The nice team of mostly humans and some large bats at Failbetter Games have given us an exclusive butcher’s at a new gameplay trailer for their slightly murdery, alt-history goth London dating sim Mask Of The Rose. It shows off the weird, wonderful and complex ways you can look for love in all the wrong places in Fallen London. Although, as you can see in the trailer, you can also look for friendship, attraction, romance, or a combination of the latter two. Plus: mystery! Who isn’t intrigued by a romance game where someone utters the immortal phrase, “There’s been a murder”?
The trailer is out now to coincide with Mask Of The Rose being part of the Gayming Live Indie fest on Steam. I, personally, am intrigued by the mysterious be-robed Mr. Pages, because his name is Mr. Pages and I’m a sucker for when an eldritch being compliments my eyes for being free of obtuscene phosphorence. But then, I’m a known monster-fucker, so your own mileage may vary. Luckily it appears that variety is very much on offer.
Aside from the characters you can meet and potentially woo (including said Pages, Esq., a policeman, a priest, two of your housemates, a buttoned up lady in a big hat, a bearded personage that I personally believe has strong “secret werewolf” vibes, and a couple in eyes-wide shut-style masks who may or may not have just noticed you across the bar) there’s a lot to choose from in Mask Of The Rose. Do you want to be addressed as Sir? My Lady? Doctor? Citizen? Comrade? Secretary? Captain? What about your character portrait? How best to be dressed to get the most of of your current conversation? And you’re not just living out your own tale. There are others to collect, via a story crafting mini-game. What story are you going to tell, and how are you going to weave it together? Will you be a matchmaker? Create a doomed romance? Solve a murder?
A few months ago Failbetter Games announced that Mask Of The Rose was delayed into April next year, but this is so weird and complex for a dating sim that I’m sort of surprised it’s not coming out in 2024. Luckily you don’t have to wait that long to play a little bit of it, because there’s a demo on Steam if this trailer has w(h)et your appetite.