"In February 1862, with no warning at all, London fell through the surface of the Earth."
Mask of the Rose is a 2023 Visual Novel developed by Failbetter Games, set in the Fallen London universe. The story begins in late 1862, the year London was dragged beneath the Earth by bats. The player controls one of the residents of Horatia Chapman's boarding house, who has recently been employed by the mysterious Masters of the Bazaar to conduct a census of those inhabitants of the city who still survive. When one of their fellow lodgers is arrested for murder - and the victim then turns up alive - they are drawn into a tangled web of conspiracies, love affairs and cosmic mysteries involving Hell, the five fallen cities, and the secret languages of the stars.
This game provides examples of:
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Befriending characters and completing quests can give you clothes and accessories. Some of these are also available during character creation or from shops; others are only available as quest rewards.
- Character Customization: The game begins with the player choosing their name, their title, their portrait, and one of six family trades as their background - academic, aristocrat, criminal, dockworker, tailor or undertaker. This choice determines their Starter Equipment and unlocks dialogue options, story components and map locations through the story.
- Diegetic Character Creation: The game's first conversation with Griz determines the protagonist's two primary personality traits, which will be reflected throughout their dialogue.
- Medication Tampering: One theory the player can pursue is that David was murdered indirectly, by someone tampering with Archie's medicines while they were left unattended.
- Mythology Gag: Harjit mentions a family that has left London, apparently heading North to seek food. Innocuous for those not in the know, gut-wrenchingly horrifying for those familiar with Seeking The Name.
- Prequel: Set during the immediate aftermath of The Fall, long before the late 19th/early 20th century setting of Fallen London and Sunless Sea.
- Proverbial Wisdom: Wearing the Elegant Cloak allows the player to offer other characters 'time-honoured wisdom' - i.e., proverbs and platitudes.
- Sickbed Slaying: David Landau is killed while being treated in his home for a stomach complaint, making the doctor an immediate suspect.
- String Theory: Archie teaches the player a method he uses for diagnosis, which then serves as a game mechanic for completing stories and solving mysteries. Meeting characters and finding clues unlocks points and connections on the web, and the completed story is dynamically generated from the player's selections.
- Title: The Adaptation: NEATH! A Fallen London Musical, the official tie-in musical by The Stupendium.
- Virtual Paper Doll: Choosing what the player character wears on their head, face, body and lapel is a core mechanic - other characters' opinions can be positively or negatively affected by what the player wears, and wearing certain clothes or accessories can unlock dialogue options, even if they don't align with the player's established personality. Dressing in finery allows the player to adopt a superior manner - either nobly or condescendingly - while wearing commoner's clothing encourages them to be humble and deferential.
- Whodunnit to Me?: After David Landau returns from the dead, he can help investigate his own murder, though he's too traumatised to do much of the detective work himself.
