A Midsummer Night's Choice

For your Amusement, yon Troupe of Humble Players present a Staging of A Midsummer Night's Choice, a Comedie Most Lamentable and Excellent. A Shakespearean pastiche (notably of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and The Winter’s Tale), this interactive story lovingly collides classic dramatic tropes from the back catalogue of the Bard and his contemporaries at the Mermaid Tavern, such as star-crossed lovers, mistaken identity (and outright impostors) and of course the play-within-a-play. The player assumes the role of the scion of the Duke of Upper Fogsworth, who flees from an arranged marriage with Prenzie the court fool to a nearby enchanted forest. There they arrange to rendezvous with courtier Morgan, but are scattered by circumstances. Exeunt, pursued by a bear. Fleeing in disguise from the Duke's guardsmen, the player has encounters with a mysterious chivalric character, the Maroon Knight, and the supernatural denizens of the woods before being confronted with their own father, unaware. Secrets are revealed, enchantments are lifted, battle is joined and hearts swell near to bursting, with various customizable romance options to accommodate most players' tastes. All interactive plot beats are moderated through the player's decisions, with covert RPG-style state-tracking ensuring that difficult feats which the player opts to attempt only succeed if they are in areas the player has traditionally opted to exercise. All game input is through selecting from specific tables of curated options, and as befits the subject matter... game output is purely textual.So strap on your ruff and bone up on your iambic pentameter... things are about to get seriously literary up in here!