Broadway: 1849

Broadway: 1849 is a 150,000-word, entirely text-based interactive historical adventure set in 19th-century New York. You manage a theatre and pursue box office success amid gangs, jealous rivals, artists and politicians. Riots, fires and political spies threaten your business, while romance and risky alliances complicate your decisions.

Run your theatre

Compete with rival theatres to stage the biggest shows and attract the largest audience. Choose a cast from the city’s brightest talent, manage your actors’ diva personalities and decide what kind of producer to be: put on circus acts to please the crowd, stage fine art to earn the city leaders’ respect, or try to influence the press and secure the best reviews. You can rely on business sense or enlist gangs to drive competitors out of business.

Secrets and alliances

Investigate the hidden secrets of your theatre, including a ghost said to haunt its stage. You can rush to defuse a deadly bomb or let it explode and plunge the city into chaos. Nurture young talent or pursue the spotlight for yourself; meet notorious criminals or expose their misdeeds; and help a deserving friend escape an unscrupulous businessman.

You can join forces with a criminal gang or support the mayor’s push for order. When the city’s fate is at stake, you choose whether to fight for peace or let it burn.

Your character

You can play as a man, woman or non-binary character, and choose to be gay, straight, bisexual or asexual.