Choice of Broadsides: HMS Foraker

Choice of Broadsides: HMS Foraker is a text-based adventure game where you take on the role of the Captain of HMS Foraker, a frigate in the Albion Royal Navy. Set in an alternate-history world inspired by C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series, you are tasked with pursuing and potentially engaging a larger, more powerful enemy. The game combines naval combat strategy with narrative choices, allowing you to decide how to approach your mission and handle encounters. Through the ChoiceScript engine, your decisions will lead to various outcomes, making each playthrough unique.

Choice of Broadsides: HMS Foraker: Review

Introduction

In the vast, uncharted waters of interactive fiction, few settings are as enduringly captivating as the high-stakes naval dramas of the Age of Sail. Choice of Broadsides: HMS Foraker, released in September 2018 by Choice of Games LLC, sails into this legacy as a standalone spin-off within the beloved universe of Heather Albano, Dan Fabulich, and Adam Strong-Morse’s seminal Choice of Broadsides (2010). As a veteran captain at the helm of HMS Foraker, a 38-gun frigate, players navigate treacherous seas, moral quandaries, and climactic battles against a formidable foe. While its brevity and focus on a single narrative arc may constrain its scope, HMS Foraker distinguishes itself through meticulous world-building, innovative gameplay mechanics, and a deeply immersive narrative that honors its roots. This thesis argues that HMS Foraker serves as both a loving homage to its predecessor and a masterful proving ground for experimental systems, ultimately cementing its place as a polished, if compact, gem in the interactive fiction genre.

Development History & Context

HMS Foraker emerged from the fertile grounds of Choice of Games LLC, a studio synonymous with pioneering text-based interactive fiction. Founded by Fabulich and Strong-Morse—creators of Choice of the Dragon (2008)—CoG revolutionized the genre by prioritizing narrative depth and player agency over graphical spectacle. By 2018, the studio had established a robust ecosystem, with its “Hosted Games” platform enabling indie authors to publish polished works. The game’s architect, Paul Wang (writing under the moniker Cataphrak), was a prolific CoG author known for Sabres of Infinity and Burden of Command. Wang’s vision for HMS Foraker was twofold: to craft a heartfelt “fan-fic” within the Broadsides universe—one that inspired him to begin writing interactive fiction—and to test experimental mechanics for his magnum opus, Lords of Infinity.

Technologically, HMS Foraker leveraged CoG’s proprietary ChoiceScript engine, a minimalist tool designed for accessibility and cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS). This engine’s constraints—eschewing graphics in favor of pure text—fostered a reliance on vivid prose and player imagination, a hallmark of CoG’s philosophy. The 2018 gaming landscape saw a surge in mobile IF, driven by CoG’s success with titles like Choice of Robots and Choice of Vampires. HMS Foraker capitalized on this trend by offering a free, ad-supported version on mobile platforms while charging $2.99 for an ad-free Steam release—a model that democratized access while supporting developers. Wang’s development process, documented on the CoG forums, emphasized iterative testing: beta-phase feedback from 12 testers (e.g., Phillip Barrett, Joel M. Bridge) refined systems like random events and crew management, ensuring polish before launch.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Set in 1813, HMS Foraker transpires in the alternate-history world of Choice of Broadsides, where the maritime powers of “Albion” (a stand-in for Britain) clash with the “United Republics of Columbia” (America). The narrative thrusts players into the role of a Royal Navy captain tasked with pursuing and engaging a superior 44-gun Columbia frigate—a mission fraught with peril and political nuance. Wang’s 85,000-word narrative unfolds across three chapters, beginning with the Foraker’s maiden cruise and escalating toward a decisive duel. The plot eschews grand strategic arcs for intimate, character-driven dilemmas: Will you crew-press desperate survivors for tactical advantage or spare them at the cost of manpower? How will you resolve a mutiny with mercy or iron-fisted discipline?

Characterization hinges on professional relationships rather than romance. Your crew—bristling with archetypes like the stoic Captain Mercer of the Marines and the ambitious Lieutenant Simpson—react dynamically to your leadership. Dialogue crackles with period-authentic naval jargon (“Heave ho!” “Belay that order!”), grounding interactions in the era’s harsh realities. Thematic depth emerges from exploring the burdens of command: the tension between personal glory and national duty, the ethics of warfare (e.g., negotiating with slavers for intelligence), and the fragile cohesion of a shipboard society. Notably, Wang’s gender-flip mechanics allow for play as male or female captains, reversing societal expectations—e.g., a female captain commanding an all-female crew navigates a world where “queen” or “king” dictates pronouns, subtly interrogating historical gender roles. The narrative’s emotional crescendo—a storm-battered chase sequence epitomizes the genre’s core theme: survival hinges on split-second decisions.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

HMS Foraker’s gameplay revolves around a deceptively simple loop: navigating events, managing resources, and engaging in tactical combat. Core stats—Combat, Tact, Sailing, Leadership, and Composure—govern outcomes, with player choices incrementally shaping their growth. Crew management is paramount: drills boost sailing proficiency but risk lowering morale, while harsh discipline may quell dissent but alienate crewmen. A random event system, tested here for Wang’s larger projects, injects unpredictability: sudden storms, pirate ambushes, or diplomatic crises force rapid adaptation.

