The Eagle's Heir
"The Eagle's Heir" is a 200,000 word interactive novel by Amy Griswold and Jo Graham. It's entirely text-based, without graphics, or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Since Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, seventeen years ago, Europe has enjoyed an uneasy peace. While the great empires of Austria, Russia and England have tried to stem the tide of revolution, France has mastered steam power to conquer the air and sea. Now, Napoleon’s health is failing, and France is torn between his legitimate heir, Franz, and his illegitimate son Alexandre.
Luckily, Alexandre has you, his loyal bodyguard and childhood companion, skilled in the arts of the duel and the ballroom, and ready for anything from diplomacy to airship combat!
It's brother against brother as you choose who will rule France, and how. Will France have a king, an emperor, or become a republic? Can you guide your lifelong friend Alexandre to the throne, and keep not just your prince but his revolutionary ideals alive? Or will you throw your weight behind his half-brother Franz? Will you defeat France’s enemies with the thunder of airship guns or forge a marriage alliance in gaslit ballrooms?
• Play as male, female, genderfluid, or non-binary; gay, straight, or asexual
• Race airships across the English Channel
• Find romance with a journalist or a lady's maid, or ménage a trois at the Tuileries Palace
• Join a motley crew of actors in the revolutionary cause, or spy on them for your allies
• Duel aristocrats to preserve your and Alexandre's honor
• Plan a scandalous elopement which sends Europe into an uproar
When swords cross before the throne, who will be the Eagle's Heir?
Category : Role Playing
Reviews (26)
Really solid game. Tons of opportunity to do little side things and small choices impact story flavor. The alternate universe is super fun and I love the steampunk aesthetic. I also love the freedom with character creation and particularly how you can choose to be trans, and the option to be closeted or not. Very neat and tactfully handled. Lots of replayability, though it does feel a bit rushed in places, particularly the ending.
This was totally one of the very best stories that Choice of Games has ever published. It has great dialogue, great choices, and great writing. However, I will say that - right as there was about to be a climax - it all suddenly stops and tells you what happened after your (spoilers) character dies. Personally, even though I know that it might be a heavy burden on the writer, I think that you should have played out the battles and the sequences of events - like diplomacy with Britain or Prussia and also try to lead some battles against the Austrians. Overall though, I loved it.
This is hands down one of my favorite Choice of Games I've ever played. The writing is phenomenal, and definitely pulls you into the story. Fair warning, though, it's a very high stakes game and getting the outcome you want is not easy. I'd also like to mention it's got probably the best narration accompanying your choice of gender and presentation I've seen yet, and is the only game I've played thus far that has a dysphoria toggle. If any of the above is relevant to your interests, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Didnt expect much when I bought it but was pleasently suprised. Overall pretty fun choices have a fair amount of meaning and you actualy have to be smart to make the right ones. Some small gramtical errors (Much less than in this review) and occasionaly a bit to wordy for my tastes but overall pretty fun.
I adore this game and it's difficult too which adds to the fun. Im actually autistic and having something that makes up characters influences my day dreaming and just over all makes me feel happy. I also love the Les Misérables refrences with A Little Fall Of Rain and Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, I also loved the whole barricades scenario and I feel like Cassius is the Enjolras of this universe and I'm not complaining because I actually find his character really intriguing.
A good game and a great premise! Sudden epilogue was a little jarring but still a fun little adventure. A fascinating take on gender too.
How many times you gonna ask me my damn gender? The rest of the newer generation may be lost in space but some of us are still intelligent. Anyway, you did however cover my favourite part of History (almost) which is the Napoleonic Wars, so thank you for that. It's a good game.
Darn good writing & story. Meaningful character design implementation. Don't let historical problematicity (RL Napoleon III = LEEEEEEROOOYYYY JENKINNNNNNS) stop you.
This was fantastic! In the novel, I lived a delightful fantasy with Napoleon, one of my most favourite historical figures!
Fantastic plot and choices. I love it.
Well i only have two words to describe it: Too short..
Loved the game and i liked just how my character and amalia fit each other
Its a very good story, very nice!
So fun i cant get enough of the book
you have to pay so much and its not worth it at all
Never thought that being a bodyguard in around the 19th century to be this intruging.
Great story I loved it
Loved it so much
I actually purchased this book. This is a period story which is good for history afficionados. It had dueling, racing, and political intrigue. The game had a steampunk feel to it, with gaslights and air ships. It is written well with lots of imagery and stats that matter. This story had lots of political intrigue, and multiple possible endings. Not really my kind of story but to some this might be throughly enjoyable. It was a good read.
Although a well written storory the game is not worth even half the purchase price. The paid portion of the story is anti-climactic and not very intense as it lacks any prolonged building drama into a crisis crescendo plot. Without mentioning a spoiler, an entire battle scenario chapter alone would have fit in very well. A little buggy too.
too short, and the story is a meh.
I played the entire thing and it felt way to short. If there had been another ten chapters to fully flesh out the game then I would have loved it. The concept was great, I really enjoyed where the story was going but then it just ended so suddenly. Overall if I could go back I wouldn't have spent the $4.99
Cant sob and be salty, leaving a bad review just because i cant afford the rest im gonna be honest, this game was amazing. The storyline had be intrigued the whole way through, every option was thought about thoroughly and when alexandre had a wine glass shattered on him and it only stated there was 'blood' i was sweating. Amazing well thought out writing and imagry. I can only imagine the amount of content beyind 3 chapters. Thank you for developing this wonderful game and changing peoples perspective of napoleonic history. I adore this classical masterpiece. You deserve to get paid for all your time and effort keep up the good work. Yours truly~
I had a good time with it, finding the characters likable and the choices gripping. I also really loved rolling around in the historical detail, and finding out that the bad-ass grandma was a real person makes it even better. I didn't play the gender-fluid options the first time around, but they look interesting.
This game is great... right up until the end. The gender thing was annoying but tolerable, but the ending was very abrupt. The whole story hints at a big climax, only to give you a "Five Years Later" and have it be glossed over in the epilogue. Where's the action? What about the heaps of loose ends? Honestly this is worse than the ME3 ending, at least it had a climax.
One of the better interactive stories I've read, but the ending felt a bit rushed. It had a good pace up until the heir is named, then everything just ended. I also wish there were more moments to raise your stats. It appears that once you choose your initial abilities, you're pretty much locked into whatever percentage you have with no opportunity to increase anything