The Lion's Song Episode One Free On Steam
Sumptuous storytelling
The Lion's Song [official site] is a wonderful point-and-click adventure that began life as a Ludum Dare 30 entry almost two years ago. It tells the splendid tale of Wilma, a talented but struggling musician, who retreats to a friend's cabin nestled in the Austrian Alps in a bid to kickstart her creative side which, besides her scant possessions, offers little in the way of furnishings besides one of the first ever telephones. One day, an inventor calls to test this new fangled contraption and so unfolds a charming narrative between you, Wilma, and the man on the other end of the line.
The Lion's Song is now being expanded into a four part episodical series, it seems, the first of which is out now on Steam. For free! Here's the episode one 'Silence' launch trailer that landed this week:
"The choices players make in this episode will have a direct impact on the storylines of all episodes and ultimately determine if the protagonists find the success they are working for," reads the Steam page's blurb, which bodes well for episodes 2-4, named Anthology, Derivation, and Closure respectively.
Again, episode one is going for free right now, however you can bag the lot via the game's Season Pass for £8.99/9,99€/$9.99, and enjoy the rest as they become available. Episode two is "coming soon", apparently.
Full credit to Konstantinos for first alerting me to The Lion's Song a couple of years back in his wonderful Freeware Garden series. If this is the first you've heard of it, I strongly recommend you give episode one a whirl - I think you'll enjoy it. And even if you don't it's free, so what've you got to lose?