The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian Screenshot
Image: Schisma Games & 101XP

Get your best scheming hat on, crack open that book's spine (such brutality already!) and maybe get your best reading glasses. If you're up for a prose-heavy fantasy management RPG dressed up as a fancy, evocatively-illustrated game book, you might want to check out The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian, which launched today, coming to us from developers Schisma Games and publisher 101XP.

What you're getting is a choice-heavy life sim, placing you in the role of the young regent of a fantasy empire ruled over by a pair of particularly controlling gods. Expect multi-choice moral decisions, imperial edicts to be handed down and no shortage of backstabbery, but if you manage to escape an untimely demise, you might have an interesting and memorable story of your own to tell at the end of it.

While there's no demo for Prince Jerian, developers Sever and Schisma Games have gone one better and made the first game in the series - The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante - completely free until July 23rd. If you're at all on the fence, pick it up now and dive in at your leisure later.

While Sir Brante's story was one of a commoner potentially challenging a rigid social hierarchy determined by the gods themselves, Prince Jerian's story flips the script, starting you out as the inheritor of the empire and supposed enforcer of that social stratification. Not just a ruler, but a holy figure and living embodiment of the god's will. The chance to play the noble with the potential to tear down the social order because you've developed a moral core is intriguing, like a more fantastical take on You Are Elon Musk.

The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian is out now on Steam for £19.11/$25, with a 15% launch discount running until August 3rd. Discounts are also available for owners of several other choice-heavy games, including the (currently free) previous game in the series, so don't forget to snag that free while you can.