The Bread Must Rise

In this magical baking contest, you'll team up with the Queen Undying to bake your rivals into an early grave—or out of the grave, with necromancy! "The Bread Must Rise" is a 450,000-word interactive comedy/fantasy/baking/eldritch horror novel by James Beamon and Stewart C Baker. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Also, by lots of terrible jokes. Nebula Award Finalist for Best Game Writing in the 59th Annual Nebula Awards! You've been chosen as one of six contestants in the Great Godstone Bakeoff! Godstone, renowned throughout the twelve mostly civilized realms as the "city of a thousand bakeries," is not what it once was. The Queen Undying, a necromancer rumored to have a taste for human blood, has filled its streets with terror, while the robe-shrouded members of the Carb Freeon cult threaten bakers with impunity. And something is off with the City Council, a group of shadowy figures who nobody ever remembers seeing. You're one of Godstone's top bakers, with a scrappy little business, a mysterious confectionary legacy from your late parents, and a former best friend who stole your recipes to make his own fame and fortune. You’ve got a lot to prove in this competition, and you’ll stop at nothing to reach the top of the profiterole tower. But everything changes when the Queen Undying herself appears at your bakery. The queen has forced you to become her newest thrall, helpless to resist her eldritch power. And, for mysterious reasons, she's commanding you to make her your baking assistant! Exercise your breadcraft magic to turn the saddest soggiest-bottomed bakes into stunning showstoppers; sweet-talk the judges into giving you the win; or just put in good old-fashioned hard work. If you're not satisfied with just making bread rise, maybe you'll start making the dead rise, too: necromancy is powerful, and the Queen Undying's spells might be just what you need to complete that recipe...or to take down your rival once and for all. Play up to the press, win the adoration of your fans, and navigate the influence of the Carb Freeon cult as you bake your way to fame! The farther you go in the tournament, the closer you get to learning the secrets of your own past, uncovering clues about your parents' life and death. And the closer you come to learning the City Council's shadowy plans for Godstone… • Nebula Award Finalist for Best Game Writing in the 59th Annual Nebula Awards. • Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi, pan, or asexual. • Choose your ingredients: play in omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan mode. • Manage your budget to fill your pantry with the finest magical and mundane ingredients. • Find love with Godstone's fanciest food critic, a dreaded necromancer, a former adventurer, the Bakeoff's charismatic host, or even your best-friend-turned-worst-enemy! • Quell the Carb Freeon cult or join its ranks. • Sell out to the realm's biggest bakery franchise or triumph as a plucky small business owner. • Gaze upon the horrors of eldritch dimensions. Will you take home the trophy or fade into bland obscurity? One thing's for sure: you'll never look at brownies the same way again.