WEBVTT -- English

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My life wasn't always like this.

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I used to be powerful.

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Desired.

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Beloved.

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Before that, I was just another
girl from the country.

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In love, I followed a boy's
promises to Paris...

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...and I was abandoned.

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I could have run home,
but I chose to stay;

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To live for myself and seek
my own passions without him.

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It was challenging at first.

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So many parties by
so many people.

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Who to court; who to snub.
But still I learned.

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In time, I could make
whole rooms dance to my tune.

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I knelt in humble frocks at the
church, and wrapped myself

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in the finest silks at night;
I was a chameleon.

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Men and women of power were
drawn to me.

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They wanted everything:

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My influence.

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My heart.

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My bed.

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They thought I was a pawn,
but I was better at their game.

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Better than they
could have dreamed.

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Soon, I had pawns of my own:
Tailors, bodyguards, and spies.

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My star was rising, and quickly.

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I whispered in the ears of the
most powerful

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sweet nothings that would
become commands.

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A revolution was brewing.

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I needed to end up with the
right people on the right side

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...or I would die
on the wrong one.

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But I made a single false step!

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Yet my story didn't have to
end like this.

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It could have been so...

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...much...

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...more.

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Hi Kickstarter! Our team at the
Joy Manufacturing Company

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is making
Ambition: A Minuet in Power.

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In Ambition, you play as Yvette,
a woman in pre-revolutionary

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France using her guile and
seduction to advance her

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position in a time of
intrigue, danger...

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...and serial adultery.

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This game will be available
for both PC and Mac.

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As you can imagine,
we're extremely excited

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about the setting.
18th century France was a time

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of incredible change
where radical enlightenment

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ideals clashed against a regime
that was still clinging to

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feudal tradition.
It also marked the birth

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of the fashion industry
as we know it.

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So of course, all the
outfits you wear in the game

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are based on actual paintings
and fashion plates from the

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period. This was also a time
where the mistresses of powerful

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leaders worked from the shadows
to change the course of history.

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Speaking of which...

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One of the things that makes our
game unique is an emphasis on

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romance and seduction
as gameplay mechanics.

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Now, there are games that use
romantic elements as part of

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their stories, but these
elements are often static

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and linear. If you want a
certain outcome,

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all you have to do is go back to
old saves until you get the

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result that you want.
Ambition, on the other hand,

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uses "roguelike" systems,
which means that the game world

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is randomly generated, and it's
always saving.

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This makes the game more
replayable, as every playthrough

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will be different.
Even the outcome of the

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Revolution itself is
up for grabs.

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It's up to you as the player
to figure out whether the

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Crown or the Revolutionaries
will prevail this time,

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and to make sure that you end up
on the winning side of history.

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To do this, the player will
navigate parties held by the

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different factions. Remember,
each faction likes

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different things.
While the Church may frown upon

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your more provocative ensembles,
the Bourgeoisie will

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celebrate you for them.
So, you know,

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dress for the occasion.

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At the parties,
the player must meet guests

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and charm them in conversation
in order to advance their

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reputation.
Improving your social standing

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will open up new options,
changing the ways you can

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interact with the world.

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Ambition is a game about
wooing your way to victory,

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which is a more social
expression of power

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than other games.
As the artist, I'm trying to

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put in as much personality
into the characters as possible

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so you as the player can tell
who to trust...

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...and who to avoid.
There's also a rich history

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in fashion from that time period
that we're trying to get

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into our game, so you know

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everything is going to be
fancy as @#%*!

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The gameplay of Ambition
boils down to a series of

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choices that can take the
player down a number of paths.

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Think of those choices as
rooms in a house.

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The room you're in connects
to certain other rooms,

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and as you move from room to
room, you explore more and more

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of the house. The path you've
taken is a reflection of the

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choices that you've made,
but also influences the

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very house that you're in.

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I wanted to architect Ambition
around that premise,

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and make it highly configurable.
That way, creating scenarios

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isn't bottlenecked by
engineering, so there will be

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more choices for players
and more potential for

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exciting content in the game.

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We want players to feel like
they can change the world that

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they're in, to try things out,
and to arrive at the most

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satisfying paths for themselves.

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Ambition's setting is one of
upheaval and change,

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and the music of the era
reflects that fact.

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This is the age of Mozart and
Hayden: innovators in

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orchestration and ensemble.
Whilst the French Aristocracy

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Remained mired in the sounds of
the ornate late Baroque.

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One of our principal goals with
Ambition is to give each faction

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a unique historically-informed
sound. So, the Crown

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might have that late-Baroque
full orchestra, whilst the

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Bourgeois might instead have a
much more classy, much more

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fashionable string quartet.

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We've been working on Ambition
for a while, funding the

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prototype with our own money.
However, we can't finish

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Ambition without your help.
Your contributions will give us

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the funding we need to make
this game a reality.

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And of course, the more money
we raise, the better we can

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make the game.

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Thanks for checking out our
campaign, and thanks for

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helping us make
Ambition: A Minuet in Power.

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Thanks Kickstarter!

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Thanks Kickstarter!

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Thanks Kickstarter!