Towergirls is a form of Play-by-Post Games that originated on 4chan. The artist for every major iteration of the Towergirls CYOA thus far, and the official IP owner, is Gats
. However, it has been stated repeatedly that the chart and perks he created are more suggestion than canon, and can be interpreted any way you see fit. Following the initial game, the concept quickly gained popularity and has seen various incarnations, including fan-made board games, figurines, and a version in TV Tropes' own forums.
In a Towergirls game, players would collectively guide a knight whose goal is to Save the Princess, with two major twists. Firstly, there were many, many princesses across the land, some of whose kingdoms were at war with each other, and the player often had to pick sides in order to get the best rewards. And secondly, every single princess had some kind of unique defining trait, such as being non-human (Kobold Princess, Slime Princess, etc.) and/or having a non-princess career (Pirate Princess, Knight Princess, etc.). In some versions, each princess has a specific dowry, complicating a player's decisions further. And sometimes, but not always, these quests also included romance elements, as Gats' original perk charts factor in a Princess' Love and Lust values in addition to the Wealth and Power that could be earned by rescuing them and receiving the Standard Hero Reward.
Towergirls has also led to two video game adaptations. One, Towergirls: The Game (Patreon page here) is a work-in-progress JRPG / Strategy game supported by the original creator; official lore updates and expansions have been uploaded to this location. The other, currently titled Princess & Conquest due to licensing disputes, is a fan-made hybrid Strategy RPG / Visual Novel / H-Game, and is available on digital markets such as Steam.
Tropes in Every Iteration:
- Arc Number: As of the expanded lore, it's 5. There are 5 "Generations" of Princesses, each antagonized by one of the 5 Dragon Princesses, because they have shards of the 5 Gemstones that used to belong to the 5-Headed Dragon Queen (who, when included with her four lieutenants, make them the world's 5 main villains). There are also 5 notable Generals, 5 ancient heroes whose former steeds are now known as the 5 world beasts, 5 Masters willing to teach their knowledge to heroic knights, and 5 courtiers that can provide assistance.
- Altar Diplomacy: With games that included dowries, a possible choice was to rescue a Princess just for their treasure rather than for love.
- Gay Option: Some of the "Princesses" are male or genderfluid, such as the Field and Mare Princesses.
- Hot as Hell: Some Princesses are often depicted as having devilish features, such as the Succubus and Imp Princesses.
- Save the Princess: The main goal of the game.
- Series Mascot: The Kobold Princess, who was one of the Princesses in the first official Towergirls thread, tends to be the "face" of the series. Some people even purport that the inspiration for Towergirls came from a comic by the artist "Guoh", depicting a knight rescuing a princess that turns out to be a small Kobold (compiled here).
- Sexless Marriage: As Gats' charts gave every Princess Love and Lust values, it was possible to pursue a princess that had one of them (or both) at zero.
- Standard Hero Reward: Occurs whenever a Princess is successfully rescued.
- You Are Number 6: Very few of the Princesses have set names, so this becomes the case for the Dwarf Princesses, and Dragon Princess I, III, and IV (oddly enough, IV is the oldest and I is the youngest; additionally, II does have a name given to her by worshipers).
