REAL CHOICES, NARRATIVE ENGINEERING

Failbetter is an award-winning digital fiction company, founded in 2009 to do compelling things with interactive narrative. We build strong worlds with real choices, not gimmicks. We make challenging, addictive stories which get into your dreams.

The Night Circus and Echo Bazaar showcase our storytelling skills. Give them a try or find out about our other projects here.

Want to commission us to work with you? We'd love that.

Nice things people have said about us

"Beautifully moody and lusciously written"
- The Guardian

"Failbetter have shown a grasp and appreciation of the text which I have rarely seen in other creative agencies."
- Dan Franklin, Digital Editor, Random House

"Intriguing and addictive...The world of Fallen London is a joy to explore, a weird and wonderful playground."
- The Escapist

"Rich with clever machinations... Far and away the best browser game of today. Why? Flavour and story."
- The New Yorker

"Addictive, atmospheric and enthralling...You are the only company I ever allowed to use me for Twitter marketing and, having explored, I do not feel embarrassed at being your hoarding."
- Naomi Alderman (Disobedience, The Lessons, Perplex City)

"One of the most enjoyable social games of late! Echo Bazaar has a unique and original setting, and makes great use of turn-based 'appointment gaming,' resource collection and economics, character development, and especially storytelling."
- Naomi Clark, (Game Designer - LEGO, Gamelab, Rebel Monkey, Blue Fang)

"The writers of Echo Bazaar use concrete nouns and active verbs. They don't abuse adjectives. They have a sense of rhythm [...] This is not pyrotechnic prose, with lots of flashy words and obvious rhetorical figures. It's something better: it's disciplined."
- Emily Short (Galatea, Alabaster, Bronze)

"Yeah, I don't normally play games. But I played this one. I wanted to know what happened next."
- Russell Davies

"I love you."
- blog post comment