Forever Gold is a text-heavy dark fantasy roleplaying game. Assume the life of Duke Quintrell Barghur, a pariah of high birth, and grapple with your unlikely rise to political relevancy as the thriving alliance between Vestur's three kingdoms comes under strain. Achieve, fail, and despair as you navigate the frustrations of the Tri-Kingdom court and negotiate precarious double-binds.
Halfway between visual novel and interactive fiction, Forever Gold is a unique multimedia experience incorporating artwork and writing with RPG mechanics such as skill systems, dice rolls, and lasting narrative decisions. It is intended for mature audiences.
Episode 1 is nearing completion. Until then, you can play the public demo and follow development on our dev blog! If you like what we're doing, consider leaving us a tip.
features
- A choice-based narrative Your words and actions effect the world and the people around you, and consequences may range from "inconsequential" to "catastrophic geopolitical scandal."
- Shape Quincy's character with traits and ideals Though he is always "Quintrell Barghur," many of his quirks and values are yours to decide. Some traits may drastically alter his characterization; others add small quirks and neuroses.
- Get to know a nuanced and varied cast Form relationships – friendly or otherwise – with your fellow members of the Prince Convoy. Nurture contempt for your adversaries, or offer understanding.
- Countless illustrations and thorough worldbuilding Forever Gold is bursting at the seams with detailed character portraits and illustrations. Each passage, menu, and codex article is crafted with thought and attention.
- Play in either "human" or "snout" mode Select one of two different "skins" for the cast (human character designs or anthro character designs) depending on whether you want to spend the game looking at dog-men or men-men.
- Level up and improve your skills (or don't) Invest your points across five skills, improving your chance at rolls and unlocking further dialogue options. Alternatively, withold your stat bonuses and crawl through the narrative as a pitiful worm.
premise
It was once thought that "meur" - the force erroneously known as "magic" elsewhere in the world - could not be wielded by human hands. This power was the domain of monsters: fire-breathing dragons, rocs with thunderous wings, the leviathans who ruled the seas, and so on. Then came a revelation which defied all that was known: the king of the Midland had been blessed with the ability to wield the power of beasts for himself. Furthermore, others like him existed across Vestur.
A great upheaval followed. These blessed conductors of meur banded together to oust tyranny from their respective kingdoms and take their place as the new Noblility of King Arthur Andimeur's united Tri-Kingdom. A new era of peace and brotherhood began.
Centuries have passed since. The kingdoms of Vestur have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity in their alliance. Their power is unrivaled. Famine is rare. Invasion unthinkable. And yet, unrest stirs amongst their people. There are those who hunger still, who live in poverty, whose cries go unheard by the Noblemen who rule. All the while, the common people watch as ideas of enlightenment and democracy emerge in foreign lands. It is clear that something must change. A Prince's Convoy is called to address the people's concerns, as is tradition. The heirs of the three kingdoms are to come together, as they always have, and right the wrongs of the land.
You are second son of the Northern Kingdom. A chain of unlikely events leaves you and your childhood friend, Prince Lucas of the Middle Kingdom, heading the Fifth Prince's Convoy instead of your respective elder brothers. Your elder brothers are well-liked and well-respected. The two of you, however, are not. Lucas is a bundle of nerves scraped raw by his family's fealty to stagnation. You were born with a curse which condemns its bearers to a long life plagued by misfortune. The series of mishaps that is your life has left you shunned: a criminal banned from conduction, working a job unfit for a man of your birth for the sake of keeping you busy and away from the public eye. Now you are to represent the Northern throne.
Your appointment cannot be unmade. The future of Vestur is in your incapable hands.
FAQ
The Project
Weaselbear is a wife & wife team consisting of the artists Broncoburro ("Dan") and LSDolphin ("LS"). Dan handles the bulk of the character art, while LS handles most of the supplementary and UI art (icons, logos, photobashed graphics, codex illustrations). Character design, writing, worldbuilding, and concept work is done by both of us about equally. Programming and systems is about 3% Dan and 97% LS. This is entirely a passion project, funded by no one on a budget of $0.00.
Forever Gold is free to download. We have no plans to charge for the game at this time, though contributions through itch.io or our tip jar are always appreciated!
Act I, Season I, Episode I is nearing completion and should see release in spring of 2025. Until then, the 2024 demo can be played in the demo on itch.io.
Forever Gold is built in Twine 2 (SucarCube v2) with heavy modification in javascript. We use Tweego to better organize our work and merge working versions of the game.
Gameplay & Story
First and foremost, Forever Gold is a narrative experience. Gameplay largely consists of making choices and seeing how they play out, developing skills and traits which alter the course of the story, and making educated guesses on political dilemmas. It's not an experience that can be easily summarized by "gameplay loops" or descriptions of mechanics.
It means we write with the assumption that our readers are adults. The story delves into adult subjects and contains potentially upsetting themes, including prejudice (both real and fictional), violence, death, abuse, war, and other unpleasantries. It acknowledges sexuality (though no acts are depicted directly in detail). Simply put, we're not writing "good clean fun" for Little Timmy. We're writing evil muddy misery for RPG geek adults who want it!
"Snout Mode" is an alternate skin you can toggle in-game. The change is almost entirely cosmetic, save for some mentions of tails and ears in the prose.
In other words, it's your choice whether you want to spend the duration of the story looking at dogs or humans. The anthro and human designs exist parallel to each other and are both equally "canonical." They don't coexist, though - so no, the characters are not werewolves or shapeshifters.
Forever Gold is a fantasy political drama. A small number of Quincy's relationships have the potential to go in a romantic direction, but Forever Gold is not a romance and happy endings are not guaranteed.
Additionally, while the player helps direct Quincy's actions and influence his values, he is not a blank slate protagonist. He will always have certain predilections which limit who he is capable of finding attractive, and the options he can pursue are written with his character in mind rather than who players might find appealing themselves.
In short: you should not expect the range of choice and freedom you would get from a more open-ended roleplaying game or something in the romance genre... nor should you expect every option to survive long term or even be healthy.
Devblog
You can stay up-to-date on production by following our development blog on tumblr!
Go ahead; we enjoy opportunities to delve deeper into the characters and worldbuilding. Keep in mind we might decline to answer questions that tread into spoiler territory, though.
We welcome it. However, we are unlikely to directly confirm/deny your theories if they're too plausible... ;)