FoxNext Games and Fogbank Entertainment have recently launched their Storyscape app, where world-class writers bring you immersive tales of romance, intrigue and adventure, and every decision you make transforms your story. Storyscape delivers high-quality interactive storytelling from some of the most creative minds in the world, combined with the technology to bring those stories to the widest possible audience of diverse, discriminating fans.
Confront the unknown with The X-Files or discover love aboard James Cameron’s Titanic. Find romance in a new city or explore a magical realm as a slave-turned-revolutionary leader. New shows and seasons are constantly added, so there’s always something new and exciting to play.
The X-Files are still open, and the truth is still out there. In an all-new story based on the groundbreaking television series, two young agents work under the guidance of FBI legends Mulder and Scully to solve cases that defy rational explanation.
You had a good job, a decent apartment, and a relationship that was starting to go from serious to really serious. But then you turned 30 and realised: you didn’t want any of it. You quit the good job, ditched the apartment, and burned the relationship to the ground. Now this simple Midwestern girl has landed in San Francisco and you’re looking for a fresh start. Your new life is opening up in front of you, but which path will you take in Life 2.0?
Enter the world of James Cameron’s Titanic! Bump shoulders with Jack and Rose as you flee your London jail cell and head to America aboard the ship that couldn’t sink. Your suffragist protests may have landed you in jail, but with your sister by your side and the help of a rich socialite, things are finally looking up… for now.
You were born in the Garden as a slave, that is, until the magical intelligence known as the Guardian freed you in a wave of compassion and violence. Released to the city beyond, you live your life, ascending from slave, to thief, to spy, to revolutionary leader. Your choices as you rise can make enemies of friends, lovers of enemies, or simply leave those you knew in the past. You will rule. But your legacy will be tested in Eternal City.
The catalogue of interactive shows to be discovered on Storyscape is diverse – a place where romantic comedy can live side by side with dark fantasy. Where Titanic and The X-Files both have a home and fans can show up for one experience and then try something new. There’s no formula or set style, just a single writer and a single director and a strong sense of self.
Marvel’s Sean Kelley McKeever takes the helm of a brand new The X-Files story where the challenge is as much about how you manage the relationship between the two leads as about the mysteries you’ll uncover. Award-winning, indie favorite author Meg Jayanth has taken the world of James Cameron’s Titanic and created a bold romantic drama with more depth and control than would ever be possible in another format. TV writer Laura Jacqmin’s Life 2.0 is a hilarious story of one woman’s attempt to start a new life (and is easily the sexiest rom-com ever to appear as a narrative game). Eternal City, from New York Times bestselling fantasy/sci-fi writer Alexander Freed, is an original dark fantasy world where intrigue and secrets are more valuable than swords and gold.
Still to come are the sci-fi survival story Edge of Extinction from BioWare’s Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer for Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic), and Ageless from Telltale’s Meghan Thornton, who puts a bold new twist on vampire politics, drama and love.
The Storyscape app is FREE to download (it incorporates in-app purchases) from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. You can learn more about the app and its various interactive series at the Storyscape website.
UPDATE ~ Unfortunately, the Storyscape app has been permanently shut down from February 3, 2020.
One of my big criticisms of these kinds of apps – outside the tendency to rely on crystals or some currency to make certain choices – is that unlike Choice of Games (which nearly always include all genders and no cost outside buying the whole game) they nearly always opt for a female only protagonist. And yes I realize that developers assume that romance = female only but I imagine male players who might enjoy some visual novels and be fans of certain franchises might like to have their own options – playing as a Jack Dawson-like character in Titanic, for example. And hey, if Disney was willing to let them do some Marvel and Star Wars themed games like this where you could romance Black Widow or Rey as a male/female player, just as you could Iron Man or Poe as a female/male player, that would be kinda cool.