Choice of Alexandria

About

Choice of Alexandria is a text-driven role-playing game where decisions shape a large historical narrative. You play a scholar brought to ancient Alexandria to mentor a young prince while balancing scientific discovery, political influence, and personal ambition. Every choice ripples through the story, from steering the empire’s fate to advancing technologies like germ theory or steam power centuries early. With no visuals or sound, the game relies on dense prose and branching paths to immerse players in its 90,000-word world. The game stands out for its deep integration of real historical figures like Archimedes and Euclid, letting you collaborate with them on impressive inventions. Community reviews highlight its intricate decision trees and the weight of consequences, with over 200 possible endings reported. While the text-heavy approach may not suit everyone, fans of narrative-driven strategy praise its intellectual depth and the way small choices cascade into major historical shifts.

Storyline

The year is 245 BCE; you're a heroic polymath librarian, invited to Alexandria to tutor prince Ptolemy IV. The real Ptolemy IV fell under the sway of his evil advisor Sosibius, and brought the empire to ruin - but perhaps under your tutelage, things will turn out differently. Or disregard your responsibilities to focus on inventions instead! With the help of Archimedes and Euclid, you can discover the steam engine, the germ theory of disease, or even robotic automata, thousands of years ahead of schedule. Will you deplete the libraries of other cities to enrich your own? Achieve popularity for your scientific inventions, or protect the legacy of the empire? Will Ptolemy IV grow up hedonistic and selfish, or wise and just? Will you be ransomed by the pirate queen Nefertari, or can you win her over with your silver tongue? The fate of the city of wonders is in your hands.