Alcyone: The Last City

After the fall of civilisation, the City is the only thing still standing.

Outpost Alcyone : the Nihility spread across the universe at close to the speed of light, unmaking & twisting everything it encountered. We had enough warning to protect ourselves as we saw the distant stars flicker out one by one. Alcyone's old name was forgotten and became simply the City.

Shielded and walled away from the decimation and destruction of the void outside, inhabitants have lived for centuries with the serenity provided by the City's protection. Governed under the benevolence of the Six Ruling Houses, humanity continues to demonstrate its tenacity in surviving and adapting to whatever fate befalls it. Normal life continues — after a fashion. We persist. 

But the Six are lying to us.

And the Nihility is more than we've been told.

And there's a way out of the City.

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Your purchase includes cross-platform downloads of the game on three desktop operating systems (macOS — 64-bit; Windows (XP not supported) — 64-bit; Linux — 64-bit) as well as a Steam key, plus an Android version (for side-loading) in a DRM-free download.

The USD $14.99 version includes the base game. The digital deluxe USD $19.99 version includes the base game on the above systems as well as a bonus soundtrack & high-resolution artbook.

Check out the free demo before you decide to purchase & get in touch if you have any feedback, issues, or questions. Thanks tons for your support!

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Alcyone: The Last City (pronounced Al-Sigh-O-Knee!) is an interactive sci-fi novel set in the last City in the universe. What's an "interactive novel?" It's sort of if you combine a novel and a video game into one — you choose the direction that the story takes and your choices heavily impact the plot, characters, and its ending. This is similar to visual novels, and both are types of interactive fiction.

As people understand it, centuries before the present time of Alcyone, experiments with hyperspace and faster-than-light space travel ended up destabilising and destroying the universe as humanity knows it. Now, in the game's present, all that is left is Alcyone itself — its old name has long fallen out of use, and its residents refer to it as just "the City."

The City is governed by the Six Ruling Houses who oversee a very strict class & caste system — the rich have everything, and the poor fight for what they can. Movement and travel are heavily restricted and even the wealthy are scraping by as best they're able. The City's climate is a tinderbox ready for a spark — and then you come in.

The player steps into the shoes of a "rebirth." Inhabitants of Alcyone don't exactly die and can be reborn several times in cloned bodies with downloaded memories. Are you from the ruling caste, or was your background simpler? The choice is yours, and that choice is one of many that will dramatically impact your progression in the game.

Alcyone has been inspired by narrative-heavy video games like Killing Time At Lightspeed (Gritfish) & Fallen London (Failbetter Games, who have also graciously provided Alcyone their blessing), as well as sci-fi space operas like Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds and Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. It includes hundreds of pieces of gorgeous hand-drawn digital artwork and a full-length soundtrack to give your choices maximum impact.

After an awesomely successful Kickstarter campaign concluding in May 2017, Alcyone was fully funded and is slated for release in 2025.

Accessibility features include a high contrast, colour-blindness aware palette, labelled art elements, "dyslexic-friendly" fonts, full TTS and compatibility with screen reader systems like VoiceOver, and an interactive tutorial system.

Alcyone is in active development with a planned release coming soon. More information can be found at alcyonegame.com or on the Kickstarter page.