Runt of the Litter

Choice of Games LLC

About this game

Steal and raise a baby war gryphon! Will you fight dragons together to save the empire, or defy the empire and lead your people to freedom?

"Runt of the Litter" is a 150,000 word interactive fantasy novel by Kelly Sandoval, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

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.

• Play as any gender and as gay, straight, or asexual
• Choose from a variety of unusual gryphon breeds
• Raise your gryphon with a gentle hand or demand obedience
• Find romance among your fellow thralls or steal the heart of a gryphon keeper
• Rise to the rank of gryphon keeper or lead your fellow thralls to freedom
• Battle fire-breathing wyrms to protect your empire
• Find a cure for the devastating gryphon plague

Ratings and reviews

I actually purchased this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The book itself starts off a bit slow which I suspect means the demo might be underwhelming however the story is excellent. From the beginning to the end the story was believable and the choices had great meaning and the stats mattered. Multiple endings, many different ways to play. Excellent replayability. The writing is very good. One other thing done well is the world building, this is a unique story. Highly recommend.

One of the stronger Choice of Games Entries thus far. Skill checks exist, but are not overly punishing if you fail them, which allows players to focus on actually role playing instead of trying to min-max their stats to progress the story like the other entries. It does have a feeling of being a bit too short though, and past the first playthrough, lacks suspense because the narration does not make it seem like you'll be caught or ratted out, no matter your choice.

Like the reviews below, Runt of the Litter is really short. Besides taking care of my warrior runt, I didn't really get into the story. I went from one thing to the next without much care. Didn't feel like I was in danger. My exile felt really short. Started off decent, A tid-bit of hunting and such. Then fell off a cliff and plummeted into a stream of rushed progress. Little action. No battles, which by that I mean- It's wartime but didn't feel like war was at hand. Overall, Needs more.

What's new

Fixed a bug (for real, this time) where the app could lose progress when the app goes into the background. If you enjoy "Runt of the Litter", please leave us a written review. It really helps!