Combat, the centerpiece, operates on a turn-based, stat-driven model. Players select tactics—such as “Close to Board” (prioritizing boarding parties) or “Keep Distance” (relying on cannon fire)—with success determined by stat synergies and prior preparations (e.g., reinforced gun decks). The system rewards strategic depth: exploiting enemy weaknesses (e.g., targeting a frigate’s sails to cripple mobility) feels consequential. Character progression is organic; events like awarding prize money or executing deserters yield stat shifts, mirroring the incremental advancement of naval careers.

The UI, minimalist yet efficient, features a stats screen accessible via keyboard shortcuts (e.g., ‘Q’). Text-based menus and point-and-click navigation prioritize accessibility, though some players noted minor flaws—e.g., a typo in a slave ship dialogue option ($[pronoun1} instead of {pronoun1}). Flaws include a lack of long-term progression; the narrative’s brevity limits stat investment depth, and random events, while varied, can feel repetitive. Nevertheless, Foraker’s innovation lies in its refined mass-combat rules, later scaled for Lords of Infinity, and its seamless integration of narrative and mechanics—choices directly influence crew loyalty and battle outcomes.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Wang’s world-building is a triumph of immersive detail. The Broadsides universe—rooted in C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series—expands here with geopolitical nuance: the fall of the Gaulish Republic to an empire, and Columbia’s opportunistic aggression in Albion’s New World colonies. Descriptions evoke the era’s grit: the creak of timbers, the stench of gunpowder, and the vast, indifferent ocean.

Artistically, HMS Foraker adheres to CoG’s text-only ethos, relying on Wang’s evocative prose to paint scenes—the Foraker’s “weathered oak timbers” or the “blood-red sunset” before battle. This absence of visuals is a strength, fostering player investment in imagination. Sound design is equally absent, yet its absence is deliberate; the clatter of dice, the roar of cannons, and the whisper of sails are conjured solely through language. The atmosphere is thick with tension: storm scenes (e.g., “The Foraker groans as a rogue wave slams into her starboard bow”) and social interactions (e.g., parleying with smugglers in a dimly lit tavern) create palpable stakes. The game’s greatest strength is its fidelity to historical naval authenticity—cannons fire with calculated lethality, and crew dynamics mirror real hierarchies—making the world feel lived-in and perilous.

Reception & Legacy

HMS Foraker debuted to fervent anticipation, fueled by Wang’s forum presence and a vibrant beta-testing community. Commercially, it performed modestly: free mobile downloads drove broad accessibility, while Steam sales (40% off at launch) generated revenue. Critical reception was mixed but generally positive, with praise for its writing and setting tempered by critiques of its brevity. On MobyGames, it holds a 3.0/5 rating (based on one user), while Google Play aggregates a 4.16/5 from 321 reviews, with common praise: “Excellent story, immersive world well described” (2020). Players lauded its gender-reversal mechanics and nods to naval folklore (e.g., referencing “Barrett’s Privateers” in achievement names). However, length was a recurring complaint: one user lamented, “I finished the whole story in less than an hour” (2020), and another noted it felt “inferior to the original Choice of Broadsides” (2022).

Legacy-wise, HMS Foraker occupies a unique niche. It kept the Broadsides universe alive, demonstrating CoG’s willingness to embrace fan-created content—though Wang clarified it was never intended as a sequel. Its experimental systems (random events, mass combat) paved the way for Wang’s larger projects, notably Lords of Infinity. Culturally, it reinforced CoG’s reputation for quality IF and expanded the genre’s appeal on mobile platforms. Yet its brevity limited lasting influence; it remains a footnote compared to CoG’s flagship titles, yet a beloved one for its devoted fans.

Conclusion

Choice of Broadsides: HMS Foraker is a testament to the power of constrained creativity. Within its modest 85,000-word framework, Wang delivers a tightly wound naval drama that balances historical authenticity, player agency, and thematic depth. Its strengths—luminous prose, innovative mechanics, and a setting that breathes with life—far outweigh its weaknesses, primarily the narrative’s brevity and limited character development. For fans of the Broadsides universe, it is a poignant return voyage; for newcomers, a compelling entry point into interactive fiction.

Ultimately, HMS Foraker earns its place in video game history as a polished, experimental spin-off that honors its legacy while pushing boundaries. It may not rewrite the genre’s rules, but it executes its vision with singular grace. As the game’s rallying cry goes, “Don’t give up the ship!”—and neither does Foraker, delivering a voyage worth embarking upon, if only for a few glorious hours. Verdict: A must-play for IF enthusiasts and history buffs, albeit one best savored with tempered expectations.