What are you running from?

Foundations is a work-in-progress interactive fiction game about the founding of the small town of Crosshollow, Colorado. Set in the turn-of-the-century American West, you play as an otherworldly being with power over perception on the run from an ancient enemy. Keep your companion safe, uncover sinister secrets, and remember what brought you here in the first place. The demo currently contains the entirety of chapters 1 and 2. 

In this update...

  • Spend some quality time with your tether
  • Enjoy the Rocky Mountains scenery
  • Spy on suspicious strangers
  • Go job hunting
  • Play a game of chess
  • Get a little bit too drunk

          The Story         

Take on the role of The Watcher, an ancient incorporeal being stuck on Earth. To maintain your link to the physical world you must have a “tether” to a human- a psychic bond that can only be broken by death. And death is always close at hand, as you are being pursued by another of your kind- somebody with a grudge and infinite patience to take out his revenge.

Alongside your most recent tether, Tobias, you have been traveling around North America and staying far from your pursuer. Short on cash, the two of you find yourselves hiding out in the remote mining towns of the Colorado mountains. The people here are not quite as they seem, however- and as tensions rise in the community and your pursuer draws near, you find yourself at the center of a conflict of both rural and cosmic proportions.

          Features          

  • You are an observer. Play from the perspective of your tether and use your powers to overlook other characters and change how events unfold.
  • You influence the people around you. Your choices determine the outcomes of the story and the relationships between the major characters.
  • You have power over perception. Use your powers as an extra-dimensional being to change how those around you perceive reality, but choose carefully. Power draws you closer to the Abyss.
  • Your manifestation matters. The appearance you choose to project when you appear before humans determines whether you are seen as an otherworldly horror or a guiding light.
  • Your history is what led you here. Unlock memories to understand your distant past and remember how you got here.

Credits:

For more information on the game, you can follow my development blog. To send me suggestions or bug reports, you can message me on Tumblr or send an email to crosshollowherald@gmail.com.

StatusReleased
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars
(101 total ratings)
AuthorCrosshollow
GenreInteractive Fiction
TagsDark, Gothic, Historical, Twine, Western

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

Foundations.rar 1.4 MB

Development log

Comments

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When I downloaded It for offline play It gave me a file :;)

(+5)

is this game still being updated? i wanna play but dont wanna get attatched :')

(+6)(-1)

It isn't in active development, no. If I revisit it, it'll probably be a total rewrite.

(+26)

How come all of the best twine games aren't finished yet?

(+24)(-1)

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Twine games either are left good but unfinished, or they get completed but become bad.

(+8)

Aw no I've seen finished good ones. The unfinished are just too long to be finished fast and clean.

(+2)

What are some good finished ones?

(+3)

I remember one called Tavern Crawler, although it's quite short, but it is a truly finished IF :)

(+1)

Thanks!

When I downloaded It for offline play It gave me a file :;)

(+3)

Are you still working on this project? I want to play but I don't want to get attached to an abandoned game ;-;

(+4)

It may be updated in the future, but I'm not currently working on it.

(+1)

I have a question, it says it's released, but it's a demo? I don't get it

(+5)(-2)

It is a demo, there are two chapters released.

(+1)

Alrighty friend! Thanks!

(+4)

I love this game. The concept of being an entity who shares a body with another character is fun and the writing style is very nice. Already attached to Tobias, he's an endearing character. 

Sooo good, usually descriptions of nature are boring to me but the ones in here captivated me. The characters are all so loveable already and I think the character customization aspect is really cool!

(1 edit)

Love the game so far! Excited to see more! :)

(+2)

I really enjoy this game so far, I hope to see more! I like how the setting takes place in Colorado, that's actually where i'm from. ^_^

(+2)

That is a very fine introduction to Tobias' travel so far with the ethereal observer companion, accompanied with neat interface design. And it's Old Western scene! Gotta love that ^^

May I ask, tho : do you plan to release new chapter periodically or release the full story all at once?

(+1)

Chapters will be releasing as they're written!

(1 edit) (+3)(-1)

I like the concept of a supernatural entity that need shares a bond with human in the same body. I'm already falling in love with this story and added it to my collection. Also maybe its too early, but I really like Tobias's playful character LOL.

And for the game itself, do you intended that undo-redo button thingy as permanent as part of the game or will change it later? Just my personal opinion, but it make the choices less impactful when we know if we made bad choice we could just click undo and go back. I hope you get what I mean, because I'm aware that my grammar is terrible :"D Please keep up writing!

(+3)

Hey, I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far! The history controls may or may not be included in the final game. Right now they're included so that people can experience the different options a bit quicker if they don't feel like replaying over and over, but that may be changed down the line!

(+1)

This is such a unique and fascinating premise for an IF!! Love what you have so far, I'm already curious about the mysteries you've set up, and can't wait to see where you take the story :D 

(+1)

Thank you, I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far!