This program is something entirely different: an interactive storyworld with genuine artistic content. As such, it will violate all your expectations.

What it isn't:

It's not a game. It's not interactive fiction. It's not a puzzle. It's not action-packed. It's not fun. If you're a gamer, you'll hate it and should not play it. If you like interactive fiction, you probably won't like it. The reason such people should not play Le Morte D'Arthur is that it violates all the norms of these firmly established genres.

It's not standard "King Arthur" material. There are no knights in shining armor, no dragons, no castles, and no damsels in distress. The characters speak in normal American English, not Hollywood medieval English.

What it is:

It's mostly text, with some illustrations. It's art.

Who it's for:

Older audiences: It concerns serious matters like the meaning of life, its purpose, and its relationship to death.

Readers: If you enjoy reading, you may enjoy Le Morte D'Arthur. If you don't like to read, then you probably won't like it at all, because it takes at least five hours to read all the material in this storyworld.

People who think that videogames are puerile: People who think that interactive fiction has too many puzzles. Adults who would like to experience serious interactive art addressing serious issues of life. People who disdain comic-book movies and teenager romance movies.

People who liked "All Quiet on the Western Front"; "2001: A Space Odyssey"; "Citizen Kane"; "Casablanca"; "Gone With the Wind"; "Lawrence of Arabia"; "Unforgiven"; or "Downton Abbey";.

I'm not claiming that Le Morte D'Arthur is anywhere near as good as ANY of these classics; I'm saying that it is as serious a work of art as these movies are. It leans more towards, say, "Game of Thrones" than the latest hot comic book. Its more like a subtle French sauce than cinnamon red-hot candy.

It will take you five to ten hours to play, and if you bail out before the end, you'll miss the whole point of the work. That's because good stories pull the pieces together at the end. You won't get anywhere dipping your toe into this storyworld. Dive in or walk away.

It's ridiculously simple to play: on each page, read the introductory story, then consider the options from which you can choose. Pick the one you judge to be the best.

You play as King Arthur. This is the real world Britain in the 6th century. You have no crown to wear. You dress like everybody else: you wear a simple woolen homespun tunic, loose pants, and a cape in the rain. Your shoes are basically sandals with a soft leather covering.

To help you along, I have built in a system that automatically saves your situation every turn. It saves it as cookies, so that when you come back and re-load the storyworld later, it will restore you to your previous state. However, if you want to start all over from the beginning, you can click on the button that says "Start over".

If, after finishing a session, you want to come back again later, do NOT return to the same page that you left. Always re-enter the storyworld through this page.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback you can provide. chrisc has an account of type email at erasmatazz.com. Get it? 😉

The latest version is 𝜼4. It's a big file, over a megabyte, so it might take as long as one minute to load.