Choice of Alexandria

I rate the game, Choice of Alexandria 4/5. Good. This is one of the absolute best, most thought-provoking choose-your-own adventure style text-based games I have ever read/played. Its emphasis on philosophy and the potential long-term consequences of your choices (and the potential endings which result) are extremely interesting and fairly well written. The characters are more complex and the various messages and themes are far deeper than much of the intellectual content found in most graphically intense games which have yet been created. The ethical dilemmas this game presents can be extremely difficult and the results of your actions, while not always easy to predict, make perfect sense in hindsight. Unlike Champion of the Gods, the genre of this story is not fantasy but alternate history (a somewhat unusual form of sci-fi). This story/game attempts to answer questions of what might have been had people made different decisions to bring about alternate events. What if the great library of Alexandria had not burnt down or fallen into disrepair? What if wisdom from the ancient world had not been largely lost? What if the Alexandrian Empire had been successful in competing against Rome and had lasted for much, much longer? The choices you make in this game will help setup (or destroy) these potential alternate histories. This game explains how the petty or selfless actions of someone in a position of authority can, in a tenuous situation, help cause the vast potential of the future to be destroyed or created. This game will also more obviously delve into how your decisions as a tutor to a royal heir may cause him to either become a great ruler or a vain despot or perhaps, something in between. Moreover, this game also attempts to answer the question as to exactly why providing people with a good education and access to knowledge is important to the longevity and survival of a civilization combined with the vital role that certain, sometimes seemingly minor technological inventions and scientific discoveries can play in the shaping of the unknown future. Seamlessly integrated into all this are important messages about the absolute necessity of maintaining balance and fairness among the people, even the very poor and those of another race, (messages which some of us, in our modern civilization seem to actively refuse to comprehend) if a civilization is to have a chance of thriving. Unfortunately, Choice of Alexandria suffers from the same basic failings as most other games of this type. Unlike in a real book, there is no Back button to go back to a previous page or to undue a previous decision so you can easily see an alternate plot. This is extremely frustrating if you want to easily or quickly see the full potential which this game has to offer and track multiple potential timelines simultaneously. In essence, the interface lacks flexibility. While the descriptions and writing is at least adequate for the most part it does tend to be a bit dry and tends to be lacking the visceral detail which many actual novels would possess. You get to read very little of your character's personal life nor do you get a clear idea of what it was like to actually live in the distant past. You almost never get to read about what your character's living arrangements are like for example. You don't get to hear how he/she bathes, how he/she eats how he/she sleeps etc. There's so little written on your character's quality of life that your character seems like a lifeless, 2-dimensional, cardboard mask for you to wear while you make occasional menu choices. He/She doesn't hardly seem to live, or breathe or sweat or ache. So, In short: +Great choices, meaningful endings, philosophically deep, interesting alternate histories, good character motivations, reasonably logical results due to your choices. Important messages and themes. Socially and intellectual important content throughout. Thought provoking. Deals with issues relevant to the real world. Far more intellectually involved and deep than most high-graphics games which have ever existed. -Inflexible interface doesn't let you go back to a previous page or to a previous decision to easily see what else might have happened if you chose differently causing you to have to play the whole game over again if you want to see the differences caused by choosing any other choice. Somewhat dry writing style featuring little visceral or sensory detail and next to no information about what it might be like to live, from day to day as an Alexandrian royal tutor. Sometimes, seems like less of a true novel and more like pages and pages of interlocking introductions to various menu choices which makes main character seem like a mere interface through which you can make decisions rather than a living, breathing person. The first play through provides the most emotional involvement if you decide to try to seriously make the choices you think you would make in the same situation. Emotional involvement with the story tends to decrease during subsequent play throughs.

