Paradigm City

Paradigm City is a 110,000-word interactive text novel set on a near-future Earth transformed by the arrival of superhumans. You play a new graduate of an international academy for powered people, assigned to troubled Paradigm City as the Golden Age of heroes gives way to a changed world. Your choices shape whether you become known for fame or infamy, idealism or pragmatism, and loyalty or ambition. The game has no graphics or sound effects; the story unfolds through text and your imagination.

A world after the Golden Age

For thirty years, people with world-altering powers, known as capes, have dominated the media. Heroes and villains have clashed in confrontations that changed the world, and for a time these figures seemed like modern deities. Now that era is over, and you must decide whether your place in the new world is of your own making or shaped by others.

Shape your character

You can play as male, female or non-binary, and as straight, gay or bi. The story follows your life from youth through your first major mission, with multiple endings and consequences that can affect the world's future. You can pursue one of three romance options or keep your relationships strictly professional.

Use your powers

You tackle challenges using brawn, bravado and brains, and can increase the potency of your electrokinetic powers to face dangerous threats. You work with a team of elite heroes to solve a mystery; your relationships with them affect their fates and whether you learn their stories. You can expose a conspiracy or use it for your own ends, and choose between the traditional values of a classical crusader and the pragmatism of modern powered heroes.

Achievements

The game includes 60 achievements.