Runt of the Litter

About

Runt of the Litter is a text-based role-playing game where you nurture a gryphon from infancy to adulthood in a rigidly stratified empire. As a lowly stable hand, you secretly raise a discarded gryphon egg while evading authorities and a deadly plague. Choices shape your companion’s growth and your shared path, ally with the empire to battle invading dragons or challenge its hierarchy to spark a rebellion. The narrative unfolds through branching decisions that influence survival, relationships, and political outcomes. This 150,000-word story by Kelly Sandoval leans into Choice of Games’ strengths with dense, consequence-driven writing. Players praise its layered moral dilemmas and the weight of caretaking mechanics like foraging for food or sneaking past patrols. Available on multiple platforms since 2017, it’s a narrative-focused experience for those who enjoy slow-burn character development and high-stakes branching plots.

Storyline

The gryphon keepers hold all the power in the Empire of Vaengrea. They make the laws, patrol the borders, and only give gryphon eggs to their chosen heirs. As a poor stable hand, a "thrall," you know you'll never have a chance to prove yourself. But then, you find the egg. Small, neglected, nudged out of the nest by a disapproving mother. But you can feel warmth growing inside. Now your gryphon is in terrible danger, both from the other gryphon keepers and from a deadly plague that's wiping out the Empire's gryphons. Can you keep your gryphon safe? Where will you hide your new hatchling? Are you skilled enough to hunt its food or clever enough to steal it? Which of the gryphon keepers can you trust? How will you shape the young gryphon's mind? Wyrm riders invade from the north on their fire-breathing dragons, the natural enemy of the gryphons. Will you and your gryphon fight in the war, seizing your place among the elite? Or will you defy the empire and lead your fellow thralls to revolution? Can you keep a runt gryphon safe with the whole world against you? The life of your gryphon, and the fate of an empire, is in your hands.