Just like Choice of Robots, the other interactive novel by Kevin Gold, Choice of Alexandria is a bit short; but it more than makes up for it with impactful decisions and a few emotional moments. A "choose your own adventure" type game, Choice of Alexandria heavily revolves around your decisions, and, just like Choice of Robots, your decisions have a massive impact on the game, even changing the final chapter completely. As a philosopher in ancient Alexandria, you are tasked with raising the future ruler of Egypt. How you teach him is up to you, and you do feel connected to the young prince, at least in my experience. I became very dissappointed when the prince did not turn out how I wanted him to. Additionally, the setting of ancient Egypt is very unique when compared to many other Choice of Games titles, which are usually either a low-fantasy world or superhero-themed. At the very least, very few, if any, are set in ancient times, and have the player take the role of a primitive scientist. Despite it's brevity, Choice of Alexandria is still a memorable interactive novel, and while I still prefer Choice of Robots, people who enjoyed that title are likely going to love Choice of Alexandria due to them having the same author and having impactful decisions in each of the titles. Overall, 8/10.

Like choice of robots before it. Choice of Alaxandria all about choice. I played it four times in a row just to see what would change. I been: A good teacher who ended up making alaxandria a world power. A selfserving powerhungry manipulator. A inventor who indirectly brought down alaxandria because i though inventions where more important then teaching. A revolutionary who brought egypetian rule back to egypt. I found myself laughting quiet a few times and feeling dispointed when i failed to teach the prince properly.

As the author's follow up to Choice of Robots, which was one of the better productions from Choice of Games, I have been anticipating playing this game for some time. After playing it multiple times, I can say that I was not disappointed. It is a very accurate representation of the Hellenistic era, which is sadly an era of world history that tends to be largely glossed over. You play as a philospher who comes to Alexandria to advance their own studies and to serve as a tutor to the future heir to the Ptolemy dynasty. With another advisor who intends to raise the heir to be hedonistic and pliable, so that they can control them for their own personal gain, you have to decide whether to focus mostly on your own research or to slow down your own career in order to focus on tutoring the heir and being a good counterbalancing influence (Or so they will be pliable to you instead of the other advisor). As for your personal research, you have the choice between developing, and potentially excelling, at the skills of rhetoric, medicine, or techne (Technology). The choices between your own skills, accomplishments, and service to the dynasty (With potentially serious effects on how Egypt is ruled) are the main focus of the game, and finding a good balance is what drives the story. I only have two complaints about the game. The first is that it feels a bit short, but that might be because Choice of Robots was fairly long and I expected this game to be similar. The second was the ending where you can invent the steam engine. It is one of three different choices at the end where you can create a significant lasting work. Two of them are an epic literary work and the germ theory of disease. In these endings, your work has an effect on world history, but it is not an overwhelming one. However, the steam engine ending has a very major effect that does not feel realistic to me. Based on the level of technology at the time, it is extremely unlikely that a practical and economic steam engine could be developed. Personally, I felt that maybe the option should have been that you develop a philosphy that the universe is a clockwork mechanism, similar to the devices that you have focused on studying and developing, leading to an earlier development of the scietific method and empericism by subsequent generations.

Love it! Been grinding for all of the achievements. One bug I guess I'll throw in here though is: [spoiler] When in a romance with the king, eventually it came to say that the romance deepened and he wanted to marry you. And the thing about the parade goes forward. However in the very next slide, it says he caves and finally proposes, and then it goes through the parade marriage AGAIN. Seemed like just a bug, but I figured I'd throw it in :) [/spoiler]

