you are an ancient chinese poet at the neo-orchid pavilion

Ancient China.

You are a poet whose family fell from grace, making you somewhat of an outcast. But time has passed, and you’ve now carved a simple existence out of reading and staying out of the public eye.

Then, one night, a court official visits your home. You are informed that your poetry has caught the attention of society’s elite. Coincidentally, the Emperor is hosting a banquet to select a new court poet, and you are invited at his request.

Gameplay
you are an ancient chinese poet at the neo-orchid pavilion (aka YAAACPATNOP. Naw, too long) revolves around a sole task: creating a poem to present at the banquet.

The Emperor has a special request for you. He wants your poem to reflect the current climate of his court and the motivations of the people within it, citing your reclusive lifestyle as making you a neutral judge of the factions present at the banquet.

Gameplay is structured into sections where the player interacts with characters or scenery to develop each line of the poem. To provide inspiration for the guests, multiple activities take place at the banquet.

North, in the direction of a fruit orchard in the distance.
East, to a field where the polo court lies.
South, to where a stage for outdoor opera sits.
West, towards a set of low set buildings.

Each activity is run by a group that shares an ideology. For example, visiting the polo courts introduces you to the School of Numerical Perfection, a group that is attempting to create the perfect poem using math because they believe that human experience can be quantified to create order.

You visit two groups, sampling the different ideologies at play. You then decide whether to agree or disagree with the group’s beliefs, forging a new line of your poem. The climax of the story occurs when you choose to meet with either Princess Anying or General Zhang to further investigate the court’s alliances. Once the poem is completed, the endgame reveals the impact of your words.

The game allows you to start from the beginning of the story or to start at the banquet, encouraging replays.

Story
The story is interwoven with political undertones of factions vying for power. The Emperor’s sister, Princess Anying, and his cousin, General Zhang are major figureheads in the court’s politics. They make an appearance at the banquet, and while the three appear to tease and cajole each other as family members, unseen plans lurk under the surface.

When you reach the lake, you decide to walk…

Clockwise, towards the blooming lotus.
Counter-clockwise, where the wild reeds ramble.

Visit the lotus for the Princess, the reeds for the General.

Your interactions with the banquet guests and either the Princess or the General are conveyed through your poem and thus determine the story’s outcome. For instance, (Spoiler - click to show)you can align yourself with the Princess, resulting in an ending where you become her court poet. Assuming the rest of her plans fall into place, of course.

Endings
There are 23 possible endings. So far, I’ve only found: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 23. That’s not even half. I tried to create a spreadsheet to keep track of how to reach them, but it became too complicated.

I will say, some endings feel cut and paste with their writing. Consider endings 2 and 10:

Theory on endings
Just some ideas.

Characters
The protagonist’s own story is more of a backdrop to explain your presence at the banquet rather than forming the main narrative. We don’t know a lot, but the amount we do know suits the game’s purposes just fine.

I will say, it’s kind of shocking to see Princess Anying act so affectionately towards the Emperor at the banquet (Spoiler - click to show) only to have him (and her cousin) executed in ending 8.

Or when General Zhang reminisces about chasing fireflies with the Emperor and Princess as children (Spoiler - click to show)before taking the firefly off your shoulder and crushing it. He, too, is more than willing to eliminate his relatives.

Also, I kept getting Attendant Zhang and General Zhang mixed up.

Visuals
The visuals are simple yet elegant.

Text is placed in a cream-coloured panel set against a backdrop that changes colours as we explore the banquet. On the right side of the screen is a small photograph, such as a lake, for every location.

Overall, its appearance is bright but not distracting. The author seemed to put a lot of care into conveying simple elegance.

Conclusion
As an entrant to this year’s IFComp, this is a game that you play with for a few minutes before rushing off to play one of the more fast-paced entries. But later, you find yourself drifting back and giving it more attention, taking your time to glean how your choices influence each ending. And I enjoyed it.

Now, the game can get repetitive if you try to strategize to find every ending since picking apart the variables makes the story feel more superficial. However, most players will be content to play it a few times for the overall experience. Carefully crafting a poem can serve as a meditative exercise for anyone.

And on that note… an obligatory poem:

The lonely bird's call battles laughter and music,
Swimming fishes surge to meet the sporting waves,
One with the earth, soil underfoot,
Pouring pearls forth, set loose into the world.

I always enjoy playing KA Tan’s games since I like Chinese history and wish more people would create games set in ancient China (myself included). For this title, it seems inspired by a well-known event in Chinese poetry history: the Orchid Pavilion Gathering.

Your player character is a poet from a disgraced family who has been invited to an imperial ceremony. As an outsider, your job is to write a quatrain for the emperor that accurately reflects the conditions of the court and the world, serving as a kind of political code.

The sights and sounds you encounter will evoke the poetic imagery that accompanies your message. You might encounter a group of anarchists who imagine a world without hierarchies. Or you might find scholars interested in using divination to calculate the perfect orderly poem. Either way, your whims align with the game’s fancies in interesting ways, making me feel as if I’m embarking on my own poetic journey.

There are a remarkable number of endings that reflect the variety of choices you can make when writing your poem. Factions can rise or fall based on your diction. You could encourage the censorship of sexual expression. You might even find yourself in danger for speaking your mind. Your choices feel momentous, and I appreciate how your small actions can dramatically change the imperial court.

The writing is lovely too. I like the neat touches of description, and I find the sometimes serene, sometimes funny atmosphere engaging.

If anything, I would have liked more options to experiment with. Many endings seem to depend on making one choice, and I wish I had more sources of inspiration for writing my own poetry. Since the stakes are so high in the last pair of events before the feast, it seems like there should be more choices to try out there.

I am personally biased toward anything related to Chinese history, but I think this is a fascinating approach to creating interactive fiction based on it. I hope this game inspires people to learn cool facts about Chinese history and be inspired to create something.

I enjoyed the setting of this game, as I've recently been rewatching Zhen Huan Zhuan/Empresses in the Palace and some of the elements of here are reminiscent of it for me (as the only palace c-drama I've watched): the political maneuvering, having parents in court who have lost favor, upstart generals, etc.

You play as, well, an ancient chinese poet. You are visited at home by the Emperor's most trusted servant, his head eunuch (who I picture as Su Peisheng from the show). Your poems have accidentally spread from your home to the court, and the emperor would like you to come and deliver a poem at a banquet.

Once there, you are encouraged to view the palace around you, with several options on where to look and what to do. Each option can inspire your poetry later on.

You then have the opportunity to deliver your poem, drawing on your sources but still having freedom to alter lines as you will. What you say will lead to multiple endings.

I liked my poem I could make. I focused on nature-based meditative thoughts, although the fourth line I couldn't get to fit into my self-imposed aesthetic. Either it or my fifth line were interpreted in a way that I couldn't quite follow. I thought I had opposed someone earlier, yet my poem was interpreted otherwise due to a subtle nuance. I think on replaying I could likely figure out a pattern to the responses, but I feel happy with my own journey. I think I got ending 18/23, which shows this is highly replayable.

I finished it faster than the listed hour, but that's because I was drawn into and fully engaged with the game.