Tale of Two Cranes

Hosted Games

Contains adsIn-app purchases

About this game

Fulfill your epic destiny in mythic ancient China! Lead armies, wield magic, and put an emperor on the throne—or become the emperor yourself!

"Tale of Two Cranes" is a 750,000-word interactive epic historical fantasy novel by Michelle Balaban and Stephanie Balaban. It’s entirely text based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

The mighty Qin dynasty has fallen. As the land breaks into warring states, everyone must choose their side in the growing civil war.

Within this epic turmoil, you have been chosen to fulfill a grand but mysterious destiny. You are a Yǒngshì warrior, bonded with a heavenly spirit that grants you magical powers, and trained since childhood in the arts of battle. Your spirit is greater than any Yǒngshì has ever been: you are the mortal link to the Red-Crowned Crane, a mystical patron unique among all of the heavens…or so you thought. As war rises around you, you discover that there is a rival: Chan Ming, bonded to the Other Crane, is the only person who could ever match your power—or he might even exceed it.

Your mystical power can sway the course of the war and determine who will be the next emperor. Whose faction will you choose: Liu Bang, a charismatic lord beloved by the people; or Xiang Yu, a veteran of war respected by the military? Can you navigate the politics of the Imperial court, or will you gather your power in seclusion at your country estate? When China’s enemies encroach from the northern steppes, can you negotiate with them to call a truce - or even win them over as allies? Will you prove your loyalty to the new Emperor, or will you betray your allies at every turn? Uncover conspiracies of spies, trace the source of rebellions and mutinies, blackmail an Empress, marry into the Imperial family to become the power behind the throne—or even become the Emperor yourself!

And through it all, cross paths and swords with your rival, the Other Crane. Will you defeat him in an epic battle for the ages, or will you join him and create the most powerful mystical partnership the realm has ever known?

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi or asexual.
• Find romance amongst your six closest allies or opt for an arranged marriage.
• Choose from four magical classes: mystic, militant, sage or strategist.
• Unravel the mystery of your mystical link to the Crane and discover the truth behind your unique connection to a fellow warrior.
• Fight epic battles across a landscape inspired by the Warring States period of ancient China.
• Build your personal power, customizing your estate to create a place specializing in military training, agriculture, spiritual enlightenment, scholarship, commerce, and more!
• Master the Imperial court to propel yourself into the administration, nobility, or even to become ruler of all China!

Your destiny calls, and a new dynasty awaits!

Ratings and reviews

Failing at everything and some reason, choosing certain very same options of personality traits, leads all to failure. Very disappointing results and not really caring. (Yay, land! Whatever!) As well as I did prior, that's all nothing but failure to happen too. Maybe I'll try again, but honestly, several options are not keyed well. Can't seem to care when it's the opposite of what I was trying to do. Also, why wasn't I given the choice of armor! It should have been our choice, or told prior?

This book is OK and the rules of the world feel inconsistent. The choices should say what stat is going to be tested in the choice for clarity. I think the story has proper set up with interesting twists and turns, however I was hoping for something much more straightforward. I did not like the story because the companions felt too important over my character and they fridged a character. It felt completely unearned and like her whole point of existence was to motivate me with anger.

As a story, I mostly like it. It's of a higher quality than a lot of recent Hosted Games content (and even CoG for that matter). Nothing drastically different in theme, setting, or plot, but serviceable. The mechanics are quite awful. It looks like a case where it only made sense to the author because they were writing it. If you play with the source open as reference as to inform stat changes/checks, it makes a lot more sense, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

What's new

Initial release. If you enjoy playing "Tale of Two Cranes," please leave us a written review. It really helps!