[h1]Update:[/h1] Sadly CoG has decided to take away our ability to mod and bugfix our games for no apparent reason. This had been happening to some players of some games already but I, running Linux Mint, hadn't been affected immediately. Now though, after a recent round of updates for all CoG games attempting to fix a blank screen bug that some linux players had, I too no longer have access to the scene files that I had used to fix and/or mod my games. For reference, here's the discussion where we realized what was happening: https://web.archive.org/web/20230720234059/https://steamcommunity.com/app/1290270/discussions/0/3199240675527224092/ And here's a couple instances where the ability to see and modify the scene files helped fix, or would have helped fix, game-breaking bugs: https://web.archive.org/web/20230519122839/https://steamcommunity.com/app/1290270/discussions/0/5350815203295610478/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230720234237/https://steamcommunity.com/app/1290270/discussions/0/3199245116724505358/ To reiterate, CoG has removed our ability to improve our game experience or to fix the games we own ourselves if they break. While I'm not switching any of my reviews to 'not recommend', unless CoG reverses this anti-consumer practice I can't fully endorse any of their games either. [h1]Original Review:[/h1] Another gem from Kevin Gold, the author of Choice of Robots. If you enjoyed CoR, I definitely recommend Choice of Alexandria. If you haven't played CoR, I recommend Choice of Alexandria if you're interested in alternate history stories, because this is a good one. CoA has many endings, many paths to those endings, and provides interesting choices (and consequences) along the way. You also don't need to be a history major to understand the story either, which was my only real concern before I tried the demo.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 524: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) [i]Choice of Alexandria[/i] is basically the butterfly effect in a short, 90,000 word text-based game. While one of the shortest I've ever played, this game is deeply interested in consequences: the slow, compounding kind that only become fully visible years or generations later. Unlike many choice-based games that lean into fantasy or power fantasies,[i] Choice of Alexandria[/i] takes a more unusual route: alternate history with a speculative edge. It asks genuinely compelling “what if?” questions. What if the Library of Alexandria had survived? What if ancient scientific and philosophical knowledge hadn’t been lost? What if Egypt, rather than Rome, had become the long-standing dominant power? [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅ [b] Concept.[/b] You play as librarian who comes to Alexandria to advance your own studies while serving as a tutor to the heir of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This setup creates one of the game’s strongest tensions: do you prioritize your own intellectual growth, or do you slow your personal ambitions to focus on shaping the young prince Ptolemy IV? Do you want to focus on seizing power for yourself on the evil route? Another advisor is present—one who would rather mold the prince into someone pliable and indulgent for his own political ends. How will you deal with this snake? ✅ [b]Your personal research path (rhetoric, medicine, or technology) matters.[/b]. It matters so freakin' much. Even seemingly small decisions about where to invest your time and attention can have profound downstream effects on governance, social stability, and technological progress. Choose to be a technological wizard? Your events will be used in the present day, hundreds of years later. Choose to focus on medicine, and you can freaking discover germ theory. How cool is that? The narrative also delves deeply into science and inventions. While much was lost on me, I appreciated how intellectual and serious the game was. It was refreshing! ✅ [b]Ethical dilemmas.[/b] Many of the decisions are genuinely difficult, and the outcomes are not always immediately obvious—but when the consequences finally arrive, they make perfect sense in hindsight. Why does education matter? Should education be available to all? If a king has a dynasty, how can his rule be so fragile? Must a ruler be compassionate of fair? Throughout the whole narrative, there's a fascinating discussion on maintaining equity among the poor, marginalized, and those of different backgrounds. As a privileged Greek, should you care about Egyptian unrest? If so, what would you do about it? ✅[b] We have to talk about the prince.[/b] Mentoring the young prince was the reason I bought the game, and boy, did it deliver. You spend years shaping the prince’s values, and it’s impossible not to grow attached. You can take charge when the prince is young, and the narrative has a couple different events from his toddler, teenager, young adult, and adult years. You can, of course, sculpt the prince into the ruler you want. You can play into his privileged arrogance or try to steer him into being a scholar-prince. To my delight, I guided him according to my real-life morals: I was respectful but encouraged kindness, humility, and intelligence. And my little boy grew up to be a just and wise king who led the nation into a new golden age (with my help, of course)! ✅[b] Culture/setting.[/b] I'll be honest: I don't know anything about the Hellenistic setting or Egypt OR Greece! I don't even know who Ptolemy IV was. After reading his Wikipedia page, he was some guy who participated in a lot of wars? I don't know. But Gold's writing took me straight to the time period and place. In the first chapter, there were six lengthy paragraphs will six-eight sentences, just on description. I loved it. Gold described the goods each vendor was selling, how kohl was used as makeup, how Greeks dressed different from Egyptians, the weather, etc. It was just a joy to read. ✅[b] Ending chapters/branches.[/b] I honestly didn't realize how in-depth the game can be because I had a peaceful king and nation on my first try! But after diving into the code, things can get crazy. Major ending spoilers, but [spoiler] you can side with the Egyptians and overthrow your beloved pupil. You can marry the King/Queen and have a child with them. Riots and uprisings might break out. You might choose between saving your partner, the heirs to the throne, Ptolemy IV, or your own kid from a fire. Things can get dark, fast![/spoiler] I also loved how the ending chapter depends on the actions you take. My epilogue involved a young girl reading a book about my exploits and wishing to travel to Alexandria. That was such a sweet, full circle moment. [b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b] 🟥 [b] Short length.[/b] This is, of course, the biggest drawback. While Gold's writing is melancholy and detailed enough to pack a punch, the game is short. I finished in about an hour, though I am a fast reader. There's plenty of experiences he could have added on! For example, there could have been more scenes for romance (see below) but more importantly, on the prince. You see him grow from a baby to an adult, but the game only gives specific events at certain ages, such as when the prince is five or fifteen. More scenes with the royal family, for example, would be awesome. I loved the uneasy respect between you and the king, for example. 🟥 [b]Rushed romances.[/b] To my shock, I had the opportunity to marry the Queen, the prince's mother, after the King passed. And of course, I married her ASAP. I did like the flavor text here: playing as a lesbian, we found an Egyptian cult willing to marry us. Cool. But the problem came from the relationship—or the lack of it. The Queen and I might have had four conversations in total. There's a lot of missed potential here. I wanted to explore how her son felt with me, the tutor turned step-mother. Did anyone care there was an openly gay relationship? The relationship starts quickly, as well. After telling the player about her ~tragic~ (and awesome) backstory, the player gets to kiss her. Did I click it without hesitation? Yes. Was I confused that a lowly servant like me could kiss the Queen? Also yes. [hr] If you enjoyed this review, please check out my curator page to find more: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45814768-Verdict-Play-or-Pass/]Verdict: Play or Pass. [/url] Also, please leave a like and visit [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Indie_Gems]IndieGems[/url] and our YouTube channel for more reviews like this one. [/hr]

