Echo Bazaar is a text-based game that takes place in Fallen London, a city full of crime and corrupt politics that lies deep beneath the sea. Here the player takes on the role of one of the citizens and he has to train his skills in order to advance to higher social ranks and discover the truth behind all the secrets that Fallen London has to offer. The player has to build connections with factions like the; Urchins, Hell or the criminals in order to unlock more paths for him to take. One may become a ruthless crime-lord or a gentle seductress in order to reach his or her goal, most missions allow for multiple approaches, so that the player can choose what his character would do in such a situation.
Fallen London is separated in districts, in each district the player will find different people and factions. Veilgarden for example is a place where the creative types are found and the player can train his persuasive skill while Ladybones Road is a good place for the player to train his shadowy skill and interact with spies. Getting in touch with some of the factions will yield interesting benefits and side-missions which the player can do for some extra cash, but doing so might decrease his or her popularity with opposing factions. Doing missions for Hell will no doubt antagonize religious factions and doing work for the criminals will not get you any new friends amongst the constables.
The player is given a candle which shows how much actions he can perform, when the player performs one the candle shrinks in size. The candle regenerates over time, but there are also action points which limit the amount of actions to a maximum per day. If the player wants to perform an action he has to select one from the story menu, the game will present the player with all the different approaches and tell him or her how likely it is the action will result in a positive ending (based on the player’s skills). If the player succeeds he or she may receive experience points, items, currency or an increase in reputation with a faction. Another way the player can start a new adventure is by drawing a card, the player is given a maximum of six cards and after drawing two the timer starts to go down, when it is done new cards will be added to the deck. A card offers the player a story that can’t be found in the story menu, these may lead to a bigger reward or prove to be harmful to the player.
There is also a bazaar where the player can sell or buy items. There are many different items like; clothes, alcohol and even secrets are considered to be items. One of the most useful items are clothes which give the player extra skills or bonuses. Aside from objects the player can simply sell there is also a home which the player can obtain. In the home there are more missions available and one can interact with friends from Facebook and Twitter. Together they can have adventures together or help each other with problems or training.
