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Mask of the Rose Mask of the Rose

A marvellous romance with a hint of murder. Seek love, for yourself or your friends. Help a murdered man find justice. And watch out for the bats.

Key facts

Release dateJune 8th 2023
DeveloperFailbetter Games
PublisherFailbetter Games
GenreVisual Novel, Dating Sim, Detective Story
PlatformsWindows, macOS, SteamOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch at launch, and will be Verified on Deck. PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, XBox Series X/S to follow.
Enquiriespress@failbettergames.com

Press releases & assets

Download a zip archive of key press assets:

Download Press Kit

File size: 44.13 MB. .

Overview

London has been stolen by bats.

Welcome to Fallen London: a darkly hilarious gothic underworld where death is a temporary inconvenience, the rats talk, and Hell is only a stone's throw away.

Thanks to an unknown bargain, London now resides in a vast cavern under the earth. Down here, the sun doesn't shine, and Parliament has sunk into the Thames. Queen Victoria never emerges from her palace. Cats spy on their owners and whisper their secrets abroad. The fabric of strait-laced Victorian society has begun to fray.

New Masters are in charge. Why are they so… tall? And always cloaked? And why are they so interested in love stories?

Even death itself has a twist here: the first murder victim since the Fall is feeling much better, and keen to see justice done. Unfortunately, as the doctor who treated him immediately before he expired, your housemate Archie is the prime suspect...

A new approach to game romance

Will you be a brilliant matchmaker, connecting friends and rivals while remaining unattached? Or are you looking for lasting love? Perhaps you're open to whatever comes your way? Every major storyline is accessible regardless of whether your approach to love is romantic or platonic.

The possibilities for personal connection in London are different now. Thrown together in crisis, you might befriend or romance many of the characters you meet, from Griz, your assertive housemate for whom the Fall was a chance to break free of Victorian societal norms, to the infernally well-dressed gentleman at the Brass Consulate with the amber eyes.

What is Storycrafting?

Use an elaborate, dynamic story-crafting minigame to create love stories – and murder theories. Are the twists in the tale not to your taste? Then change the motive, the location, even the victim, and see how the stories adapt!

Who are you?

Your past will open different doors for you in London. What was your life on the Surface like? Were your family landed gentry? Or did they own a tailor’s shop, or dabble in the occult?

Your clothing will also make people think differently of you. Your outfits open new possibilities in conversation: be bolder, more commanding, more flirtatious. Ingratiate yourself with London's inhabitants by changing your style of dress – they won't be able to resist you in that hat!

You'll also work odd jobs and collect resources which will open new avenues in social situations. Your housemate Griz has found you work as census-taker for those curious new Masters. Fill your census-taker's notebook with intimate details about your fellow citizens and you'll find you can pursue deeper relationships with them, romantic or otherwise.

Features

  • (Re)invent yourself: who were you before the Fall? Who will you be now?
  • Create outfits from a selection of clothing and unusual accessories to unlock different story options
  • Fall in love with a cast of diverse Londoners, each with their own secrets
  • Matchmake among your friends, or seek love for yourself (by any definition you like)
  • Write love stories in a delightful Storycrafting minigame, and use them to impress the new Masters
  • Pick up odd jobs to earn money and gather resources. How are you at rat catching?
  • Solve the first murder since the Fall, with the assistance of the victim
  • Discover cosy, mysterious and magnificent locations in a dark and delicious version of Victorian London
  • Seek deeper and deeper secrets over multiple playthroughs

What is Fallen London?

Fallen London is the setting we've been developing for thirteen years. Originally in our (still active!) browser game, then in the literary RPGs Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. Mask of the Rose is an excellent introduction to the Neath, and you don’t need to have played our other games first.

Explore this unique city in glorious, richly rendered 2D. Experience London through three seasons: the season of Confessions, the season of Yule, and the season of Love. Help establish the first Feast of the Rose, a festival of romance that will be celebrated in London for decades to come!

For players of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, Mask of the Rose offers a chance to immerse yourselves in the city that founded this deep, dark, and marvellous universe. And for veteran players of the Fallen London browser game, it marks the first opportunity to visit the city just after it fell.

Explore the locales, lives, and loves of an impossible city. Exchange bon-mots with devils. Investigate the first murder where the victim can testify at the murderer’s trial. Dive into the sunken ruins of poor drowned Parliament. And if you’re truly reckless, fall in love.

Screenshots

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Videos

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