Another really interesting interactive story written by Kevin Gold. This is my initial impression after two playthroughs. It's not as good as Choice Of Robots. It seems harder to influance events and relationships. I think it might still need patching. A lot of choices in the second two thirds of the game that I believe should have raised your skills or relationship had no effect on them. I have to believe this is a bug as nearly every screen in Choice Of Robots raised or lowered something. Because of this it seemed to lower my ability to affect the course of the story. I could be completely wrong, that is just my impression. That being said the story was very interesting and enjoyable. For the pitance price they are asking for this everyone should buy it. This developer and author should be supported to encourage the development of more games like this. They are 100% correct when they talk about the power of your imagination. Reading a good story that you are taking part in is more immersive then any cutting edge game with graphics.

Got to finally live out The Dream of saving the library of Alexandria from the flames (temporarily), 10/10 would allow my ward to be murdered in exchange for more time at the library again

Отличная текстовая игра, в которой ты играешь за главу Александрийской библиотеки, прообразом которого послужил великий [url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%BD] Эратосфен[/url]. Занимаешься научными изысканиями (я во время своего первого прохождения пошел по технарскому пути, воплотив в жизнь ряд изобретений другого великого александрийца, [url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD] Герона[/url], помимо этого можно стать великим врачевателем или филологом), учишь уму-разуму молодого Птолемея IV (исторически именно с его правления Эллинистический Египет пошел к упадку -- у вас появится возможность не допустить этого), участвуешь в придворных интригах (главным образом против беспринципного и коварного жреца Сосибия), время от времени тусуешься с Архимедом и даже помогаешь ему оборонять Сиракузы от римлян -- и много чего еще. Практически все решения имеют влияние на развитие сюжета. Всё это очень здорово. Единственное, что я не очень понял -- зачем разработчики сделали Евклида женщиной. Причем что это не ошибка и не оплошность, а сознательный выбор, становится понятно из послесловия к игре: автор рассказывает, как всё сложилось исторически и мимоходом замечает что-то в духе "Ах да, а еще Евклид был мужчиной". Что это, реверанс в сторону феминизма? Но зачем, если в истории Александрии была настоящая великая женщина-ученый -- [url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%8F] Гипатия [/url] Правда, жила она значительно позже Эратосфена, но раз уж разрабы позволили себе так вольно обойтись с изобретениями Герона (который если и не был современником Гипатии, то жил значительно ближе по времени к ней, нежели к Эратосфену), могли бы и допустить и её прямое присутствие в игре (замечу, что косвенно она упоминается в заключении), вместо того чтобы менять пол Евклиду. А так, игра очень и очень занимательна.