browser game, Fallen London, a text-based RPG that takes place in an alternate Victorian London which was stolen by bats and is relocated to a giant cavern, have announced the creation of a visual-novel style prequel entitled the Mask of the Rose. The new style is a stark departure from Failbetter’s previous games, Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, which were both more of survival games. Mask of the Rose takes place in the same universe but three decades prior to the events in Fallen London and Sunless Sea.
The prequel narrows in on relationships and romance between different potential love interests as the user advances through the game. As it is a prequel, users familiar with the universe will be able to encounter characters from the previous games and gain a glimpse into their backstory. However, it will also serve as a good introduction to the story for new players as well.
In a general update, Failbetter Games has released a brief synopsis of when and where this game takes place and who your character will interact with.
Mask of the Rose takes place in 1862, mere months after London was stolen by bats. Londoners are still adjusting to life underground. The old street signs are being erased. New ministries and new festivals are being established. The mysterious Masters of the Bazaar seem to be in charge.
You share your boarding house with a few other lodgers: Archie, a medical student discovering firsthand that Death works differently here. Griselda, a close aide of the new Masters. Horatia, the landlady with a soft spot for the Neath’s native inhabitants. Harjit, the local constable looking for a missing person of his own.
As you make a new life below, you may find yourself visiting the underwater ruins of Parliament; intervening in a murder trial where the victim is a witness; or steering a hooded, vocabularious Master through the subtleties of a London courtship. However you choose to live in the Neath, you have your own friendships – and your own heart – to look after.
The Kickstarter for The Mask of the Rose will be up in February 2021 and is expected to release sometime in